Place a large heavy bottom pan over high heat. Add in a little vegetable oil. Add in the beef and sear to brown and cook through, making sure to get good color on the meat. Remove from pan.

Add in the peppercorns and a little extra oil if needed. Cook about 2 minutes to brown the peppercorns and infuse the oil. Remove the peppercorns from the pot, keeping the oil in.

Add the onion, carrot, celery, and cabbage to the pot and cook about 10 minutes until lightly starting to brown.

Add in the garlic, ginger, and chiles and cook 3 minutes.

Add in the ground sichuan pepper and stir to combine.

Next add the tomatoes, and cook another 5 minutes, stirring often.

Finally add the chicken stock and reduce heat to maintain a light simmer.

Meanwhile bring salted pasta water to a boil. After the meat mixture has reduced and thickened, (maybe like 45 minutes later) add in the tofu and stir well. The tofu should crumble into small tofu balls.

Drop the pasta and cook till al dente.

Serve and top with scallions and chiles.