Chinese dried chilli

The Sichuan workhorses are erjingtiao, prized for aroma over heat, and the stubbier facing heaven chilli, which brings more heat and colour. Both are moderate by global standards, which is the point: Sichuan heat is layered rather than extreme. Toast dry until they darken a shade and smell sweet, then grind coarse. Thin-walled, so seconds separate a good toast from an acrid one. Ground and bloomed in fat they give aroma that no jarred chilli oil matches; gochugaru is fruitier and milder and does not replace them.