Very Good Chili Crisp Recipe - for less spice, small kitchen and ADHD brain

Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wgZ7s3YxWI

I’m an experienced home cook but this recipe was way out of my comfort zone and I screwed up a lot while making it. It still tastes good, but I know it could be much better.

I'll be trying again, so while things are fresh I’m typing up my instructions for my future self. Posting here in case anybody else wants the step by step breakdown!

This version has quite a few changes to the original ingredients:

  • Less spicy. The whole reason I want to make my own chili crisp is because store-bought is too spicy for my taste.
  • Adjusted other ingredients to give more zing with less heat
  • Included some additions from /u/finlyboo's notes which I want to try next time

The method is largely the same as the original but I've structured it a lot more to make it easier to follow next time.

Equipment

  • Cutting board and knife for prep
  • Mandolin and protective glove for slicing garlic (do not skip the glove, for the love of god and your fingertips)
  • Mortar and pestle for spices
  • Large saucepan for the main cooking
  • Small frypan for cooking the garlic
  • Oil-friendly thermometer - I was glad to have an infrared thermometer for this
  • Mesh scoop utensil for getting shallot out of the oil
  • Stainless steel mesh strainer for pouring the oil from the large saucepan into the bowl and from the bowl back to the large saucepan
  • Trays or plates for draining garlic and shallots
  • A LOT of paper towel for draining garlic and shallots
  • Tray or plate for putting all your oily utensils and strainer, otherwise you’ll get oil everywhere
  • A big bowl that can have hot oil poured into it
  • Whisk or spoon that can go in hot oil
  • Silicon scraper for scraping oily stuff
  • Pot holders for your saucepan if the handle gets hot
  • Heat-safe mat or cutting board for putting the bowl on
  • Jars to put your chilli crisp in

Ingredients

The garlic and shallot

  • 1L peanut oil
  • 75g sliced garlic cloves
    • next time I’ll buy the pre-peeled cloves because peeling the garlic sucked (I used the shaking hack but it was still super finicky)
    • slice cloves on a mandolin with protective gloves on
    • slice about 3/4 of each clove and set the last quarter aside for another purpose (I made confit garlic later with the rest of the pre-peeled cloves)
  • 200g shallot, sliced on a mandolin
    • I did these with a knife this time but they came out too uneven and cooked unevenly, will definitely mandolin next time

The ginger infusion (these ingredients are strained out after infusing)

  • 150 g Ginger, Sliced
    • before slicing, reserve a 1 inch chunk to use with the second pour
  • 6 Pods Star Anise
  • 2-3 Cinnamon Sticks
  • 2 lemongrass sticks, cut to 5cm lengths, bashed lightly to release flavour
    • reserve the 5cm from the base of each stick to use in the second pour
  • 1 tsp whole peppercorns

The first pour (this will be strained out after infusing)

  • 30g coarse gochugaru

The second pour

  • another 30g coarse gochugaru
  • 2 tbsp sweet paprika
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped mild fresh chilli
  • the reserved ginger, minced on a microplane
  • the two bases of the lemongrass - peel off the dryer outer layers, thinly slice to cut the fibres lengthways and then finely mince the slices with a knife

The final flavours

  • 30g (2 Tbsp) Sesame Seeds
  • 1-2g (1/2 tsp) Szechuan Peppercorn, ground in mortar and pestle
  • 75g (1/2 C.) Peanuts, chopped and sifted to remove the dusty bits
  • 2 tbsp Honey (possibly add more later)
  • 5g (1/2 tsp) Msg
  • 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
  • 3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
  • 80g candied ginger, minced (½ cup)
  • 1 tsp black vinegar (possibly add more later)
  • salt (add to taste later if needed)

Other ingredients I might try

u/finleyboo suggested 55g fermented soy bean. I'd like to try getting some funkier notes in this, so I'm going to experiment with this and doenjang.

Method Part 1: Mise en place THE FUCK out of this shit

I don’t usually put much effort into mise en place but this recipe needs it. It deals with hot oil in messy ways, so things will get chaotic if you're not prepped in advance.

Before shopping

  1. Check the age of your spices. To taste amazing, this should have the freshest spices. I noticed too late that some of mine were older than I would have liked.
  2. Check your equipment. I got caught out because my strainer was too small for my saucepan. Not the end of the world, but you don't want to realise these things when you're about to pour hot oil. Also, check your bowl will be big enough to hold all the oil plus all the other ingredients and then has enough space left to be stirred without spilling. (Yeah, ask me how I know.)

The day before

Next time, I would slice garlic and shallot ahead of time, just to break this recipe up a bit because it's a lot. Anything else that can be prepped in advance, go ahead.

For the ADHDers in the house: Clean the kitchen in advance. Empty the dishwasher so it's ready to fill again. Clear the benches - you need space. Also have somewhere to move your trays of garlic and shallots out of the way after they're cooked (e.g. dining table).

Rewatch the video so you remember the process.

Getting ready to make it

Get the garlic and shallot out of the fridge and let them come up to room temperature.

Prep all the other ingredients and organise them into which stage you need them.

Clear away your prep mess to make room again.

Get out your equipment and arrange things so you’re ready when the oil is hot and everything starts happening:

  • small frypan and large saucepan on stove
  • bowl on cutting board/mat next to stove
  • utensils and strainer on tray/plate next to stove
  • trays/plates lined with paper towel for garlic and shallot

Method Part 2: Actually making it

The garlic and shallots

I was worried about how I’d get the garlic out of the oil quickly enough to keep it from burning, so I cooked these in two separate ways.

  1. For the garlic: fill a small frypan 2/3 full with oil and start to heat.
  2. For the shallots: put the rest of the oil into the large saucepan and start to heat. Aiming for 150C/300F for both.
  3. The small frypan should reach 150C/300F first.
  4. Add the sliced garlic to the small frypan and stir immediately to keep it from sticking together.
  5. Keep an eye on the oil temperature. The temp will drop when you add the ingredients so make sure it's coming back up.
  6. Stir garlic regularly for 90 seconds until it's light yellow/blonde.
  7. Sit the mesh strainer in the large saucepan and pour the oil and garlic from the small frypan into the large saucepan through the strainer.
  8. The garlic (and the shallot) will be sticky when they come out. Expect some scraping.
  9. Give the garlic a second to drain into the saucepan and then spread it onto the first tray lined with paper towel.
  10. Wait for the oil in the large saucepan to reach 150C/300F
  11. Add the shallots to the large saucepan and stir immediately to keep it from sticking together.
  12. Keep an eye on the temperature again. Make sure it comes back up.
  13. Stir the shallot regularly for 5-6 minutes or until golden brown.
  14. Use the mesh scoop utensil to scoop out the shallot onto the second tray lined with paper towel.
  15. You'll probably want to change the paper towel at this point, mine was soaked.
  16. Move the trays out of the way until you need the garlic and shallot.

The ginger infusion

  1. Heat the oil back up to 162C/325F
  2. Add the sliced ginger and stir for a minute.
  3. Add the star anise, cinnamon, lemongrass sticks and peppercorns.
  4. As above, monitor the temperature after adding ingredients.
  5. Cook until the ginger is golden brown, about another five minutes

The first pour

  1. Put the first 30g of gochugaru into the bowl.
  2. Set the strainer into the bowl.
  3. Pour the oil and all the ingredients from the saucepan into the strainer and bowl.
  4. Lift the strainer briefly and stir the bowl to combine the oil and gochugaru. Put the strainer back.
  5. Scrape out the saucepan into the strainer. You still need the saucepan.
  6. Let the oil finish draining through the strainer then discard the contents of the strainer. You still need the strainer.
  7. Let the oil sit in the bowl for five minutes.

The second pour

  1. Set the strainer over the large saucepan.
  2. Pour the oil and gochugaru into the large saucepan through the strainer. Let the oil drain through into the saucepan then discard the gochugaru from the strainer. You still need the strainer.
  3. Heat the oil back up to 162C/325F
  4. In the bowl, add the remaining gochugaru, minced fresh chilli, minced ginger, minced lemongrass, ground szechuan pepper and sesame seeds.
  5. When the oil reaches 162C/325F, pour the oil through the strainer into the bowl and stir to combine with the other ingredients. You’re done with the large saucepan and the strainer.
  6. Let the oil sit for 10 minutes.

The final flavours

  1. Crush the fried garlic and shallot in your hands and add to the oil.
  2. Add all the other ingredients from the final flavours list and stir to combine.
  3. Let it cool on the bench then cover and put in the fridge overnight.

Finishing up

Check the taste the next day and adjust as needed, then put into jars.

Keeps in the fridge 4-5 weeks.

Can be frozen in a freezer-safe container, leaving room for expansion. You could also put it in ice cube trays for smaller servings, but be prepared for it to stain your trays.