The Depth and Quiet Richness of Chilli, All Hidden in This Fermented Food
Foodthink Says
In fact, lactic acid fermentation can preserve food just as effectively and safely. In this episode of The Alchemy of Food, Foodthink invites you to discover this appetite-whetting, refreshing fermented delicacy – sour chilli – with detailed video and illustrated guides at the end of the article. We have also invited our contributor Liuyi to write about her story as a Hunanese who simply cannot be happy without chilli, and her tale of the hometown’s chopped chilli.
With the weather turning cold, why not try making your own sour chilli and warm your belly?
I
Before I was born, the bridge across the river had not yet been built, so everyone crossed back and forth by ferry at the wharf. Now the busy ferries are long gone, leaving only a modest paifang – a traditional memorial archway – at the old ferry landing, called Baima Pavilion. A couplet is carved on its pillars: “A precious raft from the west gallops with the white steed; the Great River rolls east, washing the golden dragon,” with the inscription “East and west upon a single reed.”
From the riverbank leading up to the county’s main street, running from northeast to southwest, there is a T-junction and a crossroads in sequence, known locally as Third Pailou and Fourth Pailou, after the archways that once stood there. As a child, I most often had my breakfast near Fourth Pailou. The options there were wonderfully diverse – little stalls selling fried flatbread and stir-fried noodles, and on every side, shop after shop brimming with everything from bread and milk to Chinese steamed buns, rice noodles with assorted stir-fried toppings, and even morning tea served to the public at the Quncheng Hotel.
Now, let me tell you about the sights and tastes of my hometown.
On Kaiyun North Road, in a little lane opposite Baishi Lane, every fifth day from the fifth of each lunar month a bustling periodic market – a gǎnchǎng – springs to life, packed with small traders from town and countryside alike. I used to dislike walking that street; the noise of the crowds pressed me forward relentlessly, and I found it all rather chaotic.
The county government once tried to abolish the periodic market, tidying up the disorderly congestion in an effort to earn the title of civilised city. But the policy proved impossible to enforce, because people had long grown accustomed to their market days. Everyone needed the gǎnchǎng. If all you could see were the standardised, mass-produced goods on supermarket shelves, with none of the distinctive local produce from the countryside, how dull and joyless that would be.
Farmers from the villages would bring dried small fish, dried shrimp and other dried goods, along with home-pickled radish skins, earth silkworms (Chinese artichokes), Jerusalem artichokes, sword beans and other pickled vegetables, and a host of unexpected ingredients and aromatics. Between buyer and seller there was a constant flicker of eyebrows and calls across the stalls, with laughter, feigned anger and a wonderfully lively culture of haggling that pulsed through the streets.
II
There were many varieties of chilli, though not all were suited to pickling. The twisted chilli, for instance, with its wave-like wrinkled skin and jade-green colour, has a moderate heat and thick flesh – ideal for stir-frying fresh, where it is crisp, juicy and refreshing. But it was the thin-skinned chilli that was the best choice for preserving: small, slender, and evenly shaped, like a finger.
Chopped chilli is a classic seasoning in Hunan cuisine, known to almost every Hunanese person. Its basic method is simple: chillies are finely chopped, mixed thoroughly with salt, packed into a jar, and sealed with baijiu (Chinese distilled spirit) poured over to submerge them.
Different families add their own touches according to preference – slices of ginger, sword beans, fermented black beans and other flavourings. Although chopped chilli is a preserved food, it carries no sourness; its flavour is uniquely salty and savoury. If no spirit is added, it becomes sour chilli.
I still remember the street corner where Kaiyun North Road crossed Qingyun East Road, with a red tarpaulin pitched up as evening fell. The winter wind, carrying a damp chill, seeped through our collars. The three of us huddled together, shivering as we made our way to that tent glowing red under the energy-saving lamps. The stall owner outside was working the wok, tossing and stirring with the ladle; we gave him a small nod of greeting, pushed through the curtain, and dove straight into this haven of cosy warmth.
The tent was not large, barely roomy enough for six small folding tables placed close together. The seats were the most ordinary stackable red plastic stools, and the canvas walls were tightly sealed against the wind – a great comfort to bodies numbed by the damp cold.
Outside, a series of resonant clangs rang out, sharp and powerful, and then the stall owner’s wife appeared inside the tent, balancing a steaming plate of chopped-chilli egg fried rice, smiling warmly as she set it down before us three.
III
That jar of lard, bottle of chopped chilli, and pot of cured pork sizzled in dried-chilli oil – these three staples Grandma had packed for Dad. The tradition, like the bloodline itself, passed naturally on to my mother and me. Whenever I was away on a long stay, Mum would always prepare an assortment of smoked and cured meats and fermented tofu, packed from home just the way I liked them.
Alas, in my inexperienced youth, how many flavours I swallowed whole without ever truly tasting them. There were so many people, places and things in my hometown, yet I truly understood so little – even though I had grown up there. As for the celebrated sights, I had climbed Zhurong Peak only once, and Guanxiang Islet, right at my doorstep – I had never once set foot on it. How laughable.
By the same reasoning, the little I knew of my hometown was but a drop in the ocean.
And yet I truly love it – how I love it, I cannot say.
It is only because my earliest knowledge and impressions were all drawn from it. Every fleeting image in memory seems fused to the whole of who I am – in every small event there is a me, and in every longing there is it. I wish to be a messenger, steeping in my heart every sight and story worth telling, crying out the elegance of Mount Heng as the wild geese do on their journeys through warmth and cold.
To make sour chilli, you will need:
First, wash the chillies, small yellow ginger and garlic, and pat them dry. Soak the soybeans in advance and cook until tender.
Next, finely chop the dried chillies, crush the garlic, and slice or mince the small yellow ginger.
Once all the ingredients are prepared, place them in a clean container, add 3–6% salt to taste with a pinch of sugar (salt-to-sugar ratio of approximately 3:1) and mix thoroughly.
Q: Why Must Salt Be Added When Fermenting Sour Chilli?
2. It hardens the pectin in plant cell-wall compounds, making the vegetables crisper while slowing the rate at which enzymes break down the pectin, preserving a satisfying crunch and preventing the vegetables from becoming too soft.
3. It creates a selective environment, reducing the number of bacterial species able to thrive there and, through natural selection, giving salt-tolerant lactic acid bacteria a competitive advantage. (Quoted from Sandor Ellix Katz, The Art of Fermentation)
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Once fermented, sour chilli is best stored in the refrigerator, as this slows the rate of fermentation and extends its shelf life.
Sour chilli makes a wonderful accompaniment to stir-fried dishes – it goes perfectly with rice. Pickling white radish in sour chilli is another excellent option. Have a go and try it yourself!
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Editor: Shitongjun