Name: Hu Pi Qing Jiao {Tiger Skin Green Peppers 虎皮青椒}
Prep time: 8 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 lb. long green peppers; 2 tsp canola oil; 2 tbsp. light soy sauce; 2 tbsp. Zhenjiang vinegar; 1/2 tbsp. cane sugar, organic, unrefined; 1 tbsp. garlic, minced

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Hu Pi Qing Jiao {虎皮青椒}, or literally translates as Tiger Skin Green Peppers, is a well-liked traditional Sichuan {Szechuan} food. It features long green peppers pan fried first and then quickly stir-fried with a soy vinegar garlic sauce. Depends on your liking of the spicy food, you may use spicy long green peppers or sweet long green peppers, or something in between. Absolutely full of flavor and refreshingly tasty, a perfect vegan dish.

Pan Fried Green Peppers {Hu Pi Qing Jiao, Tiger Skin Green Peppers}

Why the name “Tiger Skin Peppers”?

The pan frying leads to the wrinkled spots and burn marks on the long green peppers, which resemble the tiger skin. For this reason, people call this dish Hu Pi Qing Jiao {虎皮青椒}, or Tiger Skin Peppers.

Cooking Hu Pi Qing Jiao {Tiger's Skin Peppers} — Hu Pi Qing Jiao {Tiger’s Skin Green Peppers}

How to make perfect Hu Pi Qing Jiao {Tiger Skin Green Peppers}?

The first thing first is to pick the right green peppers

Long green pepper with thin, tender and juicy skins are the optimal ones, either spicy or sweet ones.

Hu Pi Qing Jiao {Tiger Skin Green Peppers} ingredients

Tip No.2 is to prepare the long green peppers via traditional way

The traditional way is to preserve as much as you can for the “whole” green pepper, for the sake of texture and presentation of the dish. To accomplish that, trim off the end of the long green peppers first, and then use a small long knife to remove the seeds.

Insert the small knife into the chamber of the long green peppers with the sharp edge facing inside. Then rotate in a circular motion to cut the seeds apart. Luckily, for long green peppers, the seeds are typically only present near the bottom area. Rinse the green peppers to get ride of the loose seeds and use hands to remove any extra whitish connecting tissues if needed.

Prepare long green pepper for Hu Pi Qing Jiao {Pan Fried Green Peppers}

Tip No.3 is to make a perfect Stir Fry Sauce for Hu Pi Qing Jiao

Combine 2 tbsp. light soy sauce, 2 tbsp. Zhenjiang vinegar, 1 tbsp. minced garlic, and 1/2 tbsp. organic cane sugar in a small bowl and mix well. This sauce is good for about 1 pound (454 grams) of green peppers.

The ratio between the light soy sauce and Zhenjiang vinegar decides whether the dish tastes vinegary or more balanced. I like a more balanced flavor for my Tiger Skin Green Peppers, hence the equal amount of light soy sauce and Zhenjiang Vinegar. If you prefer to be on the sour or vinegary side, then use 3 tbsp. Zhenjiang vinegar instead.

Hu Pi Qing Jiao {Tiger Skin Green Peppers 虎皮青椒}

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 8 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb. long green peppers
2 tsp canola oil

For the Sauce:

2 tbsp. light soy sauce
2 tbsp. Zhenjiang vinegar
1/2 tbsp. cane sugar, organic, unrefined
1 tbsp. garlic, minced

Instructions

Gather ingredients.
Wash and rinse long green pepper. trim off the end of the long green peppers first, Insert a small knife into the chamber of the long green peppers with the sharp edge facing inside. Then rotate in a circular motion to cut the seeds apart.
Rinse the green peppers to get ride of the loose seeds and use hands to remove any extra whitish connecting tissues if needed.
Use a compact food processor to mince garlic.
Combine everything under "For the Sauce" into a small bowl, mix well and set aside.
Turn the heat to medium and heat a hard anodized fry-pan for 1 minute. Add 2 tsp canola oil, use a mini silicone spatula to spread evenly across the pan.
Lay long green peppers flat in the pan with minimal over-lay. Cook for 2 minutes.
Flip the green peppers, gently press down using a slotted turner and cook for another 2 minutes.
Turn the heat to low and cook for 6 minutes, flip every 3 minutes and gently press down the green peppers.
Pour the sauce over the green peppers in a circular motion, using the previously used mini silicone spatula to scrape the bowl if needed.
Turn the heat to medium-high, fold the sauce into the green peppers using the slotted turner, for about 1 minute, and then turn off the heat.
All done! Enjoy a delicious Hu Pi Qing Jiao {Tiger's Skin Green Peppers}