I found it by using google translate's photo feature while ambling around my local Asian grocer. They only had it in Gigantic, but holy moly is the consistency incredible! I would not have known to look for it without this video.
The stock is more easily made with frozen clam meat. Just 5-6 will do and 1 slab of daikon. I don’t know exactly why or what happens but this combo gives it a rich milky fishy broth
You guys remain perhaps the most comprehensive and thoughtful food content creators online. I monkeyed a bit with chili oils using an older Kenji recipe, and it was so good. This might get me back in the game. I live near a good Mexican market that has a great variety of dried chiles. Time to experiment I think.
So interesting, thank you for this very comprehensive article. I was surprised to learn than Dunlop uses Korean Gochujang for her chilli oil - is this a recent development? My original copy of her first book calls for facing heaven chillies, which are hard to find now in London (as are REALLY excellent Sichuan peppercorns). I have been using a mix of different chillies to please my own palate, but not gochujang.
Hard to say what the ratio of Chinese-ancestry people to Korean-ancestry people actually is in the U.K., but I agree it’s very likely there are more from the Chinese side. Overall the percentage of UK population identifying as being East Asian is tiny, though - like 1% when I last checked, and many are clustered in & around London, Manchester, etc.
And Korean food/ingredients are only recently popular, too. It’s the “new thing” just as Thai food was 30 years ago.
I’ve been watching gochujang and siracha making inroads into the British palate much as Thai sweet chilli once did, noting that while the spice tolerance is increasing all three items are on the sweet side! That’s supermarket-level analysis, though. People shopping in Chinese supermarkets are doing so for a reason.
Hi, this is unrelated to the post but hoping to get your attention: this old video on Huangmenji (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxapmjCnDEk) seems to not have your original English sound available, only horrible Youtube AI voices. Anything you could do to restore it? Thank you!
Yes, the original track didn't appear at all in the list on a browser, and so the default on mobile where you can't select the track was in Spanish. It seems to work again now though, thanks for the response!
A question I've had for a while: should I wash the whole chilis I find at Chinese supermarkets per the package directions? I've seen the videos of rats scurrying out of dried chili piles but I've never washed them because I wasn't sure how that would affect the process.
This is incredible. With the old oil, have you ever tried skipping the ciba step? As in, making it with the workhorse chilli ground up instead of ciba-fying it
Haven’t tried this before. In some ways, Ciba is actually easier to work with than fried-ground-flakes: it’s less finicky, doesn’t *require* the overnight rest, and lends itself better to the food processor :)
This is an incredible resource! Thank you so much! As for the pickled chilis, you mention that they are likely impossible to source, but it seems at first glance like something very easy to make. Is it the kind of thing that would commonly be made at home? Is it more complex than just peppers in brine left to ferment, what would a standard salt percentage be?
This post also brings up the ever recurring question of vegetarian stock. You have an old video on it that works great for me, but is that what youd recommend here too? Or is there a different approach since then?
When it comes to a fancier vegetarian stock, our old video is still a very good recipe. My only criticism of that video (like our other stocks video) was that it presented an overly narrow view - there are simpler and more common vegetarian stocks out there :) Our old Buddha’s Delight video had something more homestyle IIRC?
But yeah, that fancy vegetarian stock would work great here
As for the pickled chilis, we will try to cover the ingredient. Should be something possible to make at home - it’s basically a brine, and fermented until very sour. Unfortunately we don’t have any information in addition to that right now :/
j/k j/k… honestly having more calories come from vegetables, eating somewhat less ultra-processed food, and most people living in at least somewhat walkable cities… can do a lot of heavy lifting.
It’s easy to get overweight in China (especially if you love food), but it’s hard to get truly obese
Caiziyou, or, rapeseed oil, can be easily found online. (yamibuy.com for one)
Happy cooking!
Thanks for the tip!
I found it by using google translate's photo feature while ambling around my local Asian grocer. They only had it in Gigantic, but holy moly is the consistency incredible! I would not have known to look for it without this video.
The stock is more easily made with frozen clam meat. Just 5-6 will do and 1 slab of daikon. I don’t know exactly why or what happens but this combo gives it a rich milky fishy broth
You guys remain perhaps the most comprehensive and thoughtful food content creators online. I monkeyed a bit with chili oils using an older Kenji recipe, and it was so good. This might get me back in the game. I live near a good Mexican market that has a great variety of dried chiles. Time to experiment I think.
Wow, encyclopaedic! Haven't finished reading it yet, but just wanted to say thanks for all the time and effort you poured into this 💐.
So interesting, thank you for this very comprehensive article. I was surprised to learn than Dunlop uses Korean Gochujang for her chilli oil - is this a recent development? My original copy of her first book calls for facing heaven chillies, which are hard to find now in London (as are REALLY excellent Sichuan peppercorns). I have been using a mix of different chillies to please my own palate, but not gochujang.
I could be mistaken? Would need to double check my copy of Food of Sichuan. It’s possible that I hallucinated that
It’s also weird because we have plenty of great Chinese supermarkets here and way more Chinese people than Koreans live here?
It’s also weird because we have plenty of great Chinese supermarkets here and way more Chinese people than Koreans live here?
It’s also weird because we have plenty of great Chinese supermarkets here and way more Chinese people than Koreans live here?
It’s also weird because we have plenty of great Chinese supermarkets here and way more Chinese people than Koreans live here?
Hard to say what the ratio of Chinese-ancestry people to Korean-ancestry people actually is in the U.K., but I agree it’s very likely there are more from the Chinese side. Overall the percentage of UK population identifying as being East Asian is tiny, though - like 1% when I last checked, and many are clustered in & around London, Manchester, etc.
And Korean food/ingredients are only recently popular, too. It’s the “new thing” just as Thai food was 30 years ago.
I’ve been watching gochujang and siracha making inroads into the British palate much as Thai sweet chilli once did, noting that while the spice tolerance is increasing all three items are on the sweet side! That’s supermarket-level analysis, though. People shopping in Chinese supermarkets are doing so for a reason.
Absolutely fascinating.
Hi, this is unrelated to the post but hoping to get your attention: this old video on Huangmenji (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxapmjCnDEk) seems to not have your original English sound available, only horrible Youtube AI voices. Anything you could do to restore it? Thank you!
Huh. Seems to be the default on my end? Are you unable to select the audio track?
Yes, the original track didn't appear at all in the list on a browser, and so the default on mobile where you can't select the track was in Spanish. It seems to work again now though, thanks for the response!
I love chili 🌶️
In the UK we grow a lot of rape and you can easily get extra virgin rapeseed oil. I wonder if that would be good/better than mustard seed oil.
Just want to say Thank You for writing these!
A question I've had for a while: should I wash the whole chilis I find at Chinese supermarkets per the package directions? I've seen the videos of rats scurrying out of dried chili piles but I've never washed them because I wasn't sure how that would affect the process.
This is incredible. With the old oil, have you ever tried skipping the ciba step? As in, making it with the workhorse chilli ground up instead of ciba-fying it
Haven’t tried this before. In some ways, Ciba is actually easier to work with than fried-ground-flakes: it’s less finicky, doesn’t *require* the overnight rest, and lends itself better to the food processor :)
Gotcha. On a separate note - I imagine most of these would freeze very well beyond the 3 month fridge shelf life?
For sure. Also, the 3 month shelf life is definitely on the conservative side.
This is an incredible resource! Thank you so much! As for the pickled chilis, you mention that they are likely impossible to source, but it seems at first glance like something very easy to make. Is it the kind of thing that would commonly be made at home? Is it more complex than just peppers in brine left to ferment, what would a standard salt percentage be?
This post also brings up the ever recurring question of vegetarian stock. You have an old video on it that works great for me, but is that what youd recommend here too? Or is there a different approach since then?
When it comes to a fancier vegetarian stock, our old video is still a very good recipe. My only criticism of that video (like our other stocks video) was that it presented an overly narrow view - there are simpler and more common vegetarian stocks out there :) Our old Buddha’s Delight video had something more homestyle IIRC?
But yeah, that fancy vegetarian stock would work great here
As for the pickled chilis, we will try to cover the ingredient. Should be something possible to make at home - it’s basically a brine, and fermented until very sour. Unfortunately we don’t have any information in addition to that right now :/
Chinese food? My fav.
BTW. Ever notice that most Chinese are slender? You don't see a lot of fat Chinese people.
This is Northern Chinese erasure
j/k j/k… honestly having more calories come from vegetables, eating somewhat less ultra-processed food, and most people living in at least somewhat walkable cities… can do a lot of heavy lifting.
It’s easy to get overweight in China (especially if you love food), but it’s hard to get truly obese
My favorite food.
I have no idea how I stumbled on this but thank you. This is an incredible source of info.