Sichuan Hot Chili Pepper Chicken 辣子雞

[eje]

La Zi Ji is out.

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Was looking at recipes for this last weekend and went shopping for chile bean paste at lunch-time today.

All the chile bean sauces except one called "Chile with Salted Black Bean" had MSG.

Is "Chile with Salted Black Bean" close to what I need? Or do I need to find another Asian grocery?

-Erik

[hzrt8w]

All the chile bean sauces except one called "Chile with Salted Black Bean" had MSG.

Is "Chile with Salted Black Bean" close to what I need?  Or do I need to find another Asian grocery?

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Erik: The "Chile with Salted Black Bean" sounds like the sauce for Cantonese dishes. For this "La zi ji" (Sichuan Hot Pepper Chicken) dish, you don't need that. Take a look at the link I provided for the ingredients. That recipe used dried hot chiles, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorn, plus some cooking wine, sugar, dark soy sauce and MSG. You may use some chile bean sauce if you like.

Let me know if you want that pictorial pages translated.

And this may be what you were looking for:

Chile Bean Sauce

99 Ranch Market has a pretty good selection for Asian ingredients. Where you are, the closet one would probably be the one in Daly City:

Daly City Store

250 Skyline Plaza

Daly City, CA 94015

There is also another one in Richmond, and one in Foster City.

[eje]

Ah Leung,

Thanks!

That helps a lot. The 99 Ranch in Daly City is a short drive from my house; but, I'll try to track it down first at some smaller Asian groceries near work today. I think I had the right thing in my hand yesterday, but, put it back for the wrong one.

-Erik

Erik: The "Chile with Salted Black Bean" sounds like the sauce for Cantonese dishes.  For this "La zi ji" (Sichuan Hot Pepper Chicken) dish, you don't need that.  Take a look at the link I provided for the ingredients.  That recipe used dried hot chiles, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorn, plus some cooking wine, sugar, dark soy sauce and MSG.  You may use some chile bean sauce if you like.

Let me know if you want that pictorial pages translated.

And this may be what you were looking for:

Chile Bean Sauce

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[hzrt8w]

My neighborhood favorite restaurant "New Hong Kong Wok" offers their version of Sichuan Hot Chili Pepper Chicken. I sampled it last night and I was hooked. The taste of dried chili pepper and Sichuan peppercorn was just wonderful.

I did some more searching on the web, and found this page (in Chinese but there are 2 pictures):

http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.x...ent_1722809.htm

正宗重慶辣子雞（圖解）

According to this write up:

　　注意:

    1.辣椒和花椒可以隨自己的口味添加, 不過為了原汁原味的體現這道菜的特色, 做好的成品最好是辣椒能全部把雞蓋住, 而不是雞塊中零零星星出現幾個辣椒和花椒.

    2. 炸雞前往雞肉裏撒鹽, 一定要撒足, 如果炒雞的時候再加鹽, 鹽味是進不了雞肉的, 因為雞肉的外殼已經被炸幹, 質地比較緊密, 鹽只能附著在雞肉的表面, 影響味道.

    3. 炸雞用的油一定要燒得很熱, 否則雞肉下去很長時間外表都不會炸幹的, 就算等了半天炸幹了, 那就真的是幹了, 一團死肉, 很難吃, 完全沒口感可言. 所以火一定要大, 外面炸脆了, 裏面還相對較嫩。

(Translation)

The key to making this dish:

1. You may use more or less dried chili pepper and Sichuan peppercorn as you like. The best is have all the hot chilis covering the chicken, and not just a few chilis mixed with the chicken pieces.

2. You should use salt to marinate the chicken meat before deep-frying. If you only add salt while stir-frying the chicken later, the outside of the chicken meat is already dry from the deep-frying so the salty taste will not infiltrate into the meat.

3. The oil you use to deep-fry the chcken meat must be very hot, so that the meat is crispy on the outside while still tender on the inside. If the oil is not hot enough, you end up having to deep-fry the chicken for too long and the meat becomes hard.

I followed these advices and reproduced this dish at home tonight and they are very good. (No picture though... sorry... may be next time.) I got hooked on this dish now. The numbing taste of the Sichuan peppercorn is irresistable! No wonder that they said Cantonese food is bland. Ha Ha... Ha ha...

[jhirshon]

Ah Leung or others - an actual recipe for this dish would be very much appreciated, if possible.

cheers, JH

[AlexBernardo]

The numbing taste of the Sichuan peppercorn is irresistable!  No wonder that they said Cantonese food is bland.  Ha Ha... Ha ha...   

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hzrt8w. I thought Sichuan peppercorn has been banned in CA?

[hzrt8w]

hzrt8w. I thought Sichuan peppercorn has been banned in CA?

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Used to be... not anymore. Is CA different from the rest of the USA regarding lifting the ban?

From this web page:

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Szechuan_pepper

Until very recently there was a long-standing ban on the importation of this pepper. A couple of years ago the FDA banned the importation of Szechuan (Sichuan) Peppercorns because they were carrying a citrus canker virus. This virus could potentially harm the foliage of citrus crops in the U.S. It was never an issue of harm in human consumption. Recently the USDA and FDA have lifted the ban, provided the peppercorns are heated to around 160 degrees Farenheit (which kills the canker virus) before importation.

Edited May 15, 2006 by hzrt8w (log)

[AlexBernardo]

Is CA different from the rest of the USA regarding lifting the ban?

Recently the USDA and FDA have lifted the ban, provided the peppercorns are heated to around 160 degrees Farenheit (which kills the canker virus) before importation.

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I would think CA followed suit, but hard to assume considering how much stricter CA is when it comes to these issues.

But now I'm wondering how the flavor of Sichuan peppercorns would be affected by the heat treatment. Fortunately I still have a stash purchased abroad well before the ban took place

[hzrt8w]

[...]

Fortunately I still have a stash purchased abroad well before the ban took place 

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Me too. I did not cook Sichuan style too often so I didn't pay enough attention. I learned from this board that the potency of the Sichuan peppercorn has only a very short life-span. Recently I tasted a few Sichuan style dishes from different restaurants and I compared them to the ones I made at home using my "stock" peppercorn, I can clearly tell the difference (the "numbing" effect). I am going to ditch what remains in my cupboard and buy another pack from the grocery market.

The Sichuan peppercorns shown in one of the pictures in the link in my earlier post seem really fresh because they still have the bright red color. I will aim to buy something similar. Hopefully I can find them.

[jo-mel]

From what I've read, the heat used to make the peppercorns 'legal' is only 140'. Just enough to neuter any offending canker they may carry. That small amount of heat is not supposed to affect the heat of the peppercorns that much ---- especially when you think of the heat used to toast the peppercorns before grinding -- that some recipies ask. That is heat!

[hzrt8w]

The Sichuan peppercorns shown in one of the pictures in the link in my earlier post seem really fresh because they still have the bright red color.  I will aim to buy something similar.  Hopefully I can find them.

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I easily located a pack of Sichuan peppercorn today (the label read "dried peppercorn" but you can tell from the look of the peppercorn). They have bright red color, and look just like those in the picture. US$1.75 for 4 oz. I did a side-by-side taste test between my old Sichuan peppercorn and the new one. The difference is night and day! Chewing some of the old ones, didn't feel much. Chewing some of the new ones... Phewwww! The dominating numbing taste rushed to the top of the tongue! My tongue muscles are still jumping as I type. Powerful stuff! Said goodbye to my jar of old peppercorn. Not worth keeping...

[hzrt8w]

I found that the dried chili peppers did not seem to bring a lot of heat to the dish. Last round I used about 40 dried chilis. Even my wife, who cannot eat hot food, said the dish did not seem to be hot. Unless one add some chili sauce when making this dish, the dried chilis alone did not seem to bring a lot of heat to the taste. And no wonder I see restaurants use 200 to 400 chilis making it.

[jokhm]

I don't know what it is, but the chilies used for these dishes in china is not nearly as strong as the average dry red chili one finds in north america. So when these dishes are cooked here you CAN eat or nibble on the chilies and get quite a rush of flavour without killing yourself. I don't remember ever doing that in Canada.

And as for the neutered peppercorns.. I'd be hesitant to refer to them as fresh after being subjected to that kind of treatment.. but only based on the fact that slightly unfresh peppercorns are nearly useless compared to the real stuff. OR I'm always being nearly unfresh peppercorns myself..

[hzrt8w]

Fresh or unfresh (Sichuan peppercorn) I cannot tell. But the effect on the tongue when chewing on some is unmistakable. Even heat-treated, one peppercorn can make my tongue muscles jump. Powerful stuff.

[hzrt8w]

Ah Leung or others - an actual recipe for this dish would be very much appreciated, if possible.

cheers, JH

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JH:

I have it now!

Sichuan Chili Pepper Chicken (辣子雞丁)

[hzrt8w]

One thing that has been puzzling me is that how the dried red chili peppers in the Chili Pepper Chicken dishes made in restaurants stay so red and shiny? When I fried the red chili peppers (as the first thing in cooking this dish), they turned dark brown or even black very quickly. What is the secret that they can keep the dried chilis so bright red and shiny?

[muichoi]

Simply by not cooking them by themselves for very long-means that most of the hotness doesn't come out as well.