The province in China that is best at eating spicy food is actually here! (Not Hunan, Sichuan, or Jiangxi)

What is the "chili ceiling"? If you go to Guizhou, you may understand!

Chili peppers are called "sea peppers" by Guizhou people. The word "sea" reveals the mystery of its origin - this king of seasonings that is "burned" on tables all over the country is indeed an imported product that came from across the ocean.

Hand-picked peppers can preserve their flavor to the greatest extent possible. Photo by Zheng Yuxiao

Its origin is in America. It was introduced to China via the maritime trade route during the Ming Dynasty, and the earliest landing places were Zhejiang and Fujian. However, for a long century, the Chinese people only regarded it as an ornamental plant and medicinal material. It was not until the 60th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign that the following record finally appeared in the annals of the Sizhou Prefecture (now the northeastern Guizhou region): "Sea pepper, commonly known as spicy fire, is used by the Miao people as a substitute for salt."

Yes, Guizhou is the first place where chili peppers appear on Chinese tables.

The peppers in Guizhou form a continuous red ocean. Photo by Chen Weihong

Guizhou, which has not produced salt since ancient times, has warmly embraced this high-yield condiment and has used four hundred years to nurture it into a dazzling Guizhou star attraction.

Nowadays, Guizhou's peppers have already become a hit. In 2021, Guizhou province planted 5.71 million mu of peppers, accounting for 1/10 of the world's planting area, and the pepper output reached 7.87 million tons, exceeding 1/3 of the national output!

Distribution map of pepper cultivation in Guizhou. Map by Liu Yunshuo

Chili peppers have become the pride of Guizhou people, and Guizhou people have a strong sense of friendship for chili peppers that comes from their humble beginnings.

They can't live without chili peppers for three meals a day, from morning to night, but they don't have to be raw and fierce, or make people cry with the spiciness. Roasting, frying, crushing, fermenting... There are hundreds of ways to prepare a chili pepper in order to bring out its unique fragrance. Only when you come to Guizhou will you know that chili peppers can be so fragrant in so many ways, and you will know what it means to be a true "king of spicy food".

Chili and Guizhou People

What kind of "match made in heaven" is this?

Why is chili pepper so addictive?

People often answer this way: the spicy taste brings a slightly painful burning sensation, which stimulates the brain to secrete endorphins that relieve pain, making people happier and more unable to stop eating. This statement is of course scientific, but it is a bit lazy, as if chili peppers have no other taste except "spicy".

Come to Guizhou, you will definitely have a new understanding of the above questions, because the peppers here are really! So! Fragrant!

The aroma of chili peppers rushes into my nose. Photo by Chen Weihong

It's spicy, but not unpalatable, and it's not so dry and spicy that it hurts your throat. Instead, it has a greasy aroma, and even if it's fried at high temperature, it can't cover up the slight sweetness of the pepper. Holding a dried chili in your hand, you can see the difference: it's oily, heavy, and bright red, and it looks like it's glowing. If you smell it, the aroma is also extraordinary.

The unique flavor comes from the rich crude fat, as well as the many proteins, sugars and various aromatic substances in the dry matter. Guizhou peppers are among the best in the country in these indicators, so when Guizhou people say "only peppers grown locally are fragrant", it is by no means a blind confidence.

Only local peppers can be found here. Photo by Yang Tongrong

Guizhou has high mountains, deep valleys, dense forests, long rivers, a mild climate, rain and heat at the same time, and the world's most typical and complex karst landforms and the mineral-rich, highly hydrophobic soil that accompanies it. Chili peppers are suitable for mountain environments, and it is really difficult to find a piece of land in the country that can provide such appropriate growing conditions for this guest from afar.

However, the unique fragrance of Guizhou pepper is inseparable from the deep affection expressed in the four words “help each other in times of difficulty”.

In Shanbao Village, Zunyi, thousands of mu of pepper gardens are connected. Photo by Chen Weihong

I have to emphasize again: in ancient times, Guizhou was very short of salt. So compared with Sichuan and Hunan, where there was no shortage of condiments, Guizhou people treasured chili peppers more. In other places, chili peppers are just a garnish for seasoning, adding some variety to cooking with spiciness; here, people four hundred years ago saw its unlimited potential in flavor and tried their best to use it as salt and MSG.

Since it is the most important condiment, we cannot just go for spiciness. When people cultivate peppers, they naturally choose those with moderate spiciness, strong aroma, and especially good with rice. It can be said that the reason why Guizhou peppers are so addictive today is that they have been cultivated by generations of hardworking and intelligent Guizhou people.

Farmers are busy in the chili garden in Shanbao Village. Photo by Chen Weihong

The mountainous terrain of "eight mountains, one river, and one field" often brought people at that time difficulties such as scarce arable land and inconvenient transportation. However, with the cooperation of peppers, it turned into a unique advantage - this vegetable does not need large tracts of arable land and can grow well in the mountains. As long as there are people planting it, it can survive and bloom in every corner of the mountains. Due to the complex vertical microclimate of the mountains, countless categories with different flavors and forms have evolved.

Guizhou famous peppers, each one is very good! Map/Joyoung

Hundreds of years passed, and natural barriers could no longer hinder the pace of communication. People were pleasantly surprised to find that - wow, the mountains in Guizhou are simply a treasure trove of chili peppers!

Rich in variety and well preserved! There are more than 3,500 wild and cultivated pepper germplasm resources, and this number is still rising as scientific researchers collect and organize them. There are even more excellent varieties with good flavor and high yield. Now there are 10 varieties of Guizhou peppers that have obtained geographical indication product protection, the most in the country. The rich and fragrant Huaxi Niujiao pepper, which can be called "the MSG of spicy food", the pointed, plump, and fresh Suiyang bullet head, the top of the "Top Ten Famous Peppers" in the country, Zunyi Chaotian Pepper... Each of the famous peppers is good, and just throwing out the name will make people drool.

A pepper

How many charming faces can there be?

With such a rich and huge supply of chili peppers, Guizhou people are really good at eating spicy food: they season carefully and use a variety of methods, and a single spicy taste can evoke a million taste experiences. Even if you come from a province like Sichuan, Chongqing, Hunan, and Jiangxi where people eat spicy food, you can always find new feelings beyond your experience in Guizhou.

In the eyes of Guizhou people, a chili pepper has several taste levels, and spicy is just the most straightforward one.

"Boiled chili peppers" have a burnt aroma, which reminds you of the stoves you used to burn in your childhood, the sweet potatoes freshly baked on the iron stove, and the hot pastries just out of the pan. Guizhou people always have some dried chili peppers at home, bury them in firewood or coal ash and bake them until they are slightly crispy, then throw them into the mortar while they are still hot to crush them. The burnt black skin cracks open, and the dark yellow seeds are exposed. The spicy smell retains the temperature of the firewood. Dry dipping is the best way to experience this original flavor, and it is also a perfect match when sprinkled on beef noodles - Guiyang beef noodles always float with a layer of fragrant and heavy butter, and a little burnt chili peppers can just boost the taste buds and stimulate every drop of deliciousness in the soup base.

If you let the dried chilies absorb water before pounding them, you will get a sauce-like "ciba chilies". This method can better preserve the original peppery aroma of the chilies, and is the best for cooking. The Guizhou version of "spicy chicken" is not stir-fried with dried chilies like Chongqing spicy chicken, but with ciba chilies that are juicy, soft and elastic. The ruddy chili oil seeps into the texture of the shredded meat. You don't feel the burning sensation at first, but you feel the heat after swallowing it. Before you can recover, your hands will uncontrollably grab the next piece.

The spicy chicken fried with ciba peppers is the softest and most flavorful. Photo by Chen Weihong

People who know how to eat spicy food all understand how delicious “chili peppers cooked in oil” is: the high temperature makes the aroma of the dried chili peppers burst out instantly, and the oil preserves all the blooming flavors, melting them into the joy of bursting energy - Guizhou's "chili peppers in oil" actually go a step further than this ultimate enjoyment: different oils should be used for different occasions.

The homely version fried in rapeseed oil is flexible and versatile, and is indispensable for noodles. The nationally popular "Laoganma" is a good example of how to make this basic spicy dish better and stronger; for the more sophisticated mutton noodles, the chili oil must be fried in mutton oil and must be heated thoroughly when eaten, otherwise the oil will clumping together and it will inevitably have a mutton smell. But it has a rich flavor with hot soup that makes people sweat; the "chicken chili" is the most interesting, which can be understood as chili oil with diced chicken, or spicy chicken with too much chili. The rich fat under the chicken skin is wrapped around the chili, and grains of diced meat pop up from time to time in the spicy flavor, which is really "enjoyable".

The sour and fragrant smell of pickled peppers can be regarded as the soul of Guizhou cuisine. Guizhou, with its humid climate, has naturally developed a unique skill of "fermentation". Rock sugar and white wine are used to build the skeleton of "pickled peppers". The fresh peppers that are ripe in July and August are quickly cut into pieces, and then salt and young ginger are used to enhance the flavor. After sealing the jar for one or two months, the spicy taste is enhanced with gentle sweetness and sourness. As the saying goes, "Guizhou cuisine is ever-changing, but pickled peppers are unchangeable." This jar of treasure can be paired with almost all ingredients: cooking pickled spicy fish, stir-frying pickled spicy pig intestines, and it is tender and fresh when it meets the protein in the meat; stir-frying vegetables or cold dishes, it has a cool and refreshing feeling.

Such a rich variety of chili-making methods are connected to the food through bowls of "dipping sauce".

Dipping sauce is also called dipping sauce. Guizhou people love hot pot and barbecue, and every meal must have one or two dishes with a dipping sauce containing chili peppers. Everyone here is an expert in eating spicy food, and it is a science to know what food to match with what sauce. If you mix up the ingredients, you will make a fool of yourself.

How many kinds of dipping sauces are there in Guizhou? Photo by Chen Weihong

How meticulous are Guizhou people when eating dipping sauces? Let's take "tofu pudding" as an example. Tofu pudding is a purely vegetarian dish, and the dipping sauce must have some oil. Oil chili is of course the main ingredient in the dipping sauce. When frying, add some minced pork, soy sauce and salt to make it very appetizing. Tofu pudding is eaten with rice, and more salt should be added to the dipping sauce to prevent the slippery surface from being stained with oil and becoming tasteless and difficult to eat with rice.

People in Zunyi love tofu noodles. In addition to tofu, the noodles must be soaked in soy milk. With the help of the soup, the problem of "taste" is solved, but the taste must be enriched by dipping in water, so that the noodles and tofu will not become soft and lose their layers. Ginger, chopped green onions, crispy soybeans, sesame oil, coriander, and diced chicken are all added, so that the texture is full and the taste is fragrant.

There are more things to pay attention to when eating hot pot. In the hands of Guizhou people, there is nothing in the world that cannot be made into hot pot - make a delicious dish with rich flavor, add enough soup base, and put meat and vegetables in to blanch, and eat it in a free and easy manner, and each style can be formed. In the pot of stewed meat in clear soup, chili must be added to the dipping water, and more garlic, pepper powder and Sichuan pepper must be added to remove the fishy smell and enhance the freshness, so that the true flavor of the meat can be tasted. If it is a pot of braised lamb in northern Guizhou or spicy chicken hot pot in central Guizhou, the soup is already very fragrant, so the dipping water should be light, and crushed fresh pepper is the most refreshing "Guizhou slightly spicy".

Photo: Xingyi pig-killing dish, the spicy meat smell is about to burst out of the pot. Photo by Chen Qingquan‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

There is also the "roasted pot", the king of the night market. A special clay pot is used to spread various ingredients on it and fry and roast them, just like "teppanyaki", but more oily. Whether it is vegetables, dried tofu or pork belly, the dipping sauce made of chili powder and crushed peanuts is always the most popular. In recent years, the "live oil roasted pot" has become popular. A hole is opened in the middle of the clay pot and a dipping bowl is placed on it. The bowl is filled with lard and dried chili. As the temperature of the roasted pot rises, the lard also begins to boil, which is equivalent to frying a bowl of fragrant oil chili in front of the diners, which makes people simply unable to resist.

The oil is boiling like crazy in the pan-fried tofu under high temperature. Photo by Huang Zhen

The Chili Capital of the World!

Why does Guizhou “trade globally”?

The harvest season of Guizhou peppers is around July and August, which is also the peak period for pepper trading. However, as soon as May begins, vehicles loaded with red peppers have appeared on the roads into Guizhou. Peppers from Sichuan, Hunan, Henan, Xinjiang and other major producing areas are heading to Guizhou; and peppers from overseas, such as South Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam... Even the famous Indian "devil peppers" are flowing in waves along the pulse of the roads.

In July and August, Chili City entered its peak trading period. Photo by Chen Weihong

What are they doing? Oh, they are going to Zunyi, Guizhou to attend a chili festival.

The "Chinese Pepper City" in Xiazi Town, Zunyi, is now not only the largest pepper distribution center in the country, but also the world's pepper trading center. In 2021, the trading volume of dried peppers here reached 280,000 tons, driving the trading volume of 550,000 tons in the secondary market and creating a trading volume of about 9 billion. With it as the center, a dense pepper trading network has been built, and the "dried pepper price index" released here every day is even more concerned about the "pepper brokers" all over the world.

The confidence to set the global chili price comes from the excellent quality of Guizhou chili. If you go to Chili City, you will find that the general price of domestic chili is 6-7 yuan per catty, and the chili from India and Myanmar is even cheaper, but the chili from Guizhou can be sold at a high price of more than ten yuan per catty, and it is always in short supply. Chili seasonings and hot pot brands across the country regard the expensive Guizhou chili as a secret recipe for enhancing the flavor.

But "Gui Jiao" will never rest on its laurels, and is still working tirelessly to overcome many hurdles.

The first is the "seed quality barrier". Guizhou has many famous and high-quality pepper varieties, which is of course an advantage, but it can also become a problem - there are too many varieties, and the yield of a single variety is not large enough, which is not conducive to large-scale industrial production. This requires researchers to "select the best from the best" while preserving high-quality varieties, and to concentrate on seedling cultivation and standardized planting, so as to seek consistent conditions in the ever-changing environment of the mountains and promote the most fragrant, mellow and most popular varieties in the market.

Modern processing capabilities must also keep up. Some leading companies can produce more than 3 million bottles of chili products per day, and industrial parks have sprung up with local support. Now there are 623 chili drying production lines in Guizhou Province alone, which can dry 11,700 tons of chili a day, "making money" for the chili industry with extraordinary efficiency.

Picture: Chili processing production line. Photo by Chen Weihong

Two or three hundred years ago, the straightforward, sturdy and powerful peppers were not loved by everyone, and only people in the deep mountains appreciated them. Today, with the fast-paced life and multi-level diet, the distinctive character of peppers is conquering everyone, and the delicious taste polished by Guizhou people is also amazing the world.

The bright red industry and the hot dream are burning like a raging fire. Don’t you want to taste the deliciousness of “Guijiao” and join in this carnival of taste buds?

Long table banquet in Shibing County, Qiandongnan, come and have a spicy carnival! Photo by Sun Chao

Planning and production

Source丨This article is authorized to be reproduced from the public account “Didao Fengwu” (ID: didaofengwu).

Editor: Yinuo

The cover image and the images in this article are from the copyright library

Reprinting may lead to copyright disputes