Fermented Chili Sauce from Guizhou, Lao Gan Ma's birthplace (贵州糟辣椒)

This style of chili sauce can be found throughout southwest China... spanning from Yunnan to Hunan (where it's called 'duojiao', or chopped chilis). It's an awesome sauce for many dishes...

So Zaolajiao (糟辣椒) is a chili sauce commonly seen in southwest China. You may've heard it as 'Zaolazi (糟辣子)' in Yunnan, or the more common and popular 'Duojiao (辣子)' from Hunan. For the chili sauce in these regions, they're more or less the same. The difference usually lies in the chili cultivar they use and the ingredient ratio.

For example, in Hunan they would use a spicier 'xiaomila (小米辣)' cultivar and more salt, resulting in a spicier and saltier chili sauce, while in Guizhou they would use a 'xianjiao (线椒)' cultivar and have a more sour note from the lacto fermentation. And given how crazy we're into Guizhou food, this week we're making the Guizhou version.

First, let's talk cultivars. In Guizhou they would use this kind of chili that's called 'Xianjiao'. It kind of taste like a mix between Kashmiri and Sichuan erjingtiao. For you, you can use a mix of Kashmiri for color, and cayenne for heat.

Before we start, here’s a couple notes on ingredients.

How to Use Dried Chilis/Chili Available in the West

So I know that fresh red chilis are frustratingly difficult to find in the west at times - particularly at the ~10-20k SVU range we're looking at here.

In the USA at least, it seems the most commonly available fresh red chili is the fresno chili. In some places, you can also find red jalapenos, red serranos, or Korean cheongyang chili peppers. While these wouldn't exactly be the same as what we're doing, I think there's wisdom in localizing stuff re chili peppers.

Alternatively, you can use dried-and-reconstituted chilis. We haven't tested this, so this advice is from our awesome Patron "Sauerkrause", who's a bit of a home fermentation aficionado (and always a huge help). He recommends no more that 2/3 dried chilis though - you do need a bit of life in there. Another route would be to use dried chilis, but seed it with a bit of liquid from fermenting vegetables - bonus points if it's a chili or pepper ferment. So.

Route #1: Use All Fresnos/Red Jalapenos/Cheongyangs/etc

Not the same taste, but will still be tasty. Red Jalapenos is what Sriracha USA uses, so maybe there's some precedent for the sub. You can also add a bit of fresh Thai bird's eye to up the heat a touch.

Route #2: Use 1/3 Fresnos/etc, 1/3 Dried Kashmiri Chilis, 1/3 Dried Cayennes

Guizhou Xianjiao, after all, tastes a bit like a cross between Kashmiri and Erjingtiao (which's a variety of Cayenne). These chilis are available on Amazon. Reconstitute your chilis overnight with a cold water soak, and dry off the surface water. Base off of your POST RECONSTITUTED WEIGHT. So we'd be looking at 600g reconstituted kashmiris, 600g reconstituted cayenne, 600g Fresnos or whatever.

Route #3: Use 1/2 Dried Kashmiris, 1/2 Dried Cayennes, Seed with a Starter

Make any sort of vegetable ferment you like. For this purpose, we could use bell pepper. Fill a mason jar with a 3% brine (e.g. 2 cups water, ~14g salt), then submerge your pepper. Once you can see some bubbles forming, you know it's alive. Enjoy your fermented pepper, transfer 90g of the brine into your jar with the reconstituted kasmiris/cayennes and such.

For the Baijiu Liquor

For the Baijiu... if you'd like, you can pick up a bottle of Ming River, which's the international brand of Luzhou Laojiao.

AFAIK it's one of the few premium Baijiu's available in the West. While it would generally be a bit odd to use a premium baijiu for cooking, baijiu is one of those things where when it comes to drinking, the price point really matters. Cheap baijiu like erguotou is $8-17 in the West. If you're looking at the lower bound of that range, I'd use the cheap one for sure. If you're looking at the upper bound of that range, I'd personally just drop the extra $15 to get something where the remaining 660mL is tasty. Personal preference and all.

Note that we did get that bottle of Ming River for free from them, but we're not getting paid to say nice things about them (because apparently we're the worst internet marketers ever, you can check out the pinned comment under the video for the full story). I just think they're doing a good job - it's a tasty Baijiu.

About the vessel

So the water seal fermentation vessel that we use is called a 'fermentation crock' or “腌菜缸/泡菜坛子” in Chinese. They're traditionally used in Germany too. You can absolutely use mason jars instead if you prefer.

Zaolajiao, Guizhou’s Fermented Chili Sauce

• Fresh red chilis, 1.8kg (100%)

• Ginger, 180g (10%)

• Garlic, 180g (10%)

• Baijiu liquor (白酒) or vodka or gin, 90mL (5%)

• Salt, 90g (5%)

• Sugar, 36g (2%)

Remove the stems from 1.8kg of fresh red chilis, being careful not to break the top. Then thoroughly wash the chilis. Leave the chilis to dry for a few hours under the sun to remove excess water from washing, make sure the surface doesn’t have water on it.

Slice the dried chilis into 1 inch pieces. Peel 180g each of garlic and ginger. Pulse the chilis, garlic, and ginger in a blender until everything's in small bits.

Mix in 90g salt, 36g sugar, and 90mL of baijiu (or your chosen alcohol).

Transfer the mixture to mason jars or a fermentation crock and ferment for at least 15 days. Make sure the ring of the fermentation crock always has water so that the chili is not in contact with air, the bacteria in which may contaminate it.

Notes:

1. Try to find C. Annum chilis in the ~10k SVU range, but use what you can find if these aren't available.

2. The mixture will continue to improve with time beyond the initial 15-day fermentation period.

3. Percentages given for ingredients are based on the weight of the chilis.