The Tujia people in Enshi are fond of sour and spicy flavors, as reflected in the proverb: "You feel restless as a cat without sour and spicy food for three days". Fermented chili paste, also known as pickled chili, was created under such food culture and has remained popular for generations.

It is mainly made from fresh local red chilies and cornmeal. Remove chili stems, rinse and drain, then mince finely. Mix with salt and cornmeal (Chinese prickly ash and orange peel can be added as seasonings). Put the mixture into clean earthen jars, cover the top with vegetable leaves and secure with bamboo strips. Place the jar upside down in a basin filled with water for water-seal fermentation. This method ensures tight sealing and proper anaerobic fermentation for a richer taste.

For small-batch production, upright jars with water grooves are also used. However, such jars are not suitable for long-term storage, as air may get in or the mixture may become diluted. After around three weeks of full fermentation, the paste is ready to cook.

It is commonly stir-fried with Tujia cured pork or used as a base for steamed dishes, delivering a distinctive sour and spicy taste. It also serves as a seasoning for steamed meat, making the dish refreshing and easy to digest. Some locals even mix it with cornmeal to make savory paste soup.

For the best flavor, use chilies harvested after White Dew solar term; otherwise the paste will taste overly sour. Small-grained yellow corn from Enshi is the ideal choice for cornmeal, though glutinous rice flour is occasionally used as an alternative. Properly sealed jars can preserve the fermented chili paste for several years.