So after some bland veggie-and-noodle creations, I bought a pre-packaged meal at my local grocery store. The store sells a number of these packages of pre-chopped fresh ingredients of popular dishes, such as spicy eggplant with garlic, and tofu and veggies.

At 5.50Y, the package cost less than ordering a similar dish at a restaurant, so I thought it was a reasonable experiment. The veggie-only versions were less expensive (maybe 3Y). I also thought trying one would give me a "reverse engineering" perspective to understanding what goes into these common dishes. I picked this one -- spicy fatty pork with peppers, onions and tofu, accompanied by a little package of fresh seasonings.

After removing the seasonings package, I heated a tablespoon or two of cooking oil in the wok, and then tossed in the whole package. My burners get unbelievably hot -- I cooked the mixture on "low" heat for a few minutes.

When the onions began to look translucent, I threw in the seasonings packet, which contained most obviously, fresh red chilies in oil. I tossed the mixture around until the ingredients were fully coated.

I ate my "creation" atop some white rice. And it was pretty tasty! The whole package gave me about 2 1/2 servings, so I think it was a good bargain. Now that I know the basic ingredients, I could certainly attempt the dish without the packaging, but I must say deciphering the contents of the spice package may take a bit more investigating.

Mainly, there were some small dark brown beans or nuts in the mixture, perhaps the size of peanuts. They tasted a bit fermented, very salty, and packed a powerful flavor punch. Any ideas?