Sichuan Cuisine · FFET10210
Tiger-skin peppers
Green peppers seared in a hot wok until wrinkled and spotted like tiger skin, then seasoned with vinegar and sugar, a Sichuan dish.
A round white porcelain plate holds long green chilies with wrinkled skins and dark seared patches, coated in glossy brown sauce and dotted with black fermented beans, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
The regional cooking of Sichuan and Chongqing, known for its wide range of flavour types.
Tiger-skin peppers are green chili peppers seared in a little hot oil until the skin wrinkles and blisters, then seasoned with vinegar and sugar, or with soy sauce and fermented black beans. This popular Sichuan dish is commonly made at home, crisp outside, soft inside and mildly spicy, named for the tiger-like marks of the charred spots. The claim that it originated in Chengdu appears in only one source. No dated text was found.
What
Tiger-skin peppers are green chili peppers seared in a little hot oil until the skin wrinkles and blisters, seasoned with vinegar and sugar, or with soy sauce, fermented black beans and sugar. The skin is lightly crisp, the inside soft, and the heat mild.1,2,3
Where
Tiger-skin peppers is a Sichuan dish commonly made at home. The claim that it originated in Chengdu appears in only one source.1,2,3
How
The peppers, whole or halved, go into a little hot oil, skin down and pressed against the pan, and are turned until the skin wrinkles and chars in spots. Vinegar and sugar, or soy sauce and fermented black beans, are then stirred in over high heat.1,2,3
Why
The name comes from the charred spots on the fried peppers, which look like the pattern on tiger skin.1,2,3
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the simpler way I make it at home, in the Sichuan style: the peppers are halved and seared skin down in a hot wok until wrinkled, and a sauce mixed beforehand goes in at the end. The searing method follows the named recipe that uses long green chili peppers, and the seasoning borrows the fermented black beans and soy sauce from the other named recipe. The two recipes sear for similar times, about 6 minutes and 4 to 5 minutes, and I take a time in between, still judging by how the peppers look.
Ingredients
- Long green chili peppers 6 (about 300 g), mild to medium-hot
- Cooking oil 30 ml (2 tablespoons)
- Black vinegar 2 tablespoons (30 ml)
- Light soy sauce 1 tablespoon (15 ml)
- Sugar half a teaspoon (about 2 g)
- Fermented black beans 1 tablespoon (about 8 g), chopped
- Water 1 tablespoon (15 ml)
- Salt a small pinch, added after tasting
Steps
- Wash the peppers and dry them well, remove the stems, halve them lengthwise, and take out the seeds.
- Stir the chopped black beans, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and water together in a small bowl and set it by the stove.
- Heat the wok over medium-high heat and add the oil. Lay the peppers skin down in a single layer, in two batches, press them with the spatula, and sear for about 5 minutes, turning once, until the skin wrinkles, browns in spots, and the peppers turn soft.
- Return all the peppers to the wok, pour in the sauce, and toss over high heat for about half a minute, until the sauce is almost gone. Then serve.
- Taste, and add a small pinch of salt if it needs it.
Tips
- I dry the peppers before they go in, because water spatters in hot oil and the spots do not form. This is my own experience.
- Fermented black beans and soy sauce are both salty, so I taste at the end and then decide about salt. This is my own way.
Allergens: soy, wheat