ER JING TIAO 二荆条 — DRIED ORGANIC
2025 Harvest · Certified Organic · No-Spray · Estate Grown Sebastopol, California
1oz kraft bag · $10 · Mild to Moderate Fruity Heat

If you cook Sichuan food seriously, Er Jing Tiao is where everything begins.

二荆条 pronounced "Ar Jing Tiao" is the foundational chili of Sichuan cuisine. Not the hottest. Not the most intense. The most important. What makes Er Jing Tiao irreplaceable is not heat but fragrance, a deep, fruity, almost floral character that no other chili replicates. It is the chili that gives Sichuan doubanjiang its color and aroma. The chili that makes great chili oil smell the way it does. The chili that goes into our own Duo Jiao fermented paste and Pó Po's Malà Hot Sauce.

Rarely grown in the United States. We grow it in Sebastopol, California as certified organic.

Our Er Jing Tiao is cultivated from authentic Sichuan seed stock — certified organic, no-spray, harvested at peak ripeness in our 2025 season and dried carefully to preserve the volatile aromatic oils that make this variety worth the effort of growing. The color is a deep, rich red. The fragrance when you open the bag is unmistakable.

The character:

Mild to moderate heat — approachable enough to use generously without overpowering a dish. The flavor is fruity and complex with deep chili fragrance underneath. Think of it less as a heat delivery vehicle and more as an aromatic ingredient that happens to be spicy. It is shaped like the letter J — long, slender, slightly curved — and dries to a deep mahogany red that gives finished chili oil its characteristic color.

Heat level: 🌶️ Mild to Moderate, Fruity and Fragrant

How to use it:

The essential uses:

• Doubanjiang — Er Jing Tiao is the non-negotiable chili for authentic Pixian-style broad bean paste. No other chili gives the same color and fragrance.

• Chili oil and chili crisp — bloom whole dried Er Jing Tiao in hot oil to extract color and fragrance before adding other aromatics. The foundation of every great chili oil.

• Hot pot broth — whole chilies with Sichuan peppercorn in the base oil. Essential.

• Lacto-fermented chili paste — the base of our Duo Jiao and the traditional Hunanese method

Everyday uses:

• Chop coarsely and bloom in oil at the start of any stir fry

• Add whole to soups and braises for fragrance without excessive heat

• Grind into chili flakes for a finishing spice with more fragrance than commercial red pepper flakes

• Toast lightly in a dry pan before grinding — the fragrance intensifies dramatically

• Rehydrate in warm water and chop for direct use as a condiment

The classic combination: Er Jing Tiao + Sichuan peppercorn = the foundation of mala cuisine. This is the combination that goes into our Pó Po's Malà Hot Sauce. Make it yourself.

A note on provenance:

Er Jing Tiao grown in Sichuan and Er Jing Tiao grown in Sebastopol are not identical — terroir affects chili character just as it affects wine. Our Sonoma County–grown Er Jing Tiao reflects the mild coastal climate and organic soil of our farm. What remains consistent is the variety's fundamental character: the fruity fragrance, the deep color, the moderate heat that made it the cornerstone of one of the world's great cuisines.

2025 Harvest · Certified Organic · No-Spray · Non-GMO · 1oz · Sebastopol, California
Also available in the Organic Dried Chili Set of 4 and Sundays at the Sebastopol Farmers Market