Hot Chili Oil
"I spent a couple years of my childhood in a small town called Tianshui in Gansu province, China. That’s where my father resides. I climbed trees and mountains, explored a forest, flew a kite, and learned to appreciate the fresh chili pepper there. That must be how I developed my unusual tolerance for spicy food. If you like spicy food, you might be familiar with hot chili oil, a popular condiment in Chinese cuisine, particularly used in Sichuan cuisine to heat up your dishes in a gentle Asian way. Like salsa in Mexico, hot chili oil is in every single household in northwestern China. And the chili pepper and chili flakes from that region have a unique fragrance and taste that make the homemade chili oil extra flavorful."
NotesWhen heating up oil in a saucepan, make sure that the saucepan is completely dried. Any water in the pan will cause oil to explode. Be careful.
This recipe yields around 1 1/4 cups hot chili oil.
You can also cut down the ingredients to make a smaller portion.
Makes1 Oil
Preparation Time1 min
Cooking Time5 min
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup Korean Red Chili Pepper Flakes Powder
- 1 1/2 cups Kasandrinos Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil or avocado oil
-
Place Korean Red Chili Pepper Flakes Powder in a heat-proof container. For example, a glass measuring cup (as in the photos) will work.
-
In a small saucepan, heat up olive oil over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, or until you see a tiny bit of smoke. Turn off the heat.
-
Slowly and carefully pour the heated oil onto the pepper powder. It will immediately sizzle. Make sure the running oil touches the entire pepper surface until the pepper is completely covered in the oil. Stir and let cool for 10 minutes. Transfer oil and pepper solids into a jar.
-
If you want the hot oil only, let the pepper solids sit in the oil for a few hours, and then transfer the flavored oil into a jar. By then, the pepper solids are all at the bottom of the measuring cup and are very easy to discard.