Er jing tiao ( is a type of chili that is most common in Sichuan cuisine of China. The chili is typically shaped like the letter J and is between 5 and 6 inches long. This chili is known for its deep color and robust fragrance and is often used in chili oil for that reason. It is also a major ingredient for many famous chili sauce products, such as thick broad-bean sauce. It has a spicy and salty flavor, which is used in combination with noodles or rice. It has a long history in Chinese cuisine and has gained popularity over the time. It's easy to find it among traditional authentic Sichuan cuisine, whether in restaurant or kitchen at home. Er jing tiao's taste is different from common types of chili, its taste and smells are slightly spicier. It is a very special type of chili, it colors could change from green to red as time passed. They could also be eaten as a fresh vegetable, seasoning with salt and soy sauce. The harvesting time is usually from early May to October.
Current use
There are multiple methods to cook the chilis depending on the personal eating habit. At most times, Er jing tiao was considered to be a useful and tasty food ingredient to be processed and made into a dish or spicy oil, it could also be grinded into dry chili sauce that was common to be found at store for customers to purchase. Moreover, Er jing tiao could also be made into spicy broad bean paste which are also a major ingredient in cooking sichuan dishes such as mapo tofu. There are another example, Chilli powder, a common processed seasoning product is made from chopped dried chilies such as Er jing tiao, stir frying it with a small amount of vegetable oil and leave it aside to cool. After cooling, put in a container and grinded into powder when the chillis is crispy.The fine chili powder are generally used for relatively simple dishes, a small amounts could gave the dish a strong flavor, it could used for color enhancement or made into dried chili dipping sauce.
Breeding method
The seed germination temperature is 23-30 ° C, if below 15 ° C can not germinate. Pepper seeds require higher temperatures, it grows more slowly when the temperatures is relatively low. At the beginning of the flowering season, the temperature is 20-25 °C during the daytime and 15-20 °C during the night. Chilis should not be cultivates with other plants vegetables such as eggplant and potatoes et al., their needs for water, fertilizer and light are different. Not all Er jing tiao was breed inside Sichuan province, there are a some was grown in neighboring Guizhou province, which was considered as a better planting environment since it was less polluted. For the breeding site conditions: The altitude is 445 meters to 550 meters; the terrain is high dry, the irrigation and drainage is convenient, the soil layer is deep and loose, and the slightly acidic yellow loam soil has a pH value of 6.1 to 6.8; the organic matter content is ≥1.5% or more.
Cultivation management
Seed selection: Select the seed of the second Jingjiao pepper that is purified and rejuvenated, and the seed quality should meet the relevant requirements of the state.
Rotation: Three to four years of rotation with Solanaceae vegetables.
Planting inside greenhouse in late or mid-October, averagely 7 grams~8 grams of seeds per square meters.
Ramet: When the seedlings grow bigger and have 3~4 leaves, the seedlings would be planted into different holes every 10 cm.
Field management: Before reaching the final stable planting, it should be watered based on a regular timetable, at the early stage around 0.1% boron fertilizer should be applied. After it grows bigger, apply extra 0.2% of potassium dihydrogen phosphate plus 0,1%~0.2% of urea in the middle and late stages.
Harvesting time: From July 5th to August 15th, when color turns into deep red, it could be collected.
Disease prevention
check the plant's growing status regularly, remove and burn the diseased plant immediately. It could occur during the whole reproductive cycle, it is most common to found in the early stage. The bottom of the stem would appears to be dark green or brown. When the humidity is high, it would have white mildew layer on the surface, which is the pathogen cyst and sac. After drying, it forms dark brown streaks, and the branches above withered rapidly.
