1 cup neutral-tasting oil (e.g. peanut, rice bran, vegetable or canola)
4 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns
8 cardamom pods
½ cup Asian chilli powder*
2 tsp sea salt
Totally addictive addition to dumplings, noodles and stir-fries, this chilli oil carries aromas and flavours of Asian chilli powder, plus star anise, cardamom, Sichuan peppercorns and other toasted spices. Store in an airtight jar for up to a year.
WATCH THIS RECIPE
Homemade Chilli Oil
PREP TIME
5 minutes
COOK TIME
10 minutes
SERVES
Makes 1 cup
Ingredients
Steps
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Place the oil in a saucepan over low heat.
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In a separate small frying pan, toast the star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns and cardamom pods over medium-high heat until just starting to smoke. Then add the spices to the warm oil. Turn the heat under the oil up to medium and wait for the spices to gently sizzle. Cook at a gentle sizzle for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
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Place the chilli powder and salt in a heat-proof jar or bowl. Strain the oil over the chilli salt mixture. Add the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and star anise back into the oil mixture and gently stir. Allow to cool before storing in an airtight jar. Use within a year.
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Notes:
– Asian chilli powder has a mixture of chilli powder and some chilli seeds. Find it an an Asian grocer.
FROM THE SHOP
Flavor
I’ve probably rated this before but I recently moved from Lisbon Portugal to Lagos Portugal. I made some of Marion’s pork and chive dumplings and ran out of the chile oil. I picked up Laoganma chile oil from a local Asian market. It had no flavor whatsoever. Today, I made sure I had all the ingredients to remake it. Absolutely no comparison when it comes to flavor.
Unbelievably scrumptious!
Making the chili oil was very interesting (totally new experience for me). It was absolutely delicious – I mean Yummy (!), but I wondered how I would get through it all. I ate that chili oil with everything – it was gone in less than a month. This is, hands down, the best darned chili oil imaginable! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Deliciousness
Marion makes Asian Cuisine look easy and uses ingredients that for the most part are easy to get.