You make chilli oil from a neutral oil with a high smoke point and plenty of aromatic ingredients. You can use this recipe as a base and let your imagination run free.
The two versions of crispy chilli oil
If you're cooking for yourself and your loved ones, you can make your chilli oil fresh. In the fresh version, you also add things like soy sauce or rice vinegar. First the ingredients are fried until crispy, then refined a little further. The result is a huge umami bomb that's a bit like an emulsion, with the crispy bits still in it. The finished product keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge.
Shelf-stable crispy chilli oil only contains dry ingredients, since dangerous bacteria can develop in an oil-water mixture. In principle, you can use almost any seasoning dry too, and skip the soy sauce. Fortunately there's shoyu powder you can use instead.
Ingredients for a fresh crispy chilli oil
-
10 garlic cloves
4 shallots
Cut into fine rings and fry briefly until crispy. But be careful, you'll be pouring hot oil over them again afterwards. Then put everything together in an oven-safe bowl and mix in the spices
- Peppercorns
- Muscovado sugar
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 100g chilli flakes
- a little cinnamon
- 5-spice powder
- white sesame seeds
Stir everything together well
- Heat 350 ml sunflower oil to 170°C
Pour it hot over the spice mixture and let it fry/sizzle. You'll get the typical sizzle effect in the bowl. Careful: it foams up quite a bit too. Your bowl needs to be big enough.
- Stir in up to 3 tbsp soy sauce to taste, adding salt if needed
Done 🔥😍💪🏽
You can also stir in fresh herbs, spring onion rings or fresh chillies to taste. Fresh coriander in particular works really well in crispy chilli oil, but it reduces shelf life and browns fairly quickly.
If you want to make a more shelf-stable oil, the ingredients need to be completely dry --> dried garlic, dried onion flakes, shoyu powder instead of soy sauce, and so on...
Ingredients for a shelf-stable crispy chilli oil
Equipment
- small pot
- kitchen thermometer
- heatproof, completely dry bowl
- clean, dry bottle or jar
- fine sieve, if you want a clear oil
Making chilli oil
- Coarsely crush dried chillies into flakes and put them in the heatproof bowl.
- Add the dry spice mix as above and mix everything well (dried onion, dried garlic, 5-spice, cinnamon, ...)
- Heat the oil to about 170°C
- Pour the oil over the chillies and spice mix and stir carefully. Careful, this foams up quite a bit.
- Check the temperature to be safe. If it's above 90°C, you can hot-fill it.
- Fill the jar, turn it upside down and let it cool.
The temperature here is mainly a matter of taste: oil that's too hot burns the chilli and makes it bitter, while oil that's too cool doesn't bring out as much roasted flavour. Our sweet spot in testing was 170°C, so the mixture stays hot enough for hot-filling after pouring.
Controlling the heat
| Goal | Adjustment |
|---|---|
| mild | mild, aromatic dried chilli and fewer flakes |
| medium | cayenne or jalapeño flakes |
| very hot | habanero flakes |
| extreme | superhots as powder or flakes |
Variations
Toasted chilli oil
Briefly infuse dry spices in the oil and remove them again before pouring. We do this with whole cinnamon sticks, ginger and bay leaves. Once they turn golden brown, we take them back out.
Clear chilli oil
Once completely cooled, filter through a fine, dry sieve or cheesecloth.
Crispy chilli oil
Chilli crisp contains firm, crunchy components and is its own recipe. Our Chilicrack comparison explains the product category.
Storage
Keep the vessel, funnel and ingredients completely dry, store your chilli oil in the fridge and take it out with clean cutlery. If the oil turns cloudy, smells unusual, or gas bubbles form, it's best to discard it.
Unopened, and provided it was hot-filled, you can store it for up to 6 months. Once opened, use it up again within 2 weeks.
FAQs
Can I use fresh chillies?
Yes, if you're making a fresh oil and using it straight away in cooking. Fresh ingredients don't belong in an oil meant for storage.
Which oil is suitable?
Refined rapeseed or sunflower oil is heat-stable and neutral in flavour. A strongly flavoured oil will noticeably change the result.
Does chilli oil need to be refrigerated?
Yes, once opened, any chilli oil needs to be kept chilled and should be used up promptly.
You'll find more ideas for the season in our hub for using up your chilli harvest. If you'd rather skip the effort, you're welcome to buy our Chilicrack - Crispy Chilli Oil here directly.