Hainan Island Fermented White Pepper ( Bai Hu Jiao)

These fermented white peppercorns are a product of Qionghai, on tropical Hainan Island, the famed source of China's best white pepper.

Used widely in Chinese cuisines, white pepper is the pepper of choice in China, where "unsightly" black pepper is much less popular. While used less frequently in Sichuan cuisine, which favors the unrelated Sichuan pepper, white pepper is a must-have ingredient for Cantonese food. You will recognize it as part of the kick in hot and sour soup and beef chow fun. 

White peppercorns and black peppercorns are one and the same fruit from the Piper nigrum plant but are processed differently. White pepper is left to ripen on the vine and is then stored in water for a week or so to soften and decompose the outer skin of the fruit. The skins are then rubbed off, and the seed is dried in the sun. This traditional fermentation (which may be bypassed in lieu of faster mechanical or chemical means in cheaper pepper) strips away some of the flavors found in the skin of black pepper and adds a bit of distinctive funk in the process. 

We also sell this white pepper in a handy grinder bottle for finishing and table use. 

Source: Grown in Qionghai, Hainan Island, China
Size: 6.0 ounces (170 grams)
Ingredients: Single-origin white peppercorn. Fermented and sun-dried. No additives or preservatives.