The Secret Inside: Global Heat lovers Fall for China’s Spicy Sauce

CHEN ZIQI

A Chinese chili sauce is setting mouths ablaze and taste buds dancing across the globe. From home kitchens to high-end restaurants, this fiery condiment has become a beloved staple for spice enthusiasts. In the United States, it captured national attention in 2015 after a hot sauce showdown in Los Angeles, where the late legendary food critic Jonathan Gold named it a standout among global contenders. Across the Atlantic, it earned a coveted spot on The Guardian’s Christmas wish list in the U.K. What exactly gives this sauce its irresistible pull?

 A flavor explosion in the mouths of food lovers

Known as Lao Gan Ma, which translates as “Old Grandmother,” this fiery condiment is affectionately dubbed the “Angry Lady Sauce”, thanks to the stern-faced woman on its label.

At first glance, the humble glass jar barely catches anyone’s eye, until you unscrew the lid. Dark red chilies are soaked in richly flavored oil and surrounded with bits of fermented soybeans. It might look intimidating at first with all the red chilies, but, the sauce speaks with more flavor than spiciness alone. It’s not just the fiery burn but the addictive thrill that keeps chili lovers coming back for more.

Foodies mix it with noodles or slather it on steamed buns while adventurous eaters swapping it for tomato sauce on pizza, drizzling it over popcorn for a spicy kick, or even pairing it with ice cream to blend heat and sweetness in surprising harmony. And somehow, it works.

The secret ingredient behind Lao Gan Ma’s heat

The secret of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce lies in the high quality of its chilies, sourced from Guizhou Province in southwest China. This regional origin gives the sauce its distinctive aroma, leaving a rich, lingering flavor on the tongue. Locals say that many hot sauces rely on Guizhou peppers as the secret ingredient that makes the sauce, bold enough to stand out, smooth enough to blend in.

While Sichuan may be China’s most famous spicy region, Guizhou was in fact the first to embrace chili peppers back in the late 16th century, via the Ancient Silk Road. Then, with its mild temperatures, abundant sunlight, ample humidity, and the rugged landscape that prevents plant diseases and pests, Guizhou became a natural haven for chili cultivation.

By the end of 2024, Guizhou had emerged as China’s leading pepper-producing province, contributing to the country’s position as the source of nearly half of the world’s chili pepper output. Chili peppers from Guizhou are now exported to more than 80 countries and regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, and Mexico, to name just a few.

Centuries of tradition shape today’s flavor

With over 400 years of chili-eating tradition, generations in Guizhou have mastered the art of selecting pepper seeds that deliver the finest flavor and highest yields.Today, this tradition has developed into a scientific process, led by professional breeding teams.

According to Tian Hao,a local agricultural scientist, developing a new pepper variety can take several years, sometimes over a decade. The goal is to produce peppers that are resilient to floods and disease, but with healthy appearance and exceptional flavor.One such success is a varietycalled Zunjiao111, selected among more than 4,000 hybrid candidates,and gained widespread acclaim at the 2023 Guizhou Zunyi International Chili Expo.

Guizhou: China’s chili benchmark

With its vast cultivation area and consistently high-quality peppers, Guizhou has become the benchmark of China’s chili industry, setting the standard and influencing prices nationwide. To gauge how hot the local chili market is, both literally and economically, look no further than China Chili City, a large-scale trading hub in Zunyi, southwest Guizhou. This mega-market has emerged as the beating heart of the nation’s chili trade. 

The China Chili City was not built over night. Over the past six decades, the pepper economy in Guizhou has transformed from scattered, informal village-level trading into this highly organized and efficiently operated market system. It connects buyers and sellers from across China, and increasingly from abroad, with its online platform facilitating chili imports from countries such as India and Myanmar. During peak season, the market is blanketed in a sea of vibrant red chilies, piled so high and wide that the edges vanish from sight. The air is thick with pungent smell, so fiery it can make even seasoned traders sneeze.

From Guizhou to the globe

In 2024, the China Chili City recorded a transaction volume of 750,000 tons of peppers, with a trade value surpassing $1.4 billion. In 2023, chili peppers were exported to over 30 countries and regions from the trading hub, including the U.S., India, Mexico, and several Southeast Asian nations, reaching a trade value of $93.2 million.

Guizhou’s chili peppers have been fueling a booming industry, blending centuries-old tradition with modern trade. This fiery crop powers a billion-dollar market, sustaining communities and shaping the future of global spice commerce, proving that great flavors can ignite more than just taste buds.

(Chen Ziqi is a journalist with CGTN)