Giddy up folks, in this post I am going to blabber a bit about my favorite condiment, The chili oil and where to use it.
If you are brown person, or…just generally a person, you already know and love Chinese food. I mean, I have had my share of disagreements with Burgers and Pizzas, but I have yet to meet a soul who doesn’t like Chinese food! (And..if you are here…I am assuming you aren’t that soul either)
So, Chili oil is an aromatic, spicy, staple when it comes to Chinese/Sichuan cooking. Its a condiment made with chili peppers and of course, oil. It adds that really bold flavor to Asian food. If you are familiar with Indo-Chinese cuisines, then you know this oil is a must in your house!
Click here if you wanna gather some more intel about this awesome oil.
But Chinese cuisines isn’t the only place this oil comes in handy. In fact, this oil makes a lot of appearances in many of recipes and foods. It just adds that character to otherwise seemingly boring food. One of the popular recipes on the blog, called Dragon Chicken, is also made with chili oil.
Where can you use Chili oil?
If you are new to cooking, or new to Chinese style of cooking, fear not, here’s a list of ways you can introduce Chili oil to your cooking:
- Let’s start with the obvious shall we? Use it in Chinese and Indo-Chinese Cuisine
- Add a tsp of chili oil to Marination of all kinds
- Use it as an oil rub for baking fries or veggies.
- Just drop spoonfuls on top of eggs
- Drizzle it over your regular salads and bring some heat to it.
- Add it to your pastas
- Use it to make these Saucy Meatballs
- Use the oil while making dips for nachos!
- Blend a little chili oil while making hummus and make a kick-ass hummus dip
- And last but not the least, use as the basic oil for regular curries too!
It’s literally a 10 minutes recipe guys! Once you’ve made this oil, it is definitely going on your shelf of permanent condiments!
3 INGREDIENT CHILI OIL
Here are the only 3 things you’ll need to prep this condiment.
HOW TO PREPARE THE OIL
Heat Oil in a wok/pan at high flame, like you would do for deep frying. Once the oil is all heated up, turn the flame off.
Now stir the oil a little bit and then we are going to let the oil cool down. Once it comes to room temperature, cover it and let it sit overnight to get a really nice chili infusion situation going on.
Some recipes and chefs prefer leaving the chili bits in the oil for as long as they store it. I personally prefer the clear oil because I don’t add the emulsion of peppers in my cooking. It’s totally up to you to strain and store, or store the oil as it is.
Now that you have your jar of liquid heat ready, you are ready to conquer Chinese cuisines! Or just use it in the ways mentioned above! Here’s a kick-ass Dragon chicken recipe that you make using Chili oil!
Or you could improvise, and use this oil to make these awesome pasta recipes.
More Pan Asian Recipes
Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!
How to make chili oil
Ingredients
- 1 cup oil any oil that you use for cooking
- 1 tbsp red chili powder
- 1 tbsp crushed red chili flakes
Instructions
- Add oil to wok or pan and heat it for 3 to 4 minutes at high flame
- When you see your oil is hot enough to deep fry food, turn off the flame and add red chili power and chili flakes.
- Give the oil a good stir and let it cool down to room temperature.
- Cover the oil once it cools down and let it sit overnight.
- The next day, transfer the oil into a glass jar using a strainer to filter out the chili flakes and powder.
- Store and use when needed
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Kirtika saha says
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I will try at my home. waiting for the next article.
Wajiha says
🙂 always here publishing! welcome onboard
shankar das says
Thanks for this recipe, We were talking about good Chilli oil and I found this. One of my workmates got me to send the recipe and made it that night.
Wajiha says
thank you so much for trying!