Er jing tiao facts for kids
.jpeg)
The Er jing tiao (simplified Chinese: 二荆条; traditional Chinese: 二荊條; pinyin: Èr jīngtiáo) is a special kind of chili. It is very popular in Sichuan, China. This chili often looks like the letter J. It is usually about 5 to 6 inches long.
People love the Er jing tiao chili for its deep red color and strong, pleasant smell. It is often used to make chili oil. It is also a main ingredient in many famous chili sauces. One example is the thick broad-bean sauce called doubanjiang. This chili has a spicy and salty taste. It is often eaten with noodles or rice.
The Er jing tiao chili has been used in Chinese cooking for a very long time. It is easy to find in real Sichuan dishes, both in restaurants and at home. Its taste and smell are a bit spicier than other common chilies. The chilies change color from green to red as they grow. People also eat them fresh with salt and soy sauce. They can also be preserved as a salty, fermented chili called duo jiao (which means 'chopped chili'). Farmers usually pick these chilies from early May to October.
Contents
How Er Jing Tiao is Used
There are many ways to cook with Er jing tiao chilies. It depends on what you like to eat. Most of the time, Er jing tiao is a useful and tasty food item. It can be made into a dish or a spicy oil. It is also ground into a dry chili sauce. You can often buy this sauce in stores.
Er jing tiao is also used to make spicy broad bean paste. This paste is a key part of many Sichuan dishes. A famous example is Mapo tofu. Another common product is chili powder. This powder is made from dried chilies like Er jing tiao. First, the chilies are stir-fried with a little oil. Then, they are left to cool down. Once cool and crispy, they are ground into a fine powder. Fine chili powders are often used for simple dishes. A small amount can give a dish a strong flavor. It can also make the dish look better or be used as a dried chili dipping sauce.
Growing Er Jing Tiao Chilies
Chili seeds need warmth to sprout. The best temperature for Er jing tiao seeds to sprout is between 23 and 30 degrees Celsius. If the temperature is below 15 degrees Celsius, the seeds will not sprout. Chili plants grow slowly when it is cool.
When the plants start to flower, the temperature should be 20 to 25 degrees Celsius during the day. At night, it should be 15 to 20 degrees Celsius. It is best not to grow chilies near vegetables like eggplant or potatoes. This is because they all need different amounts of water, fertilizer, and sunlight.
Not all Er jing tiao chilies are grown in Sichuan province. Some are grown in nearby Guizhou province. This area is thought to be a better place to grow them because it has less pollution. The best places to grow these chilies are usually 445 to 550 meters above sea level. The land should be high and dry. It also needs good ways to water and drain the soil. The soil should be deep and loose. Slightly acidic yellow soil with a pH value of 6.1 to 6.8 is best. It should also have at least 1.5% organic matter.
Cultivation Management
To grow Er jing tiao chilies well, farmers follow these steps:
- Seed Selection: They pick the best Er jing tiao chili seeds. These seeds are pure and healthy.
- Rotation: They rotate crops every three to four years. This means they do not plant chilies in the same spot year after year. They plant other vegetables from the nightshade family instead.
- Planting: Seeds are planted inside a greenhouse in late or mid-October. About 7 to 8 grams of seeds are used for every square meter.
- Transplanting: When the young plants grow bigger and have 3 to 4 leaves, they are moved. Each plant is put into its own hole, about 10 cm apart.
- Field Care: Before the plants are fully grown, they are watered regularly. Early on, a small amount of boron fertilizer is added. Later, when the plants are bigger, more fertilizer is used. This includes potassium dihydrogen phosphate and urea.
- Harvesting: Chilies are picked from July 5th to August 15th. They are ready when their color turns a deep red.
Disease Prevention
Farmers check the chili plants often to make sure they are healthy. If a plant looks sick, it is removed and burned right away. This stops the disease from spreading. Diseases can happen at any time while the plant is growing. But they are most common when the plant is young.
Sick plants often have a dark green or brown color at the bottom of their stem. If it is very humid, a white mold might grow on the surface. This mold is the cause of the disease. After the plant dries, dark brown lines appear. The branches above these lines will quickly wilt and die.
