Chili Oil
I have always been fascinated chili oils. To be honest, I am sort of a condiment freak….if you can give me options to change up the flavor of any food, I will give it a shot. I love Vietnamese or Thai restaurants that give you oils, spice mixes, peppers, etc to spice up your dish. I have dozens of hot sauces in my fridge. I can eat anything on a pizza (except pineapples…c’mon…..that is not pizza…sorry you Hawaiian honks). A pepper\salsa bar will keep me entertained to no end. You get it, I just like to experiment with different flavors and different heat levels.
If you google “chili oil recipe” you will most likely find a bunch of Asian recipes. While these recipes are awesome, I have been making more of a Mexican chili oil this past year. I suggest you try both……but here we are going to focus on a more “south of the border” style oil. What you can do with chili oils? Well, I drizzle it on grilled meats, put it on rice, tacos, kabobs, pasta sauces, you can add to soups or marinades, grilled or roasted veggies, or it even goes great on cooked\grilled fruits…(really try chili oil on grilled peaches…..it is awesome).
In my pictures you can see that I made a big batch of oil. I had a bottle of great olive oil and I wanted to use it all. I also need to give a bottle of this oil to a buddy of mine…so I figured I would triple the recipe. Make extra…trust me, it lasts a long time, and you will go through this stuff…it is pretty addictive.
What you need:
- 3 dried Red Chili De Arbol peppers
- 2 sundried tomatoes (chopped)
- 6 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 teaspoons of smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon of onion powder
- 3 cloves of fresh garlic
- 1 ¼ cups of good olive oil
Grind up the crushed red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. I use a mortar and pestle in the beginning to crush everything. The salt acts as an abrasiveand the grinding gets flavor and oils out of all the ingredients. Get a good mixture…like a good paste.
Next, I use a blender to get a good mix with the olive oil and all of the seasonings. I just pulse a few times to make sure the chili peppers are broken down really well.
Alright! Now for the last step, I pour the mixture into a resealable bottle (I re-use old olive oil\hot sauce bottles here…(Pro-Tip…soaking the bottles in warm water with dish soap will remove the old labels…super easy).
Shake well and let sit in the fridge overnight. The oil will start to develop a deep red color. The flavors will meld together…and you will be ready to go. I know that olive oil can “set” or get cloudy\a little solid when in the fridge…but a quick shake and returning to room temperature will fix all that….I like to keep it in the fridge because of the sundried tomatoes and garlic…I just feel better with those ingredients being refrigerated.
Ok, thanks for reading! Please leave a comment and let us know how your chili oil worked out!!
Good luck!
Thanks
~C