Smashed Chilies with Century Eggs (擂辣椒) by: Judy 0 Comments Jump to Recipe Posted:9/18/2022Updated:9/16/2022 Smashed Chilies with Century Eggs, or léi làjiāo (擂辣椒) is a Hunan dish with strong, spicy flavors.I’ve enjoyed it at Hunan restaurants in China as an appetizer, and it left a lasting impression! With so many peppers coming out of our garden right now, I knew it was time to make this dish.  Why SmashED Peppers The word “擂”, léi, means to smash, or pound something.This dish is made with a mortar and pestle, and the ingredients are mashed together until the flavors meld, and you get something more delicious than the sum of its parts.

Not to mention, it’s also a fun dish to make!  There’s something about “smashing” vegetables that just makes them taste better.Like our popular Smashed Asian Cucumber Salad, it opens up plenty of nooks and crannies for sauce and seasonings to penetrate.It also gives the food a unique and pleasant texture as you chew.  Sometimes this dish is also made with steamed or roasted eggplant, another vegetable that tastes delicious when mashed, so you can add that to the recipe as well if desired.

But since we’ve got so many peppers on hand, I made this version just with peppers and saved our garden eggplant for dishes like Eggplant with Garlic Sauce.  Another Hunan Recipe While over the years, we’ve explored many of China’s 8 great cuisines as well as the ones in be

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