Aromatic Sichuan Chili Oil (Xiangla Hongyou, 香辣红油)
The Mala MarketEquipment
- Thermometer
- Mesh strainer
- Sealable, heat-proof, nonreactive glass or porcelain container
Ingredients
- 400 grams roasted rapeseed oil (caiziyou), divided approx. 1 ¾ cups
- 2-3 bajiao (star anise)
- 1 small stick guipi (cassia bark) or ½ large stick
- 8 grams spices in five-spice bag (not including star anise/cassia bark), approx. 2 tablespoons *if not using five-spice bag, about 2 tsp fennel seeds, 2 tsp cloves, 2 tsp huajiao (Sichuan pepper)
- 2 caoguo (black cardamom) optional
- 1 small fingertip of shannai/shajiang (dried sand ginger) optional
- ½ small red onion, peeled and sliced into ½ inch wedges
- 1 thumb unpeeled ginger, washed and smashed
- 3-4 scallions, washed and dried, smashed and sliced into 2in segments
- 80 grams ground chilies, divided (see note) approx. ¾ cup
Instructions
Infusing the oil
- In a wok or saucepot, add the cold oil. Heat oil until smoking, about 410°F/210°C on a medium heat setting*, stirring occasionally to ensure heating is even. Turn off heat, leaving pot on burner, and allow to cool on its own. The temperature will continue to climb at first, but it should not exceed 464°F/240°C. *If your heating element is too hot, your caiziyou will heat unevenly, producing smoke earlier on. If this happens (smoking heavily by 375°F/190°C), it's better to turn the heat off early. It's always possible your temperature gauge may not be perfectly accurate, so learning to judge by sight/smell is the most reliable skill for mastering your unique cooking environment!
- Once the cooked oil cools to about 302°F/150°C, add the dry five-spice mix and let bloom 5-10 seconds over medium-low heat, or until fragrant.
- Add in the smashed ginger, chopped red onion and sliced scallions. Stir and let fry over medium-low heat for 40-60 minutes. The oil should bubble vigorously with small bubbles but not splatter. When everything is a deep golden brown and the onion and scallion slices look dry and papery*, quickly strain out all the aromatics, pressing out excess oil before discarding.*Scallions at this stage will be yellowed and make a slight rustling sound when shaken.
Making the hongyou
- Begin with a third of the chili mixture in your heatproof container.
- Reheat infused oil to 360°F* and pour a third of the oil into your container with the ground chilies, stirring constantly. It should bubble vigorously, but not burn. While it's still bubbling, add another third of the ground chilies.*For the right fragrance at this step, the oil must be no cooler than 356°F/180°C and no hotter than 375°F/190°C.
- Once infused oil cools to about 302°F/150°C, pour another third of the oil into the container, stirring constantly. Add the remaining third of the ground chilies.
- Once infused oil cools to about 248°F/120°C, pour the remaining third of oil into the container, stirring constantly. Cover the container and let rest on counter for at least 24 hours before using.
Notes
To produce your own ground chilies, dried chilies are chopped (seeds separated + reintroduced after grinding), toasted 'til crispy on low heat, then cooled before pounding down to a coarse grind. Some families dry-toast their chilies and others fry lightly in caiziyou; the difference is subjective. As for grinding, most folks in the U.S. don't own a big enough mortar & pestle for this operation, so pulsing with a food processor suffices. Just make sure you don't process too far and end up with more powder than flake.
If you've never cooked with caiziyou before or aren't used to wok smoke, there's nothing to fear about the preliminary smoking step. The smoke point of our hot expeller-pressed caiziyou is about 410F (210C), which must be met to deodorize the raw flavor before using. Trust your nose and eyes first, not your thermometer. If you smell any burning or acrid notes, turn off the heat immediately.
The flash point of caiziyou is around 620F (327C) and the boiling point is around 635F (335C), so you should be in no danger of a grease fire if you turn off the heat source when prompted.
You can watch this video for what to expect from heating caiziyou up to its flame point (no English, but temperatures shown in Celsius). Take care when handling hot oil.