2-for-1 chilli oil
If you know you know. Chilli oil goes on everything. But sometimes you just want a different vibe depending on what you're eating. So here’s how to make chilli oil AND a chilli crisp in one cook.
Equipment
- Sterilised jars
- A colander or sieve
- Heatproof bowls
- Heatproof jug
Ingredients
Seasoned oil mix
- 2 cups neutral flavoured oil
- 3 cm ginger
- 5 whole star anise
- 4 black cardamom pods * see notes
- 3 large white part of spring onion
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp Sichuan peppers
Chilli oil
- ½ cup chilli flakes
Chilli crisp
- ¼ cup chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp chilli powder
- 4 shallots
- ¼ cup dried anchovy * see notes
Instructions
- Once the oil is heated, you'll be moving fairly quickly so its important to prepare the ingredients. Finely slice the shallots using a mandolin or a knife, toast the spices and put the side.
- Heat the oil up to about 160 degrees celcius. You'll know when the oil is ready when you pop a chopstick in and it starts to show little bubbles. Once the oil is ready, add in the star anise, sichuan pepper, spring onion, may leaves, ginger and cardamom pods. Sizzle on a med-high heat for about 5 minutes to let the flavours infuse.
- After 5 minutes, drain the oil from the spices into a heatproof bowl or jug.
- Pour 1 cup of oil back into the pot, and add in the shallots and the anchovy and place it back on a med-high heat to crisp up.
- After 5 minutes, your oil you've put aside should have cooled. Add the slightly cooled oil to a portion of the chilli flakes. Add in a pinch of salt, stir and set aside to cool before placing in a jar.
- After about 5 minutes, the shallots and the anchovies on the heat should have crisped to a golden brown. Drain the oil into the hug and place the fried shallots and anchovies on a paper towel to dry.
- In a heatproof bowl, add in the chilli flakes, chilli powder, and mix in the slightly cooled oil. Give it a stir and add in the fried shallots and anchovies, making sure that oil is covering the top of the jar. If the anchovy and shallots have absorbed too much oil, simply top it up.
Notes
- Black cardamom pods: Black cardamom pods are slightly different to the green ones. They are less sweet and have more of a "woody" characteristic. If you are able to find the black ones, I would recommend them as they won't lend an overly sweet characteristic to your chilli oil.
- Dried anchovy: You should be able to find dried anchovy in the spice section of your Asian supermarket. It is also called Ikan bilis on the packet. If you can't find or want to keep it vegan you can also exclude. The anchovies add a salty crispy element to the chilli crisp.