| If you’ve ever been to a local Chinese restaurant (饭馆儿 fànguǎnr) in China then it’s almost guaranteed that there will be a pot of chilli sauce on the table. Chinese chilli sauce (辣椒酱 làjiāojiàng) is also often referred to as chilli oil (辣椒油 làjiāo yóu) in English. 辣椒油 làjiāo yóu can refer to both a chilli oil type sauce as well as chilli infused oil which we’ll be talking about later. In Chinese there are multiple different names and varieties of chilli sauce/oil. Many regions have their own specific type of chilli sauce so let’s have a look at some of the most common.  Fried chilli oil 油辣椒 yóu làjiāo This popular type of Chinese chilli sauce is a Guizhou-style chilli oil. The main distinguishing feature of this condiment is that it’s made from fried bits of ground chilli and other crispy bits like garlic, onion, soy beans etc. This kind of chilli oil is around 90% “crisp” and 10% oil. It is popular to use in stir fries, soups as a dressing for cold dishes and as a dipping sauce. Sichuan chilli sauce 川味红油 chuān wèi hóng yóu Next up we have Sichuan chilli oil. You of course can’t talk about chilli sauces without mentioning the king of spice Sichuan! For anyone familiar with Sichuan cuisines you won’t be surprised to hear that Sichuan peppercorns (花椒 huājiāo “flower pepper”) are a key feature in this sauce. It also differs from fried chilli oil because it has a higher ratio of oil to solids being about 70% solids and 30% oil. Two popular Sichuanese dishes featuring this sauce are spicy wontons 红油抄手 hóng yóu chāoshǒu and dan dan noodles 担担面 dàndàn miàn. As you’ll see with most Chinese chilli sauces, this is a popular condiment for a variety of cold dishes (凉菜 liángcài). Chopped chilli sauce 剁辣椒酱 duò làjiāo jiàng Hailing from Hunan we have chopped chilli sauce. The word 剁 duò literally means “chop” so its name is pretty self-explanatory. Often, you’ll also see the name shortened to simply 剁椒 duò jiāo meaning “chopped peppers”. Unlike the previous two chilli sauces this one is made from fresh chopped red chillies which are then pickled in a brine solution. Usually garlic and ginger are also added to the chillies. The resulting flavour is a salty, sour, pickled taste. Although this chilli sauce looks like it’s going to be really spicy with the bright red cut up chillies, it’s actually a lot milder than you think. In general, it’s normally less spicy than fried chilli sauce or Sichuan chilli sauce, so is a good option for those who can’t handle spice too well! As you’d expect this chilli sauce is used in a lot of Hunan cuisine. One of the most popular dishes it’s used in is Hunan steamed fish head 剁椒鱼头 duòjiāo yútóu. |
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