Ever since I realised I could mix ketchup with chili sauce at KFC, eating there became an adventure. Decades later, when I found out that the Clownhouse also had Black Pepper, it was even better. At that age, I have come to accept that most of us Malaysians must have some kind of sauce for our food. Never mind if it is already flooded with its own sauce or drowning in it. We would still be looking for some sauce. It's already a (bad?) habit and in some establishments, I suppose that it can be considered an insult to the Chef. I mean, at the back of the kitchen, they worked their magic to come up with a delicious meal and you'd still be asking, "So, can I have some... ketchup?"
Where's the Sauce?
While I was abroad studying in the UK, and working in other places, sauces or rather, condiments, were usually not readily available and if they do, it comes in the the boring form of vinegar based ketchups. So, for a Malaysian like me, eating with the lack of sauce was torture. In Malaysia, we have sweet ketchup and the Heinz ketchup for a start. For chili sauce, we have the sweet ones, the famous Lingam variety, the Thai version, the garlic version and so on. Within these parts of the World, there are a lot more sauces than just mayo variations.
The Red Chili Oil
I cannot remember when was the first time I've encountered chili oil but I do know its from some Chinese restaurant. This little oily red mound of chili flakes which is spicy yet crunchy really got me hooked. And if I could, I would be eating them by the bowls accompanied with steaming white rice instead of the main dishes. By the turn of the Millennium, I was buying bottles of them and later, in the mid-2010's, I kinda moved on to Lao Gan Ma.
However, it was not until recently that I came across some recipes on how to make chili oil. After reading a few of them, I came up with some theories.
- It is the aromatic oil which is very important
- The hot aromatic oil is used to 'cook' the chili flakes mix at the final stage
- I still have no idea how to make it crunchy
Making my own
The ingredients for this is basically very simple and since this is my first try, I am going to use what I is in the house. But I'd have to buy the chili flakes (non-Sichuan) and Spring onions.
Ingredients
Main
100gm of chili flakes (2 packets of 90gm each, close enough)
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
pepper ('some' because we ran out)
The Garlic Mix (Important: Read this)
This is the part which was not in any of the recipes I've gone through. My intention is to deep fry them with the infused oil, hoping for a crunchy garlic. The aftermath is anything but.
3 bulbs of garlic, chopped ( I got smoked ones instead, but not sure about this)
3 fresh chili api (the small ones which gives you that, "OMG" taste)
3 fresh chili the bigger ones that is hot but not too hot
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| In the background are the ingredients to infuse the oil. |
Oil Infusion
3x spring onions (bulb and stalks) , cut roughly
1½ cup of cooking oil
1 inch of ginger, sliced to 2mm thickness
Preparing the Chili Flakes
Put the two packets of chili flakes into a glass or porcelain bowl (they will be heated up later).
Mix in one teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tsp pepper
While mixing, slowly add in 1 Tablespoon of water.
Mix thoroughly and add in another Tablespoon of sugar, salt and water.
Mix again, and finally, add a Tablespoon of Oil
Preparing the Oil
Pour half of the oil and heat it up. You will know its ready when you throw in a thin slice of ginger and it starts to bubble. My infra-red thermometer said it was about 208ºC.
Add in the ginger and leave it alone for 30 seconds.
Add in the garlic and leave it alone for 15 seconds.
Add in the spring onions and leave it alone for 15 seconds or so
Lower to oil to about 80ºC and let it sort of simmer for 3 minutes or so.
Once you get the aroma, remove the ingredients, leaving only the oil.
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| After removing the ingredients from the oil, I kept the oily garlic and ginger. The spring onions was a little too soft. |
Now comes the most controversial part. I heated up the oil to about 150ºC, then threw in the garlic mix and deep fried them very quickly. It did not work so I lowered the oil temperature to let it simmer.
'Cooking' the Chili Flakes
Lastly, I added the remaining 1½ cup of oil and heated the wok again to about 150ºC. Slowly, pour some of them onto the chili flakes and stir. Bear in mind, there is a lot of oil, so it took me about four or so attempts. If I were to pour them all, the chili flakes would be burnt.
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| The bubbling was quite fast and it's not easy to capture then while pouring the hot oil. You have to do this but by bit so as not to burn the whole thing. |
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| The first sample on the left is so-so. It kinda taste better with some last minute sprinkle of salt and plus 2 Tablespoon of sesame seed oil. |
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| Even without adding a tablespoon of light soya sauce, the chili oil is kinda dark already. |
The verdict
Well, it kinda tasted OK for a first try. I am spoiled with the commercial ones like Lau Gan Ma. It's nice but just tasting the chili flakes in kinda boring. So, on the next try, I will need to get some actual szechuan chili flakes, bay leaves, star aniseed, some pepper and paprika.
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| The 1½ cup of oil gave me about two medium sized jars. This photo was taken about 4 days after where the first jar is almost empty because my eldest and I whacked them at every meal. I think by now, the ingredients are fusing with each other and it tastes kinda nice. |
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