Hot Chili Crisp

This is all the rage and you can make it! We use hot chili crisp on dumplings, scallion pancakes, flat breads, pizza and all kinds of noodles. Make a batch and keep it in the fridge and you will spoon on everything.

Ingredients:

3 large garlic cloves

2 ½ inch piece of ginger, washed but not peeled, roughly chopped

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp Szechuan Peppercorns

1 tsp coriander seeds or 1/2 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp cumin seeds

2/3 cup (170 ml) cooking oil

Generous ½ cup crushed red pepper flakes

1 Tbl Garlic & Ginger Toasted Sesame Oil

Directions:

In a blender or small food processor, blend together the garlic, ginger, salt, Sichuan peppercorns, coriander, and cumin seeds to a rough paste, adding a tablespoon of water to help everything move a bit more easily. (If you don’t have a blender, you can chop or grind everything by hand—just make sure that everything is as finely chopped or crushed as you can get it.)

Put 1 Tbl oil in a skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, add the blended ingredients to the pan and cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring constantly to make sure nothing burns. You can add a drop of water if necessary, but definitely don’t add too much. When you have a nice, dry paste, add the pepper flakes and mix everything well, then turn off the heat and set aside to let the flavors mellow a little in the pan.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat 2/3 cup of oil until it is very hot (you can test it by dropping in a tiny amount of your chile mix—if it’s hot enough, you should get a good sizzle). Put the skillet back over low heat and carefully pour the hot oil into the pan—it should really sing as it hits the chile. Stir briskly for 4–5 minutes. Keep a very close eye on it, and take it off the heat immediately if it looks like it’s starting to burn. As soon as the chile darkens to a rich reddish-brown, it is ready.