With this simple recipe, you can make your own spicy Asian chili oil in no time. Trust me, this chili oil will become your new favorite condiment with all your Asian dishes. Delicious with rice, noodles, dumplings and other recipes like this Japanese ramen or this Cambodian chicken soup. Best of all, you can totally adjust it to your own taste and spicy tolerance level.
For this Asian chili oil, use a neutral oil with little flavor. Such as sunflower oil, peanut oil, corn oil, rapeseed oil, rice oil, salad oil or soybean oil. Olive oil is not suitable because it has typical flavor that better suits Italian dishes.
How to make Asian chili oil
Ingredients
(for 1 jar)
- 300 ml of neutral oil
- 2 star anise
- 1/2 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp (Sichuan) peppercorns
- 1 tsp cloves
- 1 clove of garlic (crushed)
- 30-50 grams chili flakes
- Salt
Instructions
Pour the oil into a pot with all the herbs (except the chili flakes and salt). Heat the oil over medium-high heat to about 110-120 °C until small bubbles appear with the spices. If you notice that the spices are simmering more vigorously or darkening too quickly, turn down the heat slightly. Let the spices infuse in this way for at least 30 minutes, or 1 hour for best results.
While your oil is heating, put the chili flakes in a heatproof bowl or jar. For 300 ml of oil, I used about 40 grams of chili flakes, but you can experiment with this yourself.
Before pouring the oil over the chili flakes, take out the spices. You can do this by pouring everything through a sieve onto the chili flakes OR remove the spices first with a fork or small strainer.
Make sure the oil maintains the same temperature of 110-120 °C and pour it over the chili flakes. Stir to evenly distribute the heat of the oil and add some salt to taste.
The oil is ready to use right away with your favorite Asian dishes!
Storing: Let the chili oil cool and store in a tightly sealable jar in a cool and dark place. It is often recommended to store the oil in the refrigerator, then it will keep for up to about 6 months.
