We always know when this dish is about to arrive at our restaurant table because the intense peppery aroma that wafts our way is accompanied by the sound of the sauce bubbling on the scorching cast iron hotplate. So wildly sizzly is this dish that we usually have to hold up napkins to protect our clothes (and spectacles) as it is being set down on the table!

This dish appears in the ‘Banquet’ chapter of our upcoming cookbook. Not only does it feels lush and indulgent, it is also the perfect dish to ‘wow’ your friends and family with!

To recreate the restaurant experience at home, you can often nab one of the ox-shaped hotplates in Chinese supermarkets (we got ours from Seawoo, Chinatown London). A cast iron frying pan heated up in the oven will also do the trick nicely. Just take care as you’re fetching it from the oven, as these things do get *super* hot! (Big Dumpling may have once suffered a burn from the very hotplate you see above!).