sf wrote:
> On Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:04:13 -0400, "Jean B." > wrote:
>
>> sf wrote:
>>> On Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:57:05 -0400, "Jean B." > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Gee, I am surprised you can't find this. The brand is Lan Chi,
>>>> IIRC. That may help. I guess I'm glad I have a jar I just opened
>>>> recently if it is going to be hard or impossible to find.
>>> Are you sure it's paste and not sauce? I can find chili *sauce* with
>>> garlic very easily. It's not the same taste.
>>>
>> Yes, it's paste.
>
> Great! Where do you find it?
>
> I used to just pick it up at my regular market. I found a thread on
> ChowHound that tells me I'm not crazy... it *is* hard to find here.
> Other threads I found say it's hard to find elsewhere too.
>
Whole Foods. And I deliberately looked for it today, and there it
was, restocked. Do you have access to WF?

I consider this paste to be kind-of a staple of Sichuan cooking.
It probably was the first more-authentic ingredient I found, which
was vastly better than the red pepper flakes that one had to
resort to a really long time ago. Of course, one can now buy
chili* sauce with beans, which I guess is an even better thing to
use, and I do also use that.

(*I forget how it is spelled on the cans and jars--may be chillie?
I don't think it's chile though)

--
Jean B.