This recipe is straight from Marion´s Kitchen!!! It is hands down the best chilli-oil recipe out there and I use it whenever I want a kick of heat with my food.
If your local supermarket do not sell Sichuan peppercorns, you will find it at Asian stores.
It can stand in your pantry for the next year but at the rate I use mine, it is more than likely that you’ll make a new batch every 6 months.
Be prepared to spice up your food!
You’ll need
- 1 cup x neutral-tasting oil (e.g. peanut, olive oil, vegetable or canola)
- 4 x whole star anise
- 1 x cinnamon stick
- 2 x bay leaves
- 3 Tbsp x Sichuan peppercorns
- 8 x cardamom pods
- ½ cup x Asian chilli powder (You can also make a mix of ¼ cup chilli flakes and ¼ cup chilli powder)
- 2 tsp x sea salt
Method
- Place the oil in a saucepan over low heat.
- In a separate small frying pan, toast the star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns and cardamom pods over medium-high heat until just starting to smoke.
- Add the spices to the warm oil and turn the heat up to medium and wait for the spices to gently sizzle.
- Cook at a gentle sizzle for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Place the chilli powder and salt in a heat-proof jar or bowl and strain the oil over the chilli salt mixture.
- Add the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and star anise back into the oil mixture and gently stir.
- Allow to cool before storing in an airtight jar. Use within a year.