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Facing Heaven Zi Dan Tou Chili (Chao Tian Jiao)
$13$0
Sichuan’s go-to chili
Chao tian jiao, or facing heaven chilies, are the workhorse chili of Sichuan. They are preferred in many dishes because they are neither too hot nor too mild, neither too large not too small. They are a Goldilocks chili that looks and smells enticing in a stir-fry and whose fruity flavor and deep-red color are deemed irreplaceable in a chili oil.
Facing heaven chilies are so called because they grow upward toward the sky. There are many types of facing heaven chilies, but these zi dan tou, or bullet chilies, are the most popular in Chengdu nowadays. They are 1.5 to 2.5 inches in length, bullet-shaped, vivid-red and medium-hot.
These chilies are grown in Guizhou Province, widely acknowledged as the premier chili producer in China. Our Chengdu buyers procure the top grade of chilies from the most recent harvest, which have been sorted to include only whole, unblemished, undamaged chilies. Dried to perfection, they are vibrant, soft and pliable—a sign of freshness and full flavor. Brittle, faded and discolored chilies are often quite old.
Sichuan dishes often use chilies in abundance for their showy appeal, but contrary to popular belief, most Sichuan dishes are not meant to be explosively hot. The role of the chili is often to provide the spicy "là," to Sichuan’s pepper’s numbing “má," in the cuisine’s most iconic flavor profile. The balance between the hot spice and the numbing spice is what makes Sichuan cuisine unique.
The Chinese prize the fragrance and coloring ability of chilies as much as the heat, so cooks choose and combine chilies in order to draw from the best qualities of each and create distinct flavor profiles.
Our line of dried chilies
Er jing tiao: low spiciness, strong fragrance, very strong coloring ability
Deng long jiao (lantern chili): low spiciness, strong fragrance, strong coloring ability
This zi dan tou: moderate spiciness, moderate fragrance, strong coloring ability
Xiao mi la: high spiciness, weak fragrance, weak coloring ability
Even though in Sichuan chilies are still often called the generic term hai jiao, or "sea pepper," because they originally came from across the sea—the New World—centuries ago, China now grows thousands of chili cultivars and has prolific chili breeding programs in several provinces.
These chilies are from the most recent harvest of zi dan tou grown in Guizhou Province, which has the most advanced chili-breeding, -growing and -processing knowledge in China. The town of Xiazi in Zunyi city is the world’s largest chili trading market, called China Chili City.
Guizhou is blessed with the moderate temperature range, high humidity, plentiful rainfall and acidic soil that nurture a superior chili, as well as little industrial output to pollute the landscape. Its farmer co-ops breed and grow chilies for ultimate flavor and fragrance, and the expert processing techniques leave them soft and supple without inviting pests or mold.
Compare To
America long relied on Tianjin (Tien Tsin) chilies for all Chinese cooking that used dried chilies. Tianjin is not a specific chili cultivar, but the trade name given to a range of moderately hot chilies grown in northern China. Named after the port city of Tianjin, these chilies were early exports to other countries and long the only available Chinese chilies in the U.S.
In contrast, Sichuan cuisine uses a range of specific cultivars for their unique characteristics, most of which are nowadays grown in Guizhou Province, its Southwest China neighbor. Guizhou’s cuisine, like Sichuan’s, relies heavily on chilies, and the locals possess a love of and expertise in chili cultivation. Guizhou farmers have perfected every step of the breeding, growing and drying process, which is why the chilies we carry are so fresh and fragrant.
Our chilies are never irradiated, which diminishes volatile oils and flavor. They are sun-dried and then dried further at very low temperature to retain maximum color, flavor and suppleness while deterring insects and mold.
How To Use It
Zi dan tou chilies are moderately hot, but as with all dried chilies, the heat is controllable, depending on how you use them. The heat is in the interior of the chili, so the more inner pith that is exposed/used, the hotter.
Whole: Add them whole to stir-fries or braises to impart a striking look and mild heat.
Cut: Snip them into pieces to spread their color throughout a dish and expose more pith, seeds and heat.
Ground: Toast chilies first in a dry wok or with a bit of oil. Grind them in a mortar & pestle or food processor to create chili flakes for use in stir-fries, chili oil or spice blends. The longer you grind the more powder there will be and the more color they will impart.
Storage
Store in a cool, dry place away from light. For maximum freshness and potency, keep sealed tightly.
For long-term storage, seal package well and freeze.
Ingredients + Nutrition
Size: 115g (4 oz)
Ingredients: single-origin, non-irradiated, dried zi dan tou chili
No additives, preservatives or dyes
While these chilies do not have American organic certification, which is a rarity in China, they have been double tested—once in China and again by us in a U.S. lab—for microbial activity, toxins and heavy metals. They test as exceptionally clean, far below the acceptable levels specified by the FDA and California's Prop 65 law.
