Danshan: the Yunnan Chili Dip that seems to go with everything.
One popular brand of a classic Yunnan spice mix is becoming increasingly internationally available. Here's how to use it.
There’s a foundational spice mix to the Yunnan province called zhanshuila (蘸水辣).
The stuff is… everywhere. People use it to dip tofu. People smear it inside of a grilled potato. People use it to dip fruit. It’s a staple at shaokao barbecue joints; it’s the hidden basis of more than a few dishes. In a province that’s - culinarily speaking - really more like three (North, West, and South at least), this is the stuff that binds it all together. If Creole seasoning is the taste of Louisiana, this is the taste of Yunnan.
Of course, as you can tell from the above picture, there’s not only one zhanshuila. There can be different chilis, there can be different spices in the mix (some can get quite complex). At their core, what they are is a mix of (1) toasted chili peppers (2) Sichuan peppercorn and (3) fennel seed (and of course, salt and MSG). All other elements are up to the spice-mixer (here you can see Dianxi Xiaoge’s, which is definitely one that’s more on the complex side).
It's the sort of thing – given our love for Yunnan food – that we’ve been meaning to cover… but I always do feel a little bad calling for a recipe-inside-of-a-recipe. Always the sort of thing that feels a little gratuitous as a recipe writer.
Luckily for us? Enter… Danshan.
Danshan is one popular brand of zhanshuila in Yunnan. So popular, in fact, that - ala Xerox and Kleenexes - the two are becoming increasingly synonymous. But even outside of Yunnan, during the pandemic the stuff became moderately viral on the Chinese internet - the subject of numerous ‘taste-test-challenges’ and the like (because it can go with practically anything). Danshan, logistically, seemed to hit the rise in demand in stride, and it’s now increasingly- supermarket-available throughout China.
And in the last couple years? It’s also become internationally available.
These will probably become dead links over time (sorry to those reading this in the future). But like… Weee’s got it. Yamibuy’s got it. 99Ranch’s got it. Even Amazon’s got it, albeit inclusive of the outrageous markup that Jeff Bezos demands of his vassals. We’ve seen it on shelves in Philly Chinatown, ditto with New York. If you’ve got a good Chinese supermarket, there’s a solid chance that they’ve got it there on their shelves.
How to Use Danshan
Ok. So you’ve grabbed your bag of Danshan. What next?
Well, you pop open the bag and give it a taste. It’s spicy, with enough of a kick to elicit sneezing. There’s a strong fragrance of Sichuan Pepper, and it’s loaded with a non-insignificant quantity of MSG.
Honestly, from there, you can dip practically anything that you think could possibly work. Grilled stuff, deep fried stuff, whatever. In a Chinese context, some grilled skewers are an obvious application. In a western context, I dunno, pan fried chicken or steak? Why not?
Of course, I know that “use with anything in any way” isn’t exactly super-helpful. So with this post, we wanted to teach you twelve ways to potentially use the stuff – the first eight authentic to Yunnan itself, the last four us playing around, getting creative, and using it in the context of western food.
Use #1: With Fruit
Just like chili salt in Southeast Asia, or maybe Tajín in Mexico… you can use Danshan to dip various fruits. In Yunnan, you can (again) find people dipping practically anything - like, shops that sell chopped fruit would mix Danshan together with strawberries. For us, enjoy fruits with a natural sourness to them, like sour green mango or pineapple.
You can either dip the fruit, or mix the Danshan in with them. The latter is our personal preference.
1. Sour Mango Dip 蘸青芒
Ingredients:
Sour mango (青芒果), ~100g. Sliced into 2-3mm pcs.
Danshan (单山蘸水), 1 tbsp.
Process:
Dip or mix.
2. Pineapple Dip 蘸菠萝
Ingredients:
Fresh pineapple (菠萝), ~100g. Sliced into one inch chunks.
Danshan (单山蘸水), 1 tbsp.
Process:
Dip or mix.
Use #2: Dry Dips
Probably the most iconic way that you see this mix used in Yunnan is as a dip for baojiang tofu (包浆豆腐) - a crispy-on-the-outside, melty-on-the-inside style of tofu unique to the province.
Baojiang tofu is, of course, the type of thing that someone in Yunnan would just waltz into their local market and purchase directly - not make at home. For a long time, we assumed that the tofu got its unique texture via some sort of crazy coagulation technique… but in actuality, it only needs a simple alkaline soak, and is a very straightforward project to make at home.
3. Crispy, Gooey Baojiang Tofu 包浆豆腐
Ingredients:
Firm tofu (北豆腐/老豆腐), 1 block or ~400g
Baking soda (小苏打), 8g
Salt, 2g
Water, 400g
Process:
Slice the tofu into 1cm/half inch thick sheets then into 3x3cm squares. Dissolve the salt and baking soda in the water, then add to a bowl together with the tofu. Soak for eight hours.
Drain the tofu, then rinse gently with cool water to rinse off a bit of the soda. Pat dry with a kitchen towel.
In Yunnan, these are then traditionally grilled, but we can also cook them (a little less conveniently) in a cast iron skillet.
To do so, heat up the pan, then swirl in ~2 tbsp oil.
Heat on medium low then, arrange the tofu in neatly, moving the pan around to fry them evenly. Fry until one side firms up and forms a “crust”, gently push that bottom crust to loosen it up then flip. Do the same with the other side.
4. Pan-fried Cheese 煎乳饼
Ingredients:
Yunnan Rubing -or- Paneer -or- halloumi (乳饼) ~250g. Yunnanese Cheese - Rubing - is a dead ringer for paneer (and produced via similar methods). They are direct substitutes for eachother. Halloumi or a similar frying cheese would also be delicious.
Danshan (单山蘸水), 1 tbsp.
Process:
Slice the cheese into ~1/2 cm thick slices.
Heat a wok or pan, and add 3 tbsp oil. Sprinkle in 1/2 tsp salt, and pan fry on medium for 1-2 minutes each side, until lightly golden brown.
Remove, drain, and dip with Danshan.
Use #3: Wet Dips
It’s actually as a wet dip that Danshan’s versatility really begins to shine through, I think.
You see, there’s a classic homestyle way of eating vegetables that you can find throughout Southwest China - in Yunnan, it’s classically called kucaitang (苦菜汤, or ‘bitter vegetable soup’); in Guizhou, suguadou (素瓜豆, ‘veggie, gourds, and beans’); in Sichuan, papacai (耙耙菜, ‘soft vegetable‘). We covered the approach before in our previous Vegetables in Water video, and it’s a super low-stress mise for the cook.
Basically, what you do is toss some vegetables (really, practically anything on the hearty side) into some boiling water, then shut off the heat and let the vegetable naturally cool down. The final serving temperature can be warm, it can be cool (ideally), or anything in between - it’s the perfect thing to do as ‘step one’ to a meal, and set it on the side as you’re sorting other stuff.
5. Vegetable in Water 苦菜汤/素瓜豆
Ingredients:
Any hearty vegetable, 500g. Kucai is classic in Yunnan, green beans and squash in Guizhou. Broccoli, Broccoli Rabe, Kale, or Collards would all work great.
Danshan (单山蘸水), 1 tbsp
Vegetable boiling water, ~4 tbsp.
Optional Additions:
Soy sauce (酱油), 1 tsp
Ginger (姜), minced, 1/2 inch or about 5-7g
Scallion (葱), minced, one small sprig
Salt, 1/4 tsp
MSG (味精), 1/4 tsp
Toasted sesame oil (香油/麻油), 1 tsp
Toasted sesame seed (熟白芝麻), 1 tsp
Process:
Toss your vegetable in a pot of boiling water, bring back up to a boil. Heat off, set aside until ready to eat.
In a separate bowl, mix the 4 tbsp vegetable water in with Danshan. You can additionally add any of the ‘optional additions’: in my opinion, soy sauce, ginger, and scallion is quite delicious.
Use #4: Oil-based Dips
You can also use Danshan to make a quick chili oil with. Because Danshan is based off of pre-toasted chilis, you’ll want to keep the oil temperature a bit lower than you’d be used to (or else the chilis can scorch). Pouring the oil in when it’s at a temperature of 80-120C is about right.
A very delicious main to go along with the Danshan chili oil is a bit of thinly sliced braised beef shin.
6. Beef Slices and Dip 卤牛肉油辣子蘸水
For the beef:
Beef shin, ~500g
Scallion (葱), 1 sprig
Ginger (姜), 1 inch. Smashed.
Liaojiu, a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒), 1 tsp
Sichuan peppercorn (花椒), 1/2 tsp
Fennel (小茴香), 1/4 tsp
Star anise (八角), 1 pc
For the dip:
Danshan (单山蘸水), 1 tbsp
Caiziyou (菜籽油), good quality peanut oil (花生油), or a mix of tallow and vegetable oil; 2 tbsp
Soy sauce (酱油), 1/2 tsp
Garlic (大蒜/蒜头), 1 big clove. Minced.
Optional additions to the dip:
Mint (薄荷), ~5g. Julienned.
Crushed toasted peanut (熟花生), 1/2 tsp
Chinese dark vinegar (陈醋), 1/4 tsp
Process:
Soak the beef in cool water for half hour to draw out some blood.
To cook the beef, place beef in a pot with enough to submerge it, bring to a boil. Skim as you see fit.
Then add in the liaojiu wine, the aromatics, and spices, cook on low for 1 hour or until a chopstick can easily poke through. Let it cool down in the liquid for at least one hour. Then take the beef out to let it dry and firm up, preferably in the fridge for overnight.
Slice out the portion you want to eat, thinly slice that part into 2-3mm thick pcs. Arrange on a plate.
To make the chili oil dip, to a heat-proof bowl, add in the Danshan. Heat up the oil to 120C, and pour it onto the chili. Mix, then add in the rest of the seasoning and aromatics.
Use #5: As a ‘base flavor’ in more complex mixed dishes
You can also use Danshan as a ‘base’ for something a bit more complicated.
One example might be the deep fried potatoes that you can find on the street throughout the Yunnan province. They come in a few different flavors and varieties, but often they’ll lean on a chili mix as a base and then build from there. You might also see the stuff used in this fashion as a base for rice noodle dishes and the like.
7. Yunnan Street Food Style Potatoes 炸洋芋（麻酱味）
Ingredients:
Fingerling potato (小洋芋), 500g. Or anything a bit more on the waxy side.
Danshan (单山蘸水), 1 tbsp
Salt, 1/8 tsp
MSG (味精), 1/8 tsp
Toasted sesame paste (芝麻酱), 1 tsp
Toasted sesame oil (香油/麻油), 1 tsp
Sichuan peppercorn oil (花椒油), 1/4 tsp
Garlic (大蒜/蒜头), 1 big clove. Minced.
Fresh spicy red chili (朝天椒/小米辣), 1 pc. Sliced.
Cilantro (芫荽/香菜), 1-2 sprigs. Chopped.
Process:
Peel your potato, halve it length wise, cut into a 1-inch wedge with a rolling cut. Rinse the potato pieces thoroughly to remove any surface starch.
Heat a pot of oil up to ~150C, and drop the potatoes in. This will lower the temperature, which is ok because we’re aiming to fry at around ~120C. Over a medium-high flame, deep fry the potatoes to your liking - we like them still soft but slightly crispy on the edge, ~7-8 minutes.
Remove and add immediately to a mixing bowl - no need to drain the oil (a touch of frying oil will help make the sauce).
Dilute the sesame paste with the sesame and Sichuan pepper oils, and toss it in with the potatoes. Add in everything besides the garlic, chilis, and cilantro and toss well to mix. Add in the remaining ingredients and roughly toss again.
Transfer to a bowl, and eat with a bamboo skewer for maximum Yunnan-street-food-authenticity-bonus-points.
8. Dai Style Rice Noodle Salad 傣味拌米线
Ingredients:
Fresh rice noodles, 150g -or- dried rice noodles, 90g. If using dried rice noodles, soak and cook the noodles according to their package.
Pineapple (菠萝), 200g. Chopped into ~1/2 inch chunks.
Cherry tomato (小番茄), 40g. Halved.
Carrot (胡萝卜), 30g. Julienned.
Onion (洋葱), 20g. Julienned.
Cilantro (芫荽/香菜), 15g. Minced.
Culantro (大芫荽), 15g. Minced.
Garlic, 1 big clove. Minced.
Spicy red chili (小米辣), 1 pc. Minced.
For the sauce:
Danshan (单山蘸水), 1.5 tbsp
Soy sauce (酱油), 1 tsp
Molasses (糖蜜), or dark brown sugar, 1 tsp
Rice vinegar (米醋), 1/2 tsp
Water, 2 tbsp
Salt, 1/4 tsp
MSG (味精), 1/8 tsp
*The molasses + vinegar + water is to sub a Yunnan style brown sugar vinegar. Use that if you happen to have some.
Process:
If using dried rice noodles, soak and cook the rice noodles according to their package.
Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the sauce. Add the sauce to the bowl, and with a washed, clean hand thoroughly mix everything together, 1-2 minutes.
Taste and add a bit more salt if needed. Transfer to a serving bowl.
Use #6: Cross-Cultural Silliness
Of course, whenever there’s an ingredient that enters your scene like Danshan… part of the fun is getting creative with it.
So, we wanted to give you a couple ideas on that front, but we also want to emphasize here that we’re not chefs. Like, we’re usually a lot more comfortable sharing with you stuff that’s out there and exists, instead of our random concoctions. The former is usually a lot more delicious.
So the following four recipes aren’t end-points. I think they can be improved, but they’re pretty delicious starting point nonetheless :)
9. American-style Yoghurt Dip 花旗凝乳酱
While we were brainstorming YouTube thumbnail ideas, one idea that was - thankfully - left on the cutting board was ‘China’s answer to Ranch Dressing’ (cue the second-hand cringe, I’m sure). Still, the thought nagged me whether I could use Danshan straight up like a ranch dip mix, use it to dip carrots and the like.
And actually? It’s… quite good, or at least as good as one of those simple dip mixes can be.
I used yoghurt mostly because that’s what’s 7-11 available here in Bangkok - I’m sure sour cream would also be tasty.
Ingredients:
Yoghurt, 120g.
Danshan, 2.5 tsp.
Salt, 1/8 tsp.
Optional: garlic powder, 1/16 tsp
Optional: sliced scallions
Process:
Mix all the above ingredients.
Eat with cucumbers or carrots or whatever.
10. American-style Hot Wings 花旗火凤翼
Alright, so the obvious question to me was whether Danshan could be used with American-style hot wings. As a dip with some plain deep fried wings, the results were a pretty resounding “obviously”, but I was wondering whether it could be added in sauce form, ala buffalo wings.
And the answer on that front is… ‘I think’? The problem is that over the years I’ve increasingly soured (pun not intended but relevant?) on certain American-style hot sauces like Frank’s. My theory is that they’re designed for and balanced around eaters potentially a bit more sensitive to spiciness than I am, because these days all I’m getting from Frank’s is… sourness. And it’s a harsh sourness, almost like I’m guzzling vinegar essence.
So I whipped up my standard buffalo wing recipe, and decided to add some Danshan to the mix. And the results were… alright? Better than buffalo sauce straight up? Still not my favorite, though.
So one thing led to another, we kept on making adjustments to the sauce, and our final result is in recipe #11 - the ‘Yunnan-inspired' Hot Wings.
Still, I wanted to leave the original hot-wing-plus-Danshan recipe up here as well, because I do think there’s potential there. Maybe Crystal or a Mexican hot sauce would give me a better base, or perhaps something garlicky like Sriracha could do the job.
Ingredients:
Chicken wings, 6 full. Cut into flats and drummettes.
Marinade for the chicken wings: (note that this is my own weird marinade, do whatever you like)
Salt, 1/4 tsp
Chicken bouillon powder, 1/2 tsp
Garlic powder, 1/8 tsp
White pepper powder, 1/4 tsp
Soy sauce, 1/4 tsp
Brandy, 1/2 tsp. Or whatever wine/liquor you got around (Shaoxing, Bourbon, etc)
Peanut oil, to coat
Hot Sauce, 3 tbsp
Margarine -or- Ghee -or- Butter, 2 tbsp. If you’re ok with the taste, I find margarine works best for buffalo-like sauces, consistency wise.
Danshan, 1 tbsp
Mix the chicken wings with the marinade. Let sit for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
Heat the butter-like-object in the microwave on low until quite soft, and beginning to melt. Mix the hot sauce, the butter-like-object, and the danshan. Adjust this to your taste, because I’m still not completely set on it.
Toss the wings with the sauce.
11. Yunnan-Inspired Hot Wings 滇味卤腐凤翼
Ingredients:
Chicken wings, 6 full. Cut into flats and drummettes.
Marinade for the chicken wings: (note that this is my own weird marinade, do whatever you like)
Salt, 1/4 tsp
Chicken bouillon powder, 1/2 tsp
Garlic powder, 1/8 tsp
White pepper powder, 1/4 tsp
Soy sauce, 1/4 tsp
Brandy, 1/2 tsp. Or whatever wine/liquor you got around (Shaoxing, Bourbon, etc)
Peanut oil, to coat
Garlic, 2 big cloves
Salt, 1/8 tsp
MSG (味精), 1/8 tsp
Furu, white fermented tofu (腐乳/卤腐), 1 cube
Juice from the fermented tofu jar (腐乳汁/卤腐汁), 1/2 tbsp
Rice vinegar (米醋), 1/2 tsp
Danshan (单山蘸水), 1 tbsp
Sichuan peppercorn powder, or oil (花椒油或花椒粉), 1/2 tsp
Cilantro (芫荽/香菜), 15g. Finely chopped.
Culantro (大芫荽), 10g. Finely chopped.
Scallion (小葱), 10g. Sliced.
Fresh spicy red chili (小米辣), 1-2. Sliced.
Process:
Mix the chicken wings with the marinade. Let sit for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
In a mortar, pound the garlic with salt and MSG into a paste. Then add in the fermented tofu and its sauce and pound until smooth. Mix in the vinegar.
Transfer this mixture to a bowl, and add in Danshan and Sichuan peppercorn oil/powder, then add in the wings and toss to coat. Add in the herbs and chili and give a final quick toss.
12. Yunnan-inspired Salad 彩虹清脆拌杂果
The genesis of this salad was basically just using up leftovers from this video. It was... quite tasty, and probably the biggest success of our ‘cross-cultural silliness’.
Ingredients:
Pineapple (菠萝), 200g. Cut into 2 cm cubes.
Cucumber (水果黄瓜), 100g. Cut into 2cm cubes.
Paneer (乳饼), 100g. Cut into 1 cm cubes.
Danshan (单山蘸水), 1 tbsp
Garlic, 1 big clove. Minced.
Fresh spicy red chili (小米辣), 1 pc. Sliced.
Cilantro (芫荽/香菜), 15g. Finely chopped.
Culantro (大芫荽), 15g. Finely chopped.
Salt, 1/4 tsp
MSG (味精), 1/4 tsp
Sichuan peppercorn oil (花椒油), 1/4 tsp
Optional: juice from a 1/4 of a lime or lemon
Optional: mujiangzi oil, a.k.a. May Chang oil (木姜子油), 3 drops
Process:
Chop all of the ingredients, then transfer to a large bowl. Add in the seasoning and mix well.
Homemade Danshan
Since releasing the video, we’ve found that a number of people unfortunately… can’t seem to source the stuff. We were probably overconfident on that front.
In any event, we tried our hardest to reverse engineer the bag for you all. This should have been included in the original video, apologies. Here’s a video to follow along:
Ingredients
Chili peppers, 20g. We used Sichuan Erjingtiaos. Guajillos might be nice. Aim for something medium-spicy and fragrant.
Sichuan peppercorns (花椒/青花椒), 1 tbsp. Preferably a green Sichuan pepper.
Fennel seed (小茴香), 2 tsp
White peppercorn, 1/2 tsp. Black pepper should also be ok
MSG (味精), 1 tsp
Salt, 1/2 tsp
Ginger powder, 1/2 tsp
Chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉), 1/2 tsp -or- an additional 1/2 tsp of MSG. The chicken powder is because Danshan contains a very savory umami additive called Disodium 5'-ribonucleotides, and our chicken powder contains the same additive. If you’re doesn’t (or if you’re a vegetarian), simply swap it for a little more MSG.
Process
Slice the chilis into a wok, then toast the chili peppers over a medium low flame until roughly ‘chestnut colored’, ~5 minutes. Remove, and jiggle in a spider to get out some of the seeds. Set aside.
Over a low flame, toast the spices until fragrant, ~2 minutes. Set aside.
Grind half of the chilis into a flake, and half into a fine powder. You should be looking at roughly ~3 tbsp worth in all.
Grind the spices into a fine powder. This should yield you ~2 tbsp.
Mix everything together.
I found it! Whee! has it in my area (Chicagoland)
Love Danshan, and this recipe list is epic, thank you! Do you have a recommendation for a starting ratio of ingredients if we wanted to make our own blend?