Dali Eight-Treasure Meat Sauce Chili

Dali Eight-Treasure Meat Sauce Chili

　　Eight-Treasure Chili, also known as Mixed Chili or Sauce Chili, is a specialty snack from the Weinan region of Shaanxi Province and an indispensable dish at local banquets. Legend has it that Yan Dan Chu, a Qing Dynasty grand secretary originally from Chao Yi (now part of Dali County), brought it back from the imperial court and introduced it to local markets. Made by stir-frying a variety of ingredients with the local specialty Qin pepper, it is called "Eight-Treasure Meat Chili." With a crispy texture and spicy, appetizing flavor, it’s perfect for pairing with meals or stuffed in flatbread—truly a "rice cleaner" and "flatbread wrecker."

　　　　Eight-Treasure Chili is the most traditional dish in Dali. The term "eight treasures" is more of a general reference to the many ingredients, and doesn’t strictly require exactly eight. The number can vary. However, three ingredients are essential: chili powder, pickled vegetable cubes, and pork cubes. Spicy, salty, and fragrant are the core flavors of Eight-Treasure Chili. Of course, since it's called Eight-Treasure Chili, it’s not so monotonous—typically, local ingredients are used or adjusted seasonally, with additions such as soybeans, carrot cubes, lotus root cubes, garlic sprouts, and in better conditions, magnolia slices or even bamboo shoots. In short, the vegetables used are all relatively crisp. When all these are added together, they could easily count as eight ingredients, with colors ranging vibrantly across red, green, white, yellow, and black—visually lively and appealing, while the taste becomes delightfully diverse.

　　　　Stir-frying Eight-Treasure Chili may seem like a simple task, but making it well and authentically involves quite a few nuances. First is ingredient selection: the chili powder must be made from high-quality Qin pepper, preferably hand-picked, sun-dried, pan-roasted, and ground manually by farming households. Such chili powder is very clean and pure, with no adulteration. Since a small amount of oil is used during the pan-roasting process, the chili powder itself carries a spicy yet fragrant taste. Additionally, choose streaky pork with a good mix of fat and lean—too lean and the dish becomes dry, too fatty and it turns greasy. As for the pickled vegetable, mustard tuber (commonly known as jie ga) is a must. With these three ingredients in place, other vegetables such as carrots, lotus root, garlic sprouts, and soybeans can be added according to personal preference and seasonal availability—the key is that they should be crisp and chewy. Together, these ingredients may indeed add up to eight kinds, with colors spanning red, green, white, yellow, and black, creating a lively and attractive presentation, while the textures become "richly varied."

　　　　Ingredients: Pork hind leg, Lao Gan Ma sauce, scallions, tofu (or dried tofu is fine), peanuts (soaked in cold water overnight), five-spice fermented black beans, Chinese cabbage stems, carrots.

　　　　Method: 1. Separate the fat and lean parts of the pork hind leg, using equal amounts of each. Cut both into about 8mm cubes. Cut the other vegetables into similar-sized cubes as the meat, with carrots slightly smaller at around 5mm.

　　　　2. Place the fat cubes in a wok over the lowest heat possible. Stir continuously with a spatula until the rendered fat is released. Once the fat turns golden, add the chili powder (you can add a bit more since the spiciness mellows after frying; if not enough fat renders, add some cooking oil as needed). Quickly add the lean meat cubes and stir-fry until they change color, then add chopped scallions and ginger, stir briefly, and season with salt and spice powder.

　　　　3. The next most important step is stir-frying the sauce. For about 1 pound of meat, use around 100 grams of sauce. After the sauce is fragrant, add in the tofu, carrots, and Chinese cabbage cubes, and stir-fry until they are about 80% cooked. Finally, add the peanuts and five-spice fermented black beans, stir-fry until done, and serve.

　　　　The name "Eight-Treasure Chili" doesn’t mean it must contain exactly eight ingredients—it refers to the variety of ingredients used. However, the essential components are pork cubes, pickled vegetables, and chili powder. The pork cubes should include both fat and lean, the pickled vegetables should be mustard tuber, and the chili should be high-quality Qin pepper. Beyond these three, you can choose seasonal vegetables based on availability, preferably those with a crisp texture, such as lotus root, bamboo shoots, or garlic sprouts. You can also add other vegetables according to personal preference.