Add description, images, menus and links to your mega menu
A column with no settings can be used as a spacer
Link to your collections, sales and even external links
Add up to five columns
Add description, images, menus and links to your mega menu
A column with no settings can be used as a spacer
Link to your collections, sales and even external links
Add up to five columns
Xiao Mi La Chili
$13
Sichuan’s chili for heat
Xiao mi la chilies are the smallest and hottest of our line of dried chilies and the ones that Sichuan cooks turn to to turn up the heat. About 1 to 1.5 inches long, they are vivid red, fresh and fragrant.
Xiao mi la chilies have become ubiquitous in Sichuan over the past couple decades as spicy dishes such as hot pot have exploded in popularity. This chili is also frequently part of the chili blend for Sichuan chili oil to bring heat while other chilies provide strong fragrance and color.
Note that Chinese cookbooks sometimes call for Thai chilies, but what is used in Southern China is actually xiao mi la. Xiao mi la chilies are similar in size and shape to Thai chilies, which are also called bird’s eye chilies, but xiao mi la, while quite hot, are generally not as explosively hot as the bird’s eye cultivars grown in Southeast Asia.
These xiao mi la 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.
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
Zi dan tou (facing heaven chili): moderate spiciness, moderate fragrance, strong coloring ability
This 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 xiao mi la 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
Xiao mi la chilies are quite 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 xiao mi la 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.
