This recipe was given to me by a family friend and it’s amazing. It makes a chili oil base that keeps for a year on the counter and you can do everything with it. I use it for my chilli to replace pure chili powder as it has more flavour.
I call it a chili oil but it’s not just seasoned oil, it’s definitely closer to a spice.
You will need:
- 30 grams of one kind of pepper flakes
- 30 grams of another, flaked too
The point of doing two different types of pepper is that you use a hot one, and a milder one. You don’t want your oil to be entirely spicy, and so the milder pepper will give flavour instead of heat.
I like cayenne pepper for one half, and for the other half really whatever is very spicy that I can find flaked. If you don’t like spice then you can use paprika and milder pepper, for example.
- 250-300 millilitres of oil of your choice
- 8 grams of salt
- 8 grams of toasted sesame seeds
- 1 clove of garlic
- a bit of black pepper, either whole or grounded (we use either differently)
- a mason jar or similar that can hold everything.
Keep in mind you will be getting ~400ml in volume at the end, I actually need to use two jars when I make this because they’re too small to hold everything in just one.
Cut up the clove of garlic pre-emptively. The finer the better, you can even press it in one of those mashers.
Pour the 60g of chilli flakes in a bowl along with the garlic and salt and mix with a spoon until it’s properly homogenous. We will use the sesame seeds at the very end.
Heat up the oil in a sauce pan. There’s not really any suggestion here; I do it with olive oil, my friend does it with canola oil. It will change the taste but whichever oil you prefer is fine.
You can add a few peppercorns in the oil as it heats up if you want, or grind a bit of pepper on the flakes directly.
Don’t bring the oil to its smoking point! This is more difficult with olive oil but basically, once it’s very very hot, take it off the heat and put it back on as needed.
This is the tricky part (it’s not really tricky but it requires care). Once the oil is hot, you will pour just a tiny bit of it in the bowl of chili flakes, and then stir. By “tiny bit”, I mean not even enough to cover the top layer of the bowl. This prevents the garlic and flakes from burning or overcooking.
Pour a tiny bit, put the pan down, and stir with the spoon for several seconds. Be careful with oil as it’s much hotter than water, it just doesn’t boil at the same temperature.
Bring the oil back up to heat if needed, and then pour the same amount on the flakes again.
Essentially repeat that process until you feel there’s enough oil in the bowl – oil is unhealthy in these quantities comrades, so you should definitely cut down on it as much as possible 😉
That’s why I recommend between 250ml of oil to 300ml; it will depend on your ingredients as well as just how much you want in there. If you don’t have enough, you can quickly heat up some more oil as needed; the chilli isn’t going anywhere. I would definitely start at 250ml and work my way up from there.
The consistency of the chilli oil that I prefer is when there is just enough of it to still be stirrable. If you don’t use a lot of oil, the flakes will harden and be difficult to use.
At the end, add the sesame seeds and stir evenly again. The idea is that the sesame seeds are more sensitive to heat, and so we add them at the end to prevent them from burning.
Then wait until it cools down and transfer the contents of the bowl into the jar and close it up.
You can use this oil as is but I find that to really release all the flavours, you should mix it with mayonnaise, which is emulsified fat and thus can dissolve oil. You can probably get low-fat mayo which helps cut down on what is essentially pure calories.
That way it can also be used as a cold sauce.
It works by itself too like on pizza, or in your homemade chilli, but in those cases to me it just tastes very very spicy lol
It keeps for one year in a sealed jar on the shelf, no refrigeration required. Doing this process above lasts me months, it’s very low maintenance and while 300ml of oil sounds like a lot (it is), you only eat one tea spoon at a time.
Sounds super good thanks comrade. Question tho: Why not just make your own mayo from the chili oil instead of mixing it in with already made mayo?
I’m able to get “low”-cal mayo which is great for calorie counting as I know exactly how many there are in there, but you can definitely use this anyway you want.
Ultimately both methods look like they should be similar in the end, although I’m not sure if mayo could even be made with so much solid mass as I’ve never made it lol
I bet straining the seasoned oil, doing the egg yolk oil emulsion, then adding the strained bits would work.
Don’t use 100% of the chili oil for the mayo if you make it yourself. Only like maybe 20% then the rest use a coconut or olive oil (or peanut oil if you have a source that’s cold pressed). It will dilute the spices enough to be workable. Also make the bulk of the mayo with the regular oils then use the spice oil as the last bit.
As and added point I like to make when talking about oils, I don’t touch any refined seed oils. The refining process, extreme and repeated heating, solvent extractions, etc, oxidizes the unsaturated fats which basically turns them into poison. Olive oil, coconut, avocado, palm, are all cold pressed and perfectly safe. Peanut oil is a kind of a gray zone. Can be cold pressed but most often are further processed. Not as bad as others. More of a “use in moderation” oil imo. I know I’ve said this a few times on this site so sorry if I am being a broken record on this. lol
This. I make all my own mayo now because all store mao is made with refined seed oils. I just make my own using a mix of olive and coconut oil then add some seasoning blend to it. So much better than anything I get at the store too. I made some with a beer mustard and it’s the freaking bomb. This chili oil would be perfect to use as a substitute for some of the other oil for a spicy mayo.
Coconut oil for mayo? Is it like a seasoning amount because I feel like saturated fats would be a nightmare for both emulsion and cold storage. Do you use differing amounts or a technique to help keep things together
I use like 70:30 olive to coconut and it usually does ok. I am no expert at it but it usually comes out fine. I like a “thicker” mayo personally and sometimes go as far as half and half. I also add about 2tbs of the liquid “whey” from some plain Greek yogurt to it and let it sit out overnight then refrigerate. The probiotics will every so slightly ferment and work themselves into the mayo and it increases the shelf life significantly. To collect the liquid I get a container of plain Greek yogurt and scoop out about and inch diameter hole all the way to the bottom and then let it sit in the fridge for a day or two. All the liquid whey will collect in the hole and you can pour it into a container and use as needed to start other fermentations. It’s great stuff.
So like a Mayo Fraîche kinda thing? That sounds amazing I’ll have try it out ASAP. Thanks so much comrade.
Maybe yeah. I just read that the probiotics from the yogurt help preserve it and add a little tang but honestly the spices and stuff I use probably mask it. I just like the fact it keeps longer and adds even more probiotics to my diet. lol. Can never get too much of the lactobacillus comrades.
That’s exactly what Creme-Freîche is in relation to sour cream. Love your subbing of buttermilk to Greek yogurt. That buttermilk almost triples the caloric density but I’m sure that just adds protein and a handful of sugar. Out of curiosity, since you can’t get enough, what other stuff do you ferment
Well there is this mayo. I haven’t don’t much else from the side of milk/cream/yogurt ferments but I do lots of salt brine fermented like
- Sauerkrauts : I’ve done regular, and then also with different spices and favors added like dill, garlic, spicy, etc
- shredded kimchi Basically a more like a kraut but also with all the kimchi vegetables and spices. It’s amazing.
- Pickles :
- Garlic : Ferment garlic is just better
- Peppers/chilies : I actually made my own fermented chili paste out of red devil peppers and it’s… Strong. Lol
- Salsa : Ferment everything THEN blend it and season. Also if you put cilantro in your salsa DO NOT add very much when fermenting. It’s is extremely powerful and it is very easy to add too much and have it ruin the salsa.
- Beans : Fermented beans helps break down a lot of the stuff that gives you gas. Take note, they will put off those gases as they ferment. And there is a distinctive “bean gas” note to it.
- Tomatoes : Fermented tomatoes have a much more savory flavor afterwards. The fermentation will actually give them a riper appearance and flavor as well. I made chili using tomato paste and blended tomatoes that were all from fermented home grown tomatoes and it was the best chili I have ever had.
Then there’s yeast/acetobacter ferments.
- Kombucha
- Vinegars : I have made apple, blueberry, cherry, raisin, red wine, sangria, cranberry, and kombucha vinegars.
- Cider : I have been playing around with apple cider and also some mixed fruit ciders. They turn out like a lighter flavored dry wine. And I love me some dry wine. lol
