Southwest (Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou)
Sichuan’s fùhé wèi (复合味) are a collection of more than 20 classic flavors and flavor combinations that form the base of many of the province’s dishes. This page explores jiāoyán wèi (椒盐味) and the recipes that feature it. Other fuhe wei can be found through the menu.
As one of Sichuan cuisine’s most popular and common ingredients, Sichuan pepper (huā jiāo, 花椒) plays a key role in several of the province’s classic flavor combinations: In málà wèi (麻辣味), it’s paired with the heat of chili peppers to create the spicy-numbing quality often associated with Sichuan food. In jiāomá wèi (椒麻味), it is used while it is still fresh, when it has a bright, citrusy fragrance and abundant numbing oil. But in jiāoyán wèi (椒盐味), the spice stands almost on its own, paired just with salt. This minimalist but striking combination has flavored Sichuan dishes for centuries.
Jiāoyán (椒盐), literally “pepper and salt,” is a popular spice blend that is used as a seasoning for a variety of dishes and as a dipping spice. It is popular in both Sichuan and Guangdong, but the mix takes different forms in each province. The version from Guangdong, which is the most familiar outside of China, relies primarily on white pepper (hú jiāo, 胡椒, or “foreign pepper”), sometimes combined with five-spice powder and garlic powder. You’ll find this combination in popular Cantonese dishes like salt-and-pepper tofu and salt-and-pepper shrimp. The version from Sichuan, however, uses the native Sichuan pepper.
Jiaoyan wei, as its name suggests, is built around this seasoning mix—jiaoyan—which is made from toasting and grinding whole Sichuan pepper and salt until both form fine powders that are mixed together. This seasoning can be used many ways: It is sprinkled on deep-fried dishes, incorporated into pastries and snacks or sprinkled over the fried skin-on peanuts (huāshēngmǐ, 花生米) that are often served alongside congee or eaten as a drinking snack.
Sichuan pepper appears in historical texts as early as the 3rd century B.C.E., and the combination of Sichuan pepper and salt may have been in use since the Warring States period. While we can’t be certain when jiaoyan seasoning became popular, it is mentioned in Qing dynasty writer Yuan Mei’s Recipes From the Garden of Contentment: Yuan Mei’s Manual of Gastronomy (Suíyuán Shídān, 随园食单), where it is used both as a dipping seasoning and as a filling for the flaky pastry suōyī bǐng (蓑衣饼). It also appears in Fu Chongju’s A Comprehensive Chronicle of Chengdu (Chéngdū Tōngjiàn, 成都通鉴), published around 1910, listed as a pantry ingredient alongside soy sauce, vinegar and chili oil. That book also mentions salt-and-pepper flatbread and a dish called salt-and-pepper pork hock (jiāoyán zhǒuzi, 椒盐肘子).
The Base Ingredients of Jiaoyan Wei
Jiaoyan wei is described as “fragrant, tingly and savory” (香麻而咸). While the base of the mixture is just Sichuan pepper and salt, there are versions that include other ingredients, such as fennel seeds, sesame seeds, MSG or sugar. (These additions are mostly found in store-bought jiaoyan seasonings.)
Core ingredients: Sichuan pepper, salt
Occasional ingredients: fennel seeds, sesame seeds, MSG, sugar
Because jiaoyan seasoning is so simple, the quality of the Sichuan pepper you use to make it matters a lot. Look for whole Sichuan pepper with deep red husks and almost no black seeds like Tribute Pepper from Hanyuan, for a cleaner taste. In Sichuan, cooks often use locally produced well salt from Zigong in their jiaoyan, but outside of Sichuan you can use any pure salt, such as fine rock salt, kosher salt or sea salt.
Many Sichuan chefs recommend making a fresh batch of jiaoyan every day, to preserve its aroma, much like cracking fresh pepper into each dish it’s used in. As the ground pepper sits, it loses its fragrance (and can also absorb moisture), so it’s best when used within two weeks.
To make the mixture, start by toasting Sichuan peppercorns until they are intensely fragrant and some of their oil is released. Once the peppercorns are ready and have cooled just a bit, grind them into a coarse powder with a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder and sieve the powder to remove the tough husks for a smoother texture. Then toast the salt in the same pan until it is light golden, allowing the moisture to evaporate and the salt to absorb the oil released by the pepper. Lastly, grind the salt and mix it with the ground Sichuan pepper.
Classic Jiaoyan Wei Dishes
Jiaoyan is mostly used for hot dishes, primarily deep-fried meats such as pork, shrimp and fish and also deep-fried vegetables such as mushrooms and eggplant.
- For deep-fried dishes, the main ingredient is first battered and fried, then stir-fried with aromatics; the jiaoyan seasoning is added to the wok as a last step or sprinkled on the dish after it is plated.
- Jiaoyan can also be served on the side of a dish, as a dipping seasoning.
Famous examples of meat-centric jiaoyan wei dishes include salt-and-pepper fried pork loin (jiāoyán lǐji, 椒盐里脊), salt-and-pepper pork hock (jiāoyán tíbǎng, 椒盐蹄膀), salt-and-pepper fish rolls (jiāoyán yújuǎn, 椒盐鱼卷), salt-and-pepper shrimp (jiāoyán dàxiā, 椒盐大虾) and salt-and-pepper ribs (jiāoyán páigǔ, 椒盐排骨).
Well-known vegetable dishes include fried mushrooms (ruǎnzhà mógu, 软炸蘑菇) and salt-and-pepper battered eggplant (jiāoyán qiébǐng, 椒盐茄饼).
Older Sichuan cookbooks also record a few other fried dishes that are served with a jiaoyan dipping seasoning, such as pork kidney rolls (wǎngyóu yāojuǎn, 网油腰卷) and chicken wings (wǎngyóu jīchì, 网油鸡翅). These foods were generally wrapped in pork caul fat and deep-fried, but this style of dish is much less common today.
- For pastries, jiaoyan is often incorporated right into the dough ( or rice, for dishes like zongzi). Famous examples include steamed flower bun (jiāoyán huājuǎn, 椒盐花卷), baked flatbread (jiāoyán guōkuī, 椒盐锅盔) and Dragon Boat Festival sticky zongzi (jiāoyán zòngzi, 椒盐粽子).
(In recent decades, gāndié (干碟), a dipping seasoning based on chilies and usually including Sichuan pepper among other spices and seasonings, has become popular in Sichuan. Like jiaoyan it’s served with fried foods, but also with Sichuan shaokao BBQ and mala hot pot. Recipes below include those that can be served with either jiaoyan or gandie dipping chilies—or both!)
Fuhu wei category photos and text compiled in collaboration with Xueci Cheng.
