- Jan 26, 2000
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I don't want to give too much away right off so I'll say it's a chili paste made with dried chilies. It's also not a generic one you can buy in a US store as far as I know but maybe in the major chinatowns?
A Chinese Mystery Ingredient challenge!
- Thread starter Hayabusa Rider
- Start date
I don't want to give too much away right off so I'll say it's a chili paste made with dried chilies. It's also not a generic one you can buy in a US store as far as I know but maybe in the major chinatowns?
- Jan 26, 2000
- 50,879
- 4,267
- 126
- Jan 26, 2000
- 50,879
- 4,267
- 126
The idea is to identify the final product. It's very spicy and comes from an area adjacent to Sichuan and has a similar, but not identical, cuisine as Sichuan.
- Jan 26, 2000
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So, is it an ingredient challenge or name that dish challenge?
kage69
Lifer
- Jul 17, 2003
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Literally only thing I know about Guizhou is that's where Maotai is made.
Going by the pic, just looks like a really hardcore pepper paste, maybe something else too as a binder? Almost looks like something you'd use for a batch of kimchi, but that's Korea. Perhaps the base of something fiery and delicious, a la hot pot?
Definitely looks like something not to be trifled with, you're doing that outside, I'm guessing so as not to ruin the wife's day. Carbon steel wok. Good man.
Going by the pic, just looks like a really hardcore pepper paste, maybe something else too as a binder? Almost looks like something you'd use for a batch of kimchi, but that's Korea. Perhaps the base of something fiery and delicious, a la hot pot?
Definitely looks like something not to be trifled with, you're doing that outside, I'm guessing so as not to ruin the wife's day. Carbon steel wok. Good man.
Red Squirrel
No Lifer
snoopy7548
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sdifox
No Lifer
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snoopy7548
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A good guess. It's Guizhou Ciba Lajiao where I used Tien Tsin dried chili. I can't find the hotter Zunyi chilies but it's still spicy. I started yesterday with soaking 250 grams of the Tien Tsin in boiling water and letting it sit overnight off heat. Today I made the paste itself and tomorrow I'll put it in Mason jars to ferment. It should be usable in a week and the longer it ferments the better it will get.
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(贵州糍粑辣椒) is Guizhou Ciba Chili Paste. It's about 84,000 SVU or about Thai red pepper hot averaging the quantity and pepper type used in China:
PS:
PS:
- Jan 26, 2000
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That's exactly the recipe I used although zunyi chilies are apparently to be had by anyone anywhere. There is a great Youtube channel "Chinese cooking demystified" that I often use as a reference. Too many recipes have been Americanized beyond recognition. The chow mein recipe is good and I've long been making alkaline noodles and the like so prepping them is straightforward. I used the same site to learn how to make Chunbing Spring Pancakes for moo shu pork.
Of course once one learns how to properly prepare something, restaurants have far less appeal, and Chinese restaurants near me are pretty poor to begin with, being gloopy and poorly spiced.
After a week of fermentation I'm going to make 贵州辣子鸡
Your area M probably has the finest selection of ingredients in the US. I could have gone to Toronto which may be the second best place in North America but well, nope, COVID.
I have spent countless hours researching how to get a 100,000 BTU or so burner to Wok in my yard but so far nothing. Dreaming seems to be as far as I get. I also have spent untold hours watching Wok cooking. I have a wok very much like the one in your picture and a thin cast iron one I haven't yet used. Unfortunately, when I cook in the wok I do so for someone who doesn't go for chili heat. Were it not for the fact I have a neighbor who constantly lofts smoke into my yard and house which I have to breathe, I would like to make my wok burner a wood burning rocket stove. But there are also other folks down wind of me. Sadly also Covid keeps me pretty locked down. Got my cast iron wok in The Wok Shop, China Town SF. Live only a mile or so from a large Chinese Market store. I can walk to Korean, Thai, Chinese, and Japanese restaurants.
I was going to add a PS which I see I didn't. I used the hints you left to find that recipe on a search engine. I just did the math on the pepper heat and looked up the equivalent pepper for 84,000 SVU
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DigDog
Lifer
- Jun 3, 2011
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i made this twice; once i used what chilies i could find - jamaican scotch bonnets - not a great idea. Taste was allright but it was nearly inedible for how hot it was. second time came out nice.
However, i'd rather just buy premade chili sauces from the cash n carry asian foodmart.
1. Tobandjian is the "fresh" chili version. i use this for stirfry dishes. About 3 bucks for a big jar. Goes well with everything but doesn't have a very strong or very unique taste.
2. Chou is what you use as a dippin sauce, add to your ramen, sandwiches, etc. Even Lee Kum Kee makes this right, and it's about 5 bucks for a mason jar that will last forever. Laoganma is one of the brands that makes it well, but there are other. I prefer a soft chili, Laoganma tends to be crispier.
3. Hot Bean is something you just can't get right at home. Are you happy to ferment your own black beans to add to the chili mash? Didn't think so. About 5 bucks for a jar, considering you use about a teaspoon per dish, also lasts forever.
4. Szechuan oil you can make pretty much any way you want, grab a bunch of random spices and as long as they include szechuan peppercorns and chilies, you can call it szechuan oil. I've seen made with or without: lemongrass, ginger, spring onion, aniseed, cinnamon, garlic, dried fish, shallots, sesame ... incidentally, the asian cash n carry has chepo large bags of dried chilies that make for a great Szechuan oil at about ten bucks for a kilo or so.
Personally i love Fu Chi chili sauce, they seem to get the combination of chili, garlic, spices and beans just right. Goes really well with potstickers. Sriracha has too much garlic for me (i like garlic, but i'd prefer a hotter sauce), i have a bottle but never really use it.
However, i'd rather just buy premade chili sauces from the cash n carry asian foodmart.
1. Tobandjian is the "fresh" chili version. i use this for stirfry dishes. About 3 bucks for a big jar. Goes well with everything but doesn't have a very strong or very unique taste.
2. Chou is what you use as a dippin sauce, add to your ramen, sandwiches, etc. Even Lee Kum Kee makes this right, and it's about 5 bucks for a mason jar that will last forever. Laoganma is one of the brands that makes it well, but there are other. I prefer a soft chili, Laoganma tends to be crispier.
3. Hot Bean is something you just can't get right at home. Are you happy to ferment your own black beans to add to the chili mash? Didn't think so. About 5 bucks for a jar, considering you use about a teaspoon per dish, also lasts forever.
4. Szechuan oil you can make pretty much any way you want, grab a bunch of random spices and as long as they include szechuan peppercorns and chilies, you can call it szechuan oil. I've seen made with or without: lemongrass, ginger, spring onion, aniseed, cinnamon, garlic, dried fish, shallots, sesame ... incidentally, the asian cash n carry has chepo large bags of dried chilies that make for a great Szechuan oil at about ten bucks for a kilo or so.
Personally i love Fu Chi chili sauce, they seem to get the combination of chili, garlic, spices and beans just right. Goes really well with potstickers. Sriracha has too much garlic for me (i like garlic, but i'd prefer a hotter sauce), i have a bottle but never really use it.
- Jan 26, 2000
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I use a large wok ring with a Bayou Classic SP2 Double Jet Cooker. It's a bear to get it not too hot as I think it's close to 200k BTU cranked up. Anything wooden on a wok will be incinerated so I have a double handled 18" and use gloves rated for 900+F and an IR thermometer to keep a close eye on things. I really could use a lower powered one for smaller woks to cook for four, but I could put a huge commercial wok and use it properly. I should find some way of making it more stable though as it isn't really meant for woks but boiling a whole lot of water for crabs, crayfish and corn.
sdifox
No Lifer
- Sep 30, 2005
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GAS ONE 200,000 BTU Square Heavy- Duty Single Burner Outdoor Stove Propane Gas Cooker with Adjustable 0-20PSI Regulator and Steel Braided Hose Perfect for Home Brewing, Turkey Fry, Maple Syrup Prep : Amazon.ca: Patio, Lawn & Garden
GAS ONE 200,000 BTU Square Heavy- Duty Single Burner Outdoor Stove Propane Gas Cooker with Adjustable 0-20PSI Regulator and Steel Braided Hose Perfect for Home Brewing, Turkey Fry, Maple Syrup Prep : Amazon.ca: Patio, Lawn & Garden
www.amazon.ca
Thanks for the links. The really important issue for me after watching and thinking about what I would like may be beyond my means to achieve. I get the impression there are two basic kinds of wok burners, those for stock pots and gentler heating and ones that can be quickly cranked up to produce an intense jet like flame. The idea on the latter is that the flame will surround the outside of the wok and go over the upper lip igniting the volitized oils that are produced. This produces taste called wok he which I find to be the most amazing think about Chinese food prepared over such a burner to be hard or impossible t do on a home range. It is also probably not good for your health either.
To do that, if you watch Chinese pros in action, the wok is set in a cast iron ring that allows the flame to engulf the wok and the wok is manipulated against the ring tossing the food inside into the igniting vapors. To do that right would require a very stable platform. It would be nice, also, of course, to have the wok ring surrounded by a running water mote and a sink to wash the wok between dishes.
Fortunately, I enjoy watching and learning as much and maybe even more than doing.
With some Costco pork loin I did recently made my own version of Japanese garlic butter fried rice, carrots, eggs, peas, onions, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds and oil, grape seed oil, Shaoxing wine, butter, white pepper, and Sriracha sauce on the side for me. Got complemented for it so that was nice to hear. Wok has also gotten nice and black and shiny and easy to clean too.
To do that, if you watch Chinese pros in action, the wok is set in a cast iron ring that allows the flame to engulf the wok and the wok is manipulated against the ring tossing the food inside into the igniting vapors. To do that right would require a very stable platform. It would be nice, also, of course, to have the wok ring surrounded by a running water mote and a sink to wash the wok between dishes.
Fortunately, I enjoy watching and learning as much and maybe even more than doing.
With some Costco pork loin I did recently made my own version of Japanese garlic butter fried rice, carrots, eggs, peas, onions, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds and oil, grape seed oil, Shaoxing wine, butter, white pepper, and Sriracha sauce on the side for me. Got complemented for it so that was nice to hear. Wok has also gotten nice and black and shiny and easy to clean too.
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