Being a bit of a chilli addict, I was looking for a good chilli oil recipe. This is a slight variation on the recipe by Yeung Man. While it looks like a long list of ingredients this is a quick and simple recipe. The oil will store in a fridge for several months. Other than my morning muesli I add this to almost everything. It is a useful way of adding a bit of a kick to dishes if you are cooking for other people who do not have a ‘chilli tooth’.
Ingredients
Method
Notes
2 star anise
0.5 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp sichuan peppercorns
1 stick cinnamon
4 cardamons
2 bay leaves
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tbs white sesame seeds
50 g taekyung chilli powder
2 tsp salt
4 large cloves of garlic
15 g fresh ginger
3 spring onions
300 ml of neutral oil (e.g sunflower).
1 tsp rice vinegar
- Sterilise a 0.5 litre Kilner or other heatproof jar.
- Heat a small frying pan on the hob and heat. Toast all the spices and the sesame seeds. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Place the toasted spices, the chilli powder and the salt in the sterilised jar
- Roughly chop the garlic, ginger and spring onions and add to a pan with the oil.
- Heat until gently bubbling. Simmer very gently for 15 minutes.
- Strain the hot oil carefully into the kilner jar to remove the garlic, ginger and onion.
- Add the rice vinegar and stir well. You should have a deep ruby red colour
- Seal the jar and leave for 2 days. Once open store in the fridge. It will keep for several months. It will need a good stir before using.
- Serve with anything that needs a bit of a chilli zing.
The easiest way to sterilise is to fill the jar with boiling water, drain the water and then place in an oven at about 100°C for 10 minutes. Pour some boiling water over the lid and any utensils that you will use.
Taekyung is a Korean chilli powder. You want it to be fairly coarsely ground – somewhere between chilli flakes and a powder. Taekyung is the same as gochujang chilli, but is sun dried and therefore better quality.
Be careful that the garlic does not colour or burn