Lao Gan Ma

A Guizhou brand rather than a single product. The widely used versions are the fermented black bean chilli oil and the crispy chilli, and they behave differently: the douchi version brings substantial free glutamate from the bean ferment on top of the chilli, so it is doing umami work as well as heat. Fry it into rendered fat for around 30 seconds before anything wet arrives, so the carotenoids and capsaicinoids move into the fat. Stands in for doubanjiang at a pinch but is sweeter, less salty and far less funky, so a bowl leaning on it usually needs the savoury depth made up elsewhere.