Jing is from Guangxi province in southern China. Southern cuisines in China tend to use chili peppers in their recipes, with the very notable exception of Cantonese. We use three types of chilies in most of our recipes. Click these links to open a list of the recipes for each type in a separate tab:
Chinese Er Jing Tao Chili peppers:
The most popular peppers in Sichuan, they are several inches long, with moderate heat, and deep red color. They are used in their red and green forms in several of our dishes. The ubiquitous doubanjiang red bean paste used in many Sichuan dishes is made with erjingtiao peppers. We have not located a source for the green pepper in the United States, but freshly dried er jing tiao can be rehydrated and work quite well. They are good in many stir fries.
Chinese Zi Dan Tou “bullet head” Chao Tian Jiao “Facing Heaven” Chili Peppers:
The Zi Dan Tou variety of Chinese Chao Tian Jiao chili peppers is very popular in Sichuan and often used in Kung Pao chicken. The Xiao Mi La peppers give real heat to Kung Pao chicken, whereas the Chao Tian Jiao are milder.
In my recipe testing, I have found I prefer the flavor of these chao tian jiao chili peppers when making Hot and Sour Shredded Potatoes.
Chinese Xiao Mi La “Millet” Chili Peppers:
This is a short, hot chili pepper, about 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) in length. The xiao mi la chili peppers are the hottest of the Chinese chilies, though not quite as hot as Thai chili peppers. Jing is from Guangxi so she uses these in many of her recipes. To reduce the heat, leave them intact, but for maximum spiciness, chop them up to release the oils in the seeds when cooking.
You can substitute other types of peppers for some of these. I have substituted Mexican Chile de Arbol for Xiao Mi La. They have similar heat, but slightly different flavor.
Judging the Quality of Dried Chinese Chili Peppers
Fresh dried peppers have a rich red color, and some oil in the skin. When a pepper is dried to the point that the skin is nothing but a husk, translucent or pale in color, then the pepper is too old for use. The flavor is gone. When you crack open these dried out peppers, a reddish powder pours out. This was the flesh of the pepper lining the skin.
A quality dried pepper should be flexible, and not crack or split when you bend the pod. There should be a noticeable aroma when you open the bag. There should be some oil still left in the pepper. This oil will release if you grill or heat the pepper for a few moments. The oil in the dried peppers is what provides flavor to the food. The heat of the pepper is in the oil and the seeds.
Ordering Chinese Chili Peppers Online
The easiest place to find specialty peppers is Amazon, but the quality and even the accuracy is hit or miss.
I prefer to order direct from companies that have connections to farmers in China. First, it supports family business. Second, I have found these to be the best quality. You may pay a little more, but you are definitely getting a better quality product and will need less per dish: the higher price is mitigated by the lower quantity required.
The Best Sources for Online Ordering
Our only goal is to help you enjoy the recipes we have on this site.
For example, Sichuan peppercorns that I ordered from the Mala Market were so much more potent than those I ordered from Soeos that i had to reduce the quantity I used when testing Jing’s recipes. So, you may pay a little more, but you are definitely getting a better quality product and will need less per dish: the higher price is mitigated by the lower quantity required.
My Chinese Home Kitchen does not receive any money for product endorsements or e-commerce referrals. Every company listed here is one that we have ordered from and used in our cooking.
The Mala Market
By far, the best quality ingredients we have found come from The Mala Market. The Mala Market is a mother-daughter business founded by Taylor Holliday and Fongchong Havighurst. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, but they ship internationally. Consult their site for specifics.
Taylor and her adopted daughter Fongchong use their many trips to China to cultivate relationships with and source directly from farmers and manufacturers—cutting out all the middlemen traders. This allows them to offer the highest quality, fresh and authentic ingredients.
My Chinese Home Kitchen shares a sense of mission with The Mala Market: to make your Chinese cooking taste like it would in China by using traditional, artisanal ingredients.
For a complete list of ingredients that we order from The Mala Market, see our post: Authentic Chinese and Sichuan Ingredients
Burma Spice
We have only ordered Xiao Mi La peppers from Burma Spice when Mala Market was out of stock. These have been of good quality and consistency. To order from Burma Spice, visit their website at burmaspice.com.
Soeos
Soeos can be found on Amazon.
We did order some “Chinese Chili Peppers” from Soeos, but these were of mixed quality, varied spice level, and mixed varieties in the same pouch. We do not recommend them as a source for Chinese chili peppers.
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Hello,
Still reading your blog little by little…
Could you tell me more about Ganlajiao? I discovered I bought them a few months ago but I don’t know how to use them and in which recipe they can be added…
Thank you.
Hi Arnauld,
It is good to hear from you.
Jing has been busy for the past couple weeks taking her Intermediate Chef’s Licensing Exam, and is now preparing for her Pastry Licensing Exam. She’ll have more content soon, when she gets past this heavy school load. They are taking classes and preparation tests 7 days per week right now. I’ll do my best to answer your question, but she is the expert.
gan lajiao means “dried chili pepper”: “lajiao” is a generic term for chili peppers, not a specific variety.
There are many varieties of Chinese chili peppers. Jing uses three varieties, primarily: chao tian jiao (also called zi dan tou for “facing heaven” because the peppers grow upward), these are sometimes called bullet head peppers because they roughly resemble the shape of a bullet; xiao mi la (“millet” or “grain of rice” pepper), which are the hottest that we use; and er jing tiao, which are popular in Sichuan cuisine, and used for making douban jiang (the red “broad bean paste”) used in Sichuan cuisine.
Generally speaking, though not always true, the smaller the pepper, the spicier or hotter it is, measured in “Scoville Units” after the food scientist who discovered a technique for rating the heat of peppers.
Other types commonly used are Tien Tsin peppers, though we don’t call for them in any of our recipes. They are delicious in Kung Pao chicken. I typically use xiaomila in Kung Pao, but I have also used the bullet head chaotianjiao for less heat–depending on the tastes of my guests.
I have experimented with Jing’s recipes. I have substituted different types of chilies, different quantities, and sometimes I even rehydrate the chilies to soften the texture. It’s fun to experiment, because you can make the dish hotter (more spicy) or less, and you can also change the flavor a bit. For instance, with Jing’s Hot and Sour Shredded Potatoes, I like to use the chaotianjiao peppers, rather than xiaomila. I find the xiaomila overpowers the other flavors a bit.
For lists of recipes by pepper type:
xiaomila
erjingtiao
chaotianjiao
Some other helpful references:
The Chili Workshop (website)
Seven Types of Chinese Chili Peppers (website)
If you want, please send a picture of the chilies. I can ask Jing if she recognizes the type. Email: mychinesehomekitchen@cygegroup.com
Thank you for the detailed explanations. Here is a picture of the chilis Ganlajiao I had:
https://pic.infini.fr/cabqbhXv/xh0J8qGF.jpg
Hard to tell from the picture with them in the bag. You may be correct: chao tian.
Could also be tien tsin (tianjian). https://www.thespicehouse.com/products/tien-tsin-chiles
I’ve had good luck and consistency with Burma Spice, and especially the Mala Market. Mala Market has direct relationships with their suppliers in Sichuan.
I’ve found other vendors will mix and match varieties in the same pouch, or the peppers are old and losing potency.
We do not receive any compensation from vendors.
Hum, it seems my Galanjiao are simply Chaotian chilis…