Home made Chinese Chili Oil (西安油潑辣子)

I got 2 bottles of crushed red chili pepper from Costco, It's one of those pandemic purchase I thought was a good idea at the time, then I realized it's probably going to take me years to finish that. So making chili oil came to mind! I never do store bought chili oil since they use poor quality oil and a lot of additive/preservative. Once you make this, you won't be able to live without it. ;)

Ingredients:

6 cups of oil (you want to use oil that tastes neutral with a high smoking point. I used grape seed oil, rice bran and avocado oil would work great as well.)

3 Tsp white sesame seed

3/4 cup of crushed red chili pepper (this is what makes it spicy)

3/4 cup of Korean chili powder (this is what gives the color)

1 1/2 tsp five spice powder (I made my own, you can get store bought)

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

3 Tsp of Chinese balsamic vinegar (陳年烏醋) Use good vinegar, this is what gives the chili oil that extra flavor.

I always make a huge batch since I give this away to my friends. You can cut this in a third or a half for normal household consumption. The recipe above can fill about seven 8oz jars. :)

Steps:

1. Heat up the oil until it smokes. You want to monitor it closely, once you see smoke comes out, turn off the stove immediately.

2. Let the oil cool for about 10-15 minutes. Test it by throwing a bit of sesame seeds in, if the sesame seeds brown immediately then the oil is too hot. Give it a bit more time to cool down.

3. Once the oil is at the right temp, add all the sesame seeds in. Let it cook for a minute. Then add in all the rest of the ingredients MINUS the vinegar. Let it cook for another 1-2 minutes.

4. Slowly add the vinegar in, when you add liquid to hot oil the whole thing can explode. I learned this from personal experience...lol

That's it. Easy peasy. It can stay in room temp for a few weeks. This is especially good for all kinds of Chinese salad dishes, or you can simply add to your noodles.