Guizhou Chile Paste: "Beyond the Great Wall"

Getting a new cookbook makes me really excited. Opening it is like waking up on Christmas morning again and again because with each page turn there's a new recipe you didn't see before. I actually did get this book for Christmas, though, thus making Christmas even better. Combining my fake Christmas simile with real Christmas made for a pretty amazing morning.

"Beyond the Great Wall" book is much more than a cookbook. It's my first step into "culinary anthropology." Apparently that's a real degree offered at a University in Hawaii. Hawaii gets so many things right...not that I'm about to hop on a plane to Hawaii...but...

...the two authors of the book, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, are two curious travelers who spent upwards of 30 years trekking all over Asia, exploring food and customs. They were 2 of the first Americans to set foot in Tibet after it re-opened to foreigners in 1979 (After about 120 years of being closed) and to really delve into the lesser known parts of China. That's what this book is - recipes from "beyond the great wall", the food of the minority non-Han Chinese.

The recipes are arranged by type, from "Condiments and Seasonings", through "Noodles and Dumplings", "Breads", "Fish", "Lamb and Beef" to "Drinks and Sweet Treats". The photos make the book worth it by themselves, but the recipes sound so simple. Simple in ingredients, not in techniques. Chile paste goes on everything, soups and hot pots are flavoured by boiled meat and fish, and noodles are thrown in the broth after the meat is cooked. All that gets added to a whole steamed fish is salt, pepper, ginger, scallions and chile. Congee is water and rice, with optional chile paste or soy-vinegar dipping sauce. This is not sweet and sour sauce or kung pao Chinese. They do not believe in combos or complimentary fortune cookies.

So if I was going to make a recipe, I was going to use good ingredients. Otherwise, it would taste like a lot less than a North American is accustomed to, and as much as I usually keep my fish-steaming simple, I wanted to love this book. I want the first thing I eat from this book to be incredible so I can shout its praises, and say it's more than just stories and photos.

I decided I should start with the basics. This is supposed to be pungent..."Guizhou Chile Paste"

I bought a bag of Sichuan hot peppers, and a container of whole Sichuan peppercorns. The book says the peppercorns are completely different than black peppercorns. The book said to stem the chilis, but they didn't have much stem in the first place (to be honest I was a little scared because the book didn't specify the type of chili to use, whereas in other recipes it did, but I figured Sichuan hot peppers with Sichuan peppercorns?...When my tongue falls off I'll know, I suppose). You set the hot peppers in a bowl and pour over a cup of boiling water. Then let it sit for an hour.

When the hour's up, transfer it to a blender or food processor with a tsp. of salt. Then heat a skillet on high heat. No oil yet (I heated it with the oil but this turned out to be a mistake). When the pan is hot add 2 tbsp of peanut oil or vegetable (I used sesame, sorry. At least it wasn't olive. What a disaster that would have been) and reduce the heat to medium. Then added 2 tbsp of shallots, minced, with 1 tsp of ground Sichuan pepper, and sauté 3 minutes. The onion should get translucent, but it browned very quickly in my hot oil. If I'd added the oil only after heating the skillet, it would have worked better.

Anyway, after 3 minutes I added the chili purée from the blender, brought the pan contents to a boil and reduced the heat to simmer for 5 minutes. The liquid is supposed to reduce by half, and give you about 1/2 c. of liquid, but I ended up with a bit more, since the reference to half a cup isn't given until the end of the recipe.

Then I put the paste in a bowl and added a tbsp of rice vinegar. After the paste is cooled, transfer it to a glass jar and stick it in the fridge, not the cupboard. Since this isn't a pickled sauce that seals properly in a jar that's been sterilized, it doesn't last as long in the fridge, but the vinegar and salt will keep it around for awhile. The chilies also have preserving qualities. The recipe didn't say how long it was good for, but I'm going to guess at least a month. My tongue will be on fire by March 10th.

Tomorrow I'll try the paste and give the spiciness verdict. Big potluck. Lots to cook.