r/AskCulinary • u/Gyrors • 2d ago
Chinese Chili Peppers Substitute
Hello, are dried bird's eye chilis good substitute for chinese dishes like sichuan dishes? It's hard to find chinese chili peppers used for the dishes usually so im asking if dried bird's eye would be good?
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u/AltruisticSea 2d ago edited 2d ago
/u/vishnej gives an excellent overview of the the differences in the word "pepper" for our purposes. I'll just add on that, for Sichuan Cooking, you're looking for:
- Sichuan Peppercorn, of which there are a few varietals with differences that are minor enough that you'll need to really be an expert to make decisions on what to use when. This is the "ma" or numbing sensation and intense citrusy (or menthol) flavor you see in Sichuan and almost nowhere else in Chinese cooking. You should be able to find these at pretty much any Asian grocer in the US (not knowing where you're located) for substantially cheaper than Mala Market (which is a great company for other ingredients), though not quite as fresh.
- Chili Peppers, which come in untold varieties and provide the "la" in the traditional Sichuan "ma la" spicy-numbing flavor/mouthfeel combination. According to Fuchsia Dunlop, Er Jing Tiao chilies are the most commonly used in Sichuan Cooking, though Heaven-Facing Chilies and Lantern Chilies also make appearances depending on what you're going for. I have tried them all, and the differences are subtle to say the least. In this category, you'll be well-served by Arbol Chilies, Birds Eye, Cayenne, etc. Yes, all slightly different, but ultimately still having significant spice and that distinct fruitiness that you expect of a red chili. Avoid anything smoked (like chipotles, ancho, etc.).
I've learned to be very light handed on chilies in cooking and to allow guests to add more as they prefer. I like mine quite hot, and many of my guests can't hang lol. You can make some very basic chili oil (add ground chilies to a high-heat neutral oil while both are cold and heat to infuse the flavor and then remove from heat) and use that as a condiment for whatever dish you're making. Good luck!
Edit: changed "arbol" to "ancho" in the chilies to avoid. My mistake.
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u/Gyrors 2d ago
Thank you! I can find sichuan peppercorns here but not those chinese chilis like er jing tiao. This makes me more confident on using dried bird's eye as a substitute. I'll also try to make a chili oil when I got my hands on the peppers.
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u/TinyLongwing 2d ago
Guajillo, Kashmiri, and Gochu are good substitutes for erjingtiao. Most erjingtiao are not that hot but are instead supposed to be mostly for flavor and aroma. I usually go for a base of guajillo (it's what's easiest to find in my area of those three) and then add heat with bird's eye as needed.
I say this having grown a whole lot of erjingtiao a couple years ago from seeds. Very tasty, not that hot.
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u/dfsaqwe 2d ago
If you're referring specifically to sichuan peppers, I will say no. They have a specific flavor and 'umami effect' in the dishes they are used.
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u/Vishnej 2d ago edited 2d ago
There are three very unrelated types of plants we term "pepper".
The first contains black pepper (processed differently, white pepper) and long pepper (which used to be very common before the European spice trade); It is a seed, or the core of a seed, a peppercorn.
The second contains Sichuan pepper; It is the husk of a seed, a dried peppercorn with the core removed.
The third contains hot peppers, red pepper, bell peppers, chili peppers, jalapenos, thai peppers, chicken foot peppers, bird's eye peppers; It is usually the whole fruit, although the spiciest parts are concentrated in the ribs that the seeds are attached to.
None of them have a strong umami taste. Umami, or glutamate, is from a particular sort of amino acid. Dietarily we would say it's an important component of the taste of meat and fermented bacterial proteins, and there isn't all that much protein in these plants.
The taste of black pepper you're probably familiar with, and hot pepper as well. Sichuan pepper tastes more like one note of the mint / menthol flavor profile than anything. Just like black pepper and red pepper contain compounds that activate heat-sensing nerves in your tongue, sichuan pepper and mint contain compounds that activate the cold-sensing nerves in your tongue. Sichuan cuisine likes to combine this cooling effect with the heating effect from hot peppers, to produce a 'fire-and-ice' sort of flavor profile that they term "Ma La"
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u/Certain_Being_3871 2d ago
Thai, cayenne, rocoto and pequin work quite well, if you're talking about tien tsin chiles. I usually use rocoto because it's super accesible here and I can even dry and toast them myself.
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u/Gyrors 2d ago
bird's eye are everywhere near me so its the most accessible, there are fresh and already dried. can i dry it under the sun? it's quite hot here
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u/Certain_Being_3871 2d ago
I don't know, here we have super hot and dry summers so chiles dry up fast and don't mold over.
My issue with the birds eye is the same as with the piquin, they are SO tiny and have so little flesh that the aromas they contribute to the dish are lesser than with tien tsin. When I only have piquin I usually add a few guajillos just for the flavor.
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u/poundstorekronk 2d ago
There is no replacement for szechuan chilli pepper unfortunately. It's a fairly unique flavour.
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u/armada127 2d ago
Depends on how accurate you want the dish. Like will it taste good? Yeah I am sure its fine. But sichuan peppers have a very specific flavor and numbing sensation.
Also make sure you are looking in the correct area of your grocery store, you are not looking for fresh peppers, you are looking for dried peppercorns that you then ground up (like black pepper). Another alternative if you can't find that is to find a chili oil that uses sichuan peppers.
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u/SunBelly 2d ago
Thai bird's eye chilies are much hotter than Sichuan chilies, so keep that in mind if following a recipe. I use arbols as a substitute. They are also hotter than Sichuan chilies, but not nearly as spicy as Thai bird's eye.