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Sichuan chili adds spice of life to regional cuisines(3)

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2017-10-12 09:39Shanghai Daily Editor: Huang Mingrui ECNS App Download

There are so many ways to enjoy Lao Gan Ma, as a spread on steamed buns or morning pancakes, as a condiment to season dishes or as a dipping sauce for hotpot.

Tao once said proudly that where there are Chinese people, there are Lao Gan Ma chili sauces.

Guizhou also has another unique spicy condiment called ciba lajiao, which is a glutinous-textured chili pepper sauce made by grinding dried chilis from Huaxi, which have been previously soaked in water with tender ginger and garlic.

Ciba lajiao is the key ingredient in the renowned Guizhou-style chicken with chilis. It can also be used to make dipping sauce for hotpot or chili oil.

Hainan: Yellow lantern sauce

China's southernmost province, Hainan, is home of a unique lantern-shaped, bright yellow chili that cannot be found elsewhere.

With sufficient sunshine and abundant rainfall, the island is a favorable growing environment for the yellow lantern chilis, especially the province's southern regions.

This particular type of chili is one of the hottest chilis in China and commonly made into a hot sauce, an ingredient the locals cannot live without. The yellow lantern sauce is similar to the Hunan duojiao, but uses dried yellow lantern chilis instead of fresh ones.

First, the sun dried chilis are crushed into small pieces, then the garlic paste and salt are added to provide more flavors. The mixture is then sealed in a glass jar with some oil to prolong the shelf life.

At most restaurants on the island, it's provided as a free condiment to accompany all kinds of dishes. The yellow lantern sauce is a very popular local specialty that travelers often bring home as gifts.

Shaanxi: Sizzling chili oil

Home of the terracotta warriors, the northwestern province of Shaanxi is famous for its spicy cuisine, to be more specific, the sizzling chili oil.

The Shaanxi sizzling chili oil, or youpolazi, highlights the fragrance and spiciness of the chilis with a variety of spices and seasonings, including grounded Sichuan peppercorn, cinnamon, star anise and the Thirteen Spices. An essential ingredient is toasted white sesame seeds, which is the key of making a very aromatic chili sauce.

To make the sizzling chili oil, one only needs to combine all the spices and ground chilis in a bowl, heat up a saucepan of oil to about 80 percent hot and splash a portion over the chilis, add the toasted white sesame seeds, then let the oil cool down to about 50 percent hot and pour it over the chilis again to draw out the spicy flavors.

The people in Shaanxi eat several dishes, especially the noodles, with youpolazi. The iconic biangbiang mian is the best dish to enjoy the hot chili sauce because it features only two ingredients, a wide, thick hand-pulled noodle that's shaped like a belt and sizzling chili oil.

Guangdong: Chaoshan garlic chili sauce

Known for the fresh ingredients and light flavors, the Cantonese cuisine actually has a chili sauce that's much more gentle and mild than the ones mentioned above.

The Chaoshan (Teochew) garlic chili sauce is composed of red chilis, shallots, garlics, olive kernels and fermented soy beans. The fragrant, salty yet not so spicy condiment is best served with the local rice noodle soups.

  

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