Tiger Chillies, Stir-fried
Tiger Chillies
Mamta Gupta
This dish comes from Sichuan province in China and the recipe is from Changyi Zhen, a chef at one of the Panda Reserves that we were visiting. It is very easy to make and is delicious as a side dish. We had gone there to see the elusive pandas in their natural habitat. We failed miserably in our attempt, in spite of climbing and trekking in wet bamboo forests, for days on end. It was very cold and muddy, we slipped all the time. Pandas were very secretive, probably sitting quietly only few yards away from us, because we saw frequent evidence of freshly eaten bamboo shoots and their fresh, still steaming ?poo?!! It got the scientists in our group very excited, trying to work out the age of the panda from the size of their poo, I tell you! The pandas must be laughing at us all the time...!
Everyday, when we returned from our exhausting treks, we were served excellent hot food, prepared by the local chefs, mostly using local produce. I managed to get a couple of recipes, though they did not speak any English and we did not know any Chinese. The translators did not always know how to explain. Occasionally, we were allowed into their kitchen, which was very messy, cold and wet. I managed to write down what I saw, as they cooked it.
I am sure it will work with other hot chillies too.
Serves 5.
Ingredients
10 large green or red chillies (the long and thick ones, like your finger/thumb or more, and not as hot as the small chillies)
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
4-5 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tsp. vinegar
Instructions
Wash chillies, leave stalks intact and slit along the entire length of each chilli. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a wok or kadhai.
Fry ginger and garlic until lightly brown. Take these out of the oil and keep aside.
Fry chillies in the remaining oil, adding soy sauce and vinegar after a couple of minutes. The temperature of oil should be moderately hot and you must continue to stir the chillies frequently.
After a while, the chillies will collapse and their skins will get white...ish spots.
Turn heat off and add ginger and garlic.
Lift chillies, ginger and garlic out in a serving dish. Discard remaining oil.
Serve hot or cold, with other Chinese dishes.
