How to make spicy Chinese style chilli oil
Ok, so by now you can see the trend… I am obsessed with all things spicy. The other day I posted about a green chilli pickle and now it’s this deliciously spicy elixir like hot sauce – Chilli Oil. When I say hot, I mean “HOT”, super duper extra spicy !! It has all forms of chilli in there – dried, fresh, powdered, but when mixed with the flavourless vegetable oil, it does tone down the heat to a few notches down.
I have been wanting to make dumplings and wontons for quite some time but couldn’t imagine making them without this chilli oil, just felt incomplete without this super addictive chilli oil. If you google this recipe, you will find several hundred recipes. I have tried most of them and have now come up with my own version. I do not add the sichuan peppercorns as I’m not a big fan of the slightly numbing effect it has on your tongue. My version is made using a mix of dried red chillis and the hot fresh red chillis with some aromatics in there to amp up the flavour.
Chilli oil typically uses cinnamon, star anise etc to flavour the oil. I especially love the sweet notes these spices lend to the oil, so I added them along with a bay leaf and ginger/garlic. My version is super duper spicy, like blow your socks out, make your ears buzz with the heat…. well you get the message, so please please do adjust the spice levels to suit your individual preferences. The spicy oil pairs beautifully with the milder chicken meat used in dumplings or the sweet flavours of prawn fillings in dumplings and wontons. Also, can you imagine how good this tastes on a plate of hot fried rice or simply on fried eggs. Between the chilli oil and green chilli pickle, its a tough choice. It’s a hard life out here !! 🤪
This oil will stay good in the refrigerator for a good 2-3 weeks, however to be honest it hasn’t really lasted that long in my place. My kids absolutely love this and this goes over anything and everything. Apart from almost swiping my jar of chilli oil clean to eat the dumplings or wontons, they add it to poached eggs, fried eggs, pasta, toast, instant noodles, on wraps. I even saw them using it as a dipping sauce for their crisps the other day. In short, this chilli oil is super addictive ! so try it out and let me know whether you could handle the heat and loved it or you turned it down and absolutely loved it even more.
Chinese styled Chilli Oil
Ingredients
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup red chilli powder I used a mix of kashmiri chilli powder(60%) and normal red chilli powder(40%) for a good mix of colour and heat
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 7-8 dried red chillis chopped seeds taken out
- 1 tbsp minced garlic and ginger
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 star anise
- 1 bay leaf
- 4-5 chopped red chillis
- 1 tbsp low sodium soya sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp salt and sugar Optional, taste for seasonings and add only if required.
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix the chopped dried red chillis and chilli powder. Set aside
- Heat 1 cup of oil in a pan and add the star anise, bay leaf and cinnamon stick
- Keep the heat low-medium and add the ginger, garlic and fresh red chillies to the oil
- Continue cooking on a low heat until the chillis and garlic start to crisp up
- Carefully strain the hot oil over the bowl of chopped dried chillis and red chilli powder and let the mix sizzle in the hot oil for a couple of minutes
- Optional step – Add some of the fried chilli garlic ginger into the hot oil
- Add the soya sauce, sesame oil and stir. At this point check for seasoning and add sugar and salt.
- Transfer to a clean jar once cooled and use a dry spoon everytime to use the chilli oil
Video
Notes
- To take out the seeds from the dried red chillis, roll the red chillis between your palms to loosen the seeds. Snip off one end and discard most of the seeds.
- I like the crisp texture of the chillis and garlic added to the chilli oil, you can choose not to
- Taste the oil before adding the sugar and salt. Adding sugar seems to round off the flavours
- Please do adjust spice levels to your personal preference
- *****Be very careful when straining the hot oil
