Recipe: Tasty Chili Oil

Chili Oil. Chili oil is a condiment made from vegetable oil that has been infused with chili peppers. Different types of oil and hot peppers are used, and other components may also be included. It is commonly used in Chinese cuisine, East and Southeast Asia and elsewhere.

Chili Oil is great on dumplings and all. But there is a massive difference between from scratch homemade chili oil, and store bought. This simple chili oil recipe requires only several ingredients: oil, pepper flakes, ginger, garlic, and salt. You can have Chili Oil using 12 ingredients and 8 steps. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients of Chili Oil

1. You need 1 stick of Cinnamon.
2. You need 2 of dry bay leaves.
3. It's 3 of Star Anise.
4. It's 1/2 Tbsp of Whole Coriander.
5. Prepare 1 Tsp of Fennel Seeds.
6. You need 1 Tsp of Szechuan Peppercorns.
7. It's 2 cups of neutral cooking oil (vegetable works fine).
8. Prepare 100 g of Chili Flakes (or 140g for denser, spicier oil).
9. You need 5 of garlic cloves.
10. Prepare 10 g of Ginger.
11. Prepare 1 tsp of Sugar.
12. Prepare 1 tsp of Salt.

The chili oil is perfect for dumplings, noodles, and pretty much any dish that you think can use a bit of. A typical chili oil is made from a vegetable oil that has been infused with your chili peppers of choice. This chili oil is great to spice up any type of soup, dressings or your main dish. I really love on my egg omelet and porridge.

Chili Oil step by step

1. Add cinnamon, bay leaves, star anise, coriander, fennel seeds, szechuan peppercorns to a wok on medium high heat, and toast until fragrant while constantly tossing to ensure they don't burn on one side (2-3 minutes, do not burn).
2. Pour oil into a heavy saucepan, add toasted spices, 2 smashed garlic cloves, and 5g knob of ginger. Bring oil up to 250F and cook the spices for 5-10 minutes to infuse oil with their flavours.
3. Strain the oil into a clean heavy saucepan, and put the clean oil back on heat until oil reaches 350F.
4. Put chili flakes in a LARGE HEAT PROOF bowl or large heavy saucepan..
5. Once oil has reached 350F, pour half of it into the LARGE HEAT PROOF bowl. The oil will bubble and expand when it hits the chili flakes, so make sure the HEAT PROOF bowl is LARGE enough to not overflow..
6. Set the remaining oil aside and allow to cool to about 250F. While oil is cooling, mince the remaining 5g of Ginger and 3 cloves of Garlic. Don't add them during the first pour or they could burn..
7. When the oil has cooled to 250, add the garlic, ginger, salt, sugar to the chili flakes and then pour the remining oil in and mix to combine.
8. Wait until mixture has reached room temperature and then store in a jar or other airtight container..

Also you could just toss in your favorite noodles (ex. egg noodles or spaghetti). Chili oil is essentially dried chilies, preserved in oil. Fresh chili oil—or chili oil that has just been made—will be relatively mild. But once the oil is stored, the chilies will continue to release heat. This easy Sichuan-style garlic chili oil (辣椒油 - là jiāo yóu) comes together in just minutes and makes for a delicious spicy condiment that you'll want to drizzle on everything.