Dan’s Chilli Oil

Ingredients

• 100g dried chilli, chopped. Usually I use an 80/20 combination of guajillo and ancho chillies
• 100g fried shallots
• 30g sugar
• 30g salt
• 5g white pepper
• 5g garlic powder
• 1tbsp sesame seeds
• 30g preserved black bean

Aromatics and Spices

• 1 litre oil (canola, soybean or vegetable)
• 1 brown onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, smacked
• 20g ginger, sliced
• 1 tbsp fennel
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorn
• 6 star anise
• 2 black cardamom (smacked open)
• 3 bay leaves

Method

1. Fry the dried chilli over low heat until the colour darkens and the skin gets crispy. Blend into coarse flakes.
2. Heat up the oil. When the oil reaches 150ºC, add aromatics and spices. Fry them at ~110ºC for around 15mins until brown, then strain them out.
3. Pour roughly a third of the oil onto the chilli flakes at 180º and mix with chopsticks to prevent burning. Pour over another third of the oil at 120º, then pour remaining oil at 100º.
4. Add fried shallots, seasonings and black beans and mix.
5. Leave to cool overnight, then portion out into jars.