Holy shit guys! I think I might've figured out what "Erjingtiao" are. I'm not certain, but their similarities to cayenne made me go down a bit of a rabbit hole. I'm 90% sure that Erjingtiao are a variety of cayenne that you can find in the West as "Joe's Long Cayenne" - you won't find it in any supermarkets, but there's seeds online. That strain comes from Italy where's it's also used in Cambrian cuisine, though I can't seem to find any more information on that front. So - if you need a sub, cayenne pepper or certain varieties of peperoncino should be what we're looking for! God that's a relief off my shoulders lol
I'm in Tulsa, OK. I just ordered some chili seeds called Chinese long peppers, which look identical to Joe's long cayenne. The root you used to color the oil red is available on eBay. I chose to use guajillo, because they're chilis as well so flavorwise it just made sense and a heck of a lot easier to get. The hongyou turned out intensely red. If you're interested in a nice very hot chili, a friend of mine brought me a wild one from Nicaragua. It points up, great producer, same size as 朝天椒 but a lot hotter. The first 1/2 second is sweet & fruity then you've licked a stun gun. Used sparingly great flavor with the heat. And yes it's still quite hot deseeded.
I appreciate that you use proper Chinese terminology with good pronunciation. Makes it good for Chinese speakers so we can source stuff at the asian market. Keep up the good work!
Haha if I spoke Mandarin at length I dunno if you'd say the same thing about my pronunciation ;) But I do think it's important to keep things bilingual in order to source stuff - I remember back in the day when I was first learning how to look Chinese using some Fuschia Dunlop it'd be so damn annoying to have to figure out what ingredients she was actually referring to. Sometimes we have to make a decision in the videos what exactly we decide to refer to a certain ingredient as (and sometimes that ends up being the English), but at the very least the written Chinese name for the ingredient are always in the reddit post!
There is a simple way to deseed the chilli. Simply coarse crushed them with blender or manually a bit. (Just coarse crush, be carefull not to over dot it a smooth form. Place them on plastic bag or whatever bag you can find. Shake-shake them. The seed will go to the bottom. Carefully take the deseed parts out on a plate or something. The rest place on a bowl. Shake them a little bit, take the rest of the deseed parts out. Only the seed will be left on the bowl.
Hey guys! I know this is kind of an older video, but I just made this recipe for the first time with some New World chilies and thought you might be interested in the results. I used a blend of arbol and puya, spiced with ginger/star anise/Sichuan peppercorn/bay leaf/cinnamon, base oil was caiziyou. The spice mix didn't really come through in the final product--I made a half batch for sourcing reasons and had trouble temping such a small amount of oil, so I suspect that might have something to do with it. Despite that the oil is absolutely delicious. It's rich, hot, a little nutty, a little fruity. The color turned out nice and deep without any additives. Thanks for all the great recipes! I look forward to your next video.
When you blend up the dried chilis, add a couple drops of oil before turning it into powder and you will have a better chance of surviving when you take off the lid.
Steph and Chris, 谢谢 for sharing your knowledge and experiences with us! One of the hardest parts of making foods with which you have little family or cultural experience with is knowing what a dish should taste like and having your ability to translate these dishes into more locally available ingredients makes Mandarin and Cantonese cooking so much more approachable.
I finally made my own chile oil a few weeks ago. I got some erjingtiao chiles, heaven-facing chiles, caiziyou oil, and zicao online, and the final result was phenomenal. The zicao really makes a difference in the appearance of the oil; the only problem is, I now have enough to last the rest of my life.
I have made this recipe a lot of times since ive loved it everytime and just seems to quickly disappear LOL. Ive also found out that korean chili powder gives it a nice rich red color. Same thing with indian kashmiri chili powder. Obviously the taste is very different but i still found it to be delicious either way.
I made this the first time when I was still in Germany but now that I craved Sichuanese Food while studying in Korea I used local chillies from the market blended with heaven facing and even managed to source zicao hehe. The only thing I couldn't source yet was Caiziyou so I went with half mustard seed and half soybean oil. It looks just as dark as your oil. Im really looking forward to making all sorts of dishes with this. Thank you so much for doing all this research and sharing proper knowledge about Chinese cuisine with this whole world. Big respect for you guys 👍👍❤️
@@matheusbatista603 Sorry just noticed your comment as I was watching this vid to make my next batch of oil! Yes it was good. I've kept it in the fridge though.
Yeah, I think it's best to make your own chili powder, but deseeding chilis can undeniably be a nightmare. I haven't tried using it for Sichuan chili oil, but the Korean chili powder has a real nice color to it and I think should sub in nicely :)
Cheers! We got a furongdan (a.k.a. Egg Foo Young) recipe that we just finished filming, then the week after as sort of a Thanksgiving thing we'll do a Sichuan pickled chili jiza (giblet) recipe. Any requests? After that we're still spitballing a few ideas.
Chris has a great radio voice. Reminds me of Alton Brown - which gives your videos more feel of authority. It's like Chinese focused The Good Eats but better. Love it!
Haha cheers thanks! That sort of Alton Brown/SeriousEats vibe's always been kinda the target we're aiming for... I'll have to respectfully disagree on my voice being good for narration though ;)
菜籽油 is impossible to source in Sweden, but I found a very expensive cold pressed Swedish rapeseed oil (Kung Markatta) and I swapped the Chinese chillies for basic large Thai chilli and a bunch of bird eye chillies. Now I can't tell if it tastes like the real deal because I've never tasted pure Sichuan oil, but I've had Sichuan food in China and the 宫保鸡丁 I made after your recipe turned out amazing, better than the ones I've had outside China. Color-wise, the oil looks exactly like yours. Funny enough, the day after I made the oil I found some dried facing heavens in an Asian market I hadn't been in before.
I appreciate your videos. They are well done and pleasant to watch. I would love to see the english translations for the rare ingredients you listed; rare outside of China. Specifically the "coloring herb" and the "extra virgin canola oil". I didn't have luck searching on google. Thanks again; very informative.
Right, so we usually go into (probably too much lol) detail on that front in the written reddit posts... so most of that info's there if you're curious. For that coloring herb Zicao, I didn't bother translating it (even for the reddit post), as I assumed that it'd be next to impossible to find outside of China. The formal name is Radix Arnebiae and is sometimes called Gromwell Root... but if you google "Zi Cao" you'll get more results than either of those names :) For the oil, the Chinese name is Caiziyou and it's more-or-less an extra virgin canola (rapeseed) oil. The Canadian producer I was talking about in the video's here: xvcanolaoil.com/ but I haven't used their stuff personally so it'd be a bit of an experiment. Reading about their process, it should be basically the same as Sichuan Caiziyou, with the one exception that the Canola seeds are toasted first in the Sichuan variety. If you want those super-authentic bonus points, try to source that stuff... if not, a pure Peanut or Sunflower'll do the job.
leafnflower.com/eng/gromwell-root-lithospermum-root.html Looks like they might ship it in varying quantities in the US. I found an Amazon link as well, but it was significantly more expensive.
Wow. This was a gamechanger for me. I've used similar recepies before, but they were not using cinnamon nor cloves. Immediately when adding the spice mix to the oil it really started to smell "the right way" - the smell I had been missing. I am now waiting for it to cool down but I am SO EXCITED TO TASTE IT :O
It is amazing! :D I've only used it properly once now (some Dan Dan Noodles), but I am really looking forward to making some mapo tofu next week xD The only thing I will change is to add some more sichuan pepper next time - probably a quality thing with my sichuan pepper.
I’m definitely going to try this. I don’t have all the right things, but this process is really going to improve my chili oil! Thank you so much! My boyfriend is addicted to this stuff and he begs me to make it all the time. I think he’ll like this version better. I’m so excited!
Okay, I was able to get some dried Er Jing Tiao over here. Cost me an arm and a leg, but hey, it's food. Thay are longer and darker though, but the label clearly reads: 二荆条. Also got some grade A red and also green sichuan peppercorns. I'm happy as it gets. Now I'm a bit confused about the Facing Heaven Chili. The first batch I ordered looked like the ones shown on wikipedia and apprently like those Fuchsia Dunlop uses - short, thick and rather plump. Some Sichuanese chefs I watched also seem use these for Gong Bao, calling them Facing Heaven. However I also saw them being refered to as "bullet head" or sometimes even "lanterns". The second batch I ordered online looks like the ones you and also Chef Wang uses. Are there different varieties with the same name? Which ones are the right ones for Gong Bao? Is Wikipedia wrong? HELP!!!
I found a new Dutch/Chinese fusion cuisine use for the red oil. Mix some of the oil in Frietsaus (fritessaus). Patatje me rooie olie saus. Geweldig lekker. (So good)
Made this recently and loved the results-definitely an improvement over my previous efforts! This is a pretty labour intensive version though, to be fair. I'm going to try to cut a few corners next time and see how big the differences are. Two thoughts, one a question for you: 1. What do you think the effect would be of adding all the spices during the ‘pouring stage’ rather than in the tea-ball when you’re bringing the oil up to temperature? Are you worried that some of them might burn at 190C? If so, why not add them during the second pour, once the temp is down to 130? 2. Deseeding those chillies is a massive pain. Previously, I’ve used Korean gochugaru powder and had very similar results. I’m interested in seeing how that works combined with the spices you use here. Finally, folks in the UK might be interested in knowing that Tesco now carries Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil under the Tesco’s Finest brand. Probably the closest we’ll find to the oil referenced here! Thanks, CCD; love the channel.
1. Sure, there's no reason you could do that after the second pour. Feels like it wouldn't save too much time though? I would worry about the spices at 190C+ 2. So if you're looking for somewhere to cut, it'd be deseeding. I was very *very* paranoid about the color of my hongyou for this video. In hindsight, too paranoid. You can just give the chilis a rough chop at first, let most/many of the seeds fall and stay on the chopping board, and go from there. Adding some gochugaru powder in place of the zicao is a very smart idea, I think. Lastly, one thing that many people in Sichuan do that I didn't find in my research the first time around (was basing things mostly off of a recipe from a friend of mine) is get half of the chilis into a powder and keep half into flakes. Still haven't tried it that way myself, but it's a legit technique.
The herb he added for color could be alkanet or "Ratanjot". Not sure if it is the same stuff but looks similar. It is widely used in Kashmir region in India as food color, esp in Mutton Rogan Josh. You can source it from india or amazon.
I tried making this, but the end product tastes very much like oil that has been used for deep-frying. Naturally, I changed some things (what did you expect in a UA-cam comment), could any of these be the cause? - Use sunflower oil (same smoke point as peanut oil) - Used the recommended ginger, I also put it in the oil to "steep" at 130 - Couldn't find the tea egg, so we toasted the spices freestyle and fished them out with a skimmer. Did a good job but still some flecks left. - "Pouring" was a bit slow because I used a ladle, though I had help so there was immediate stirring My guess is that either little spice remnants or the pouring are the culprit, but would love to hear your opinion! Amazing channel :)
Looks to be different - Zicao is Lithospermum erythrorhizon. However, after looking up a bit about Jalan Rot I think that would actually be an EXCELLENT sub. Seems to have a more vibrant red color than Zicao, I'd use it in a heartbeat :)
@@ChineseCookingDemystified I'll probably end up using it as a substitute since its easier for me to find. The recipe looks great though! Can't wait to try it out
you can also just mix all your chilies and filter your powder afterward. Seeds have a tendency to stay intact if you don't put on too high speed and wont go through a fine lid
Wouldnt’t it be a good option to replace the Hungarian Paprika Powder with some Gochugaru (Korean Chili Powder)? Since the paprika powder is so extremely finely milled, isn’t it hard to sieve it out? Best regards from Germany
@@ChineseCookingDemystified Thank you very much for this answer. I have one more question about the oil. You mention that Caiziyou is a kind of virgin canola oil. Do you know how similar in taste it is to cold-pressed rapeseed oil, that is actually widely available and reasonably priced in Germany and Sweden? On reason for asking is that the cold-pressed oil I know has a much lighter colour, deeply golden, but not at all brownish. Now, traditionally, here, one only uses it cold, and sometimes advices against heating it too much. However, sources I found state a high smoke point, so I suppose it could make no harm. If it changes in taste very much, I could imagine doing the first 190 °C step with neutral canola or the like, and the next two steps with the Virgin rapeseed? All of this depends of course, upon they have a similar taste in the first place? Fuchsia actually writes about it here: www.fuchsiadunlop.com/rapeseed-oil-and-grass-fed-beef/ but would love to hear what you say about it. thanks in advance!
@@epikurius5780 rapeseed and canola are actually the same oil. 'canola' is a Canadian marketing term. This comment is ancient, so I'm sure you either know or no longer care, but just throwing that out there. I enjoy this channel.
Demsified, I enjoy your channel. very educational. detail and reasons added how and why to use your method. difficult to find such channel as they do not explain much. Just recipe and cook. Is fennel also known as caraway seeds? tqvm.
So i tried this. But ran into a few things. Firstly i used no heaven facing chillies so its a tad on the mild side. I also maybe went a bit to nuts deseeding. Second i used mustardseed oil which you sugested in another video to be close to the Sichuan rapeseed oil. But the smell and taste of mustard remained quite strong now of cource i have no caizio to compare but it seemed off to me. Maybe i didnt heat my oil hot enough or long enough. For colour i added some cashmiri chillies this worked perfect its an even brighter red than yours. But my powder was a bit to fine i supose a some went trough my seeve and the oil is not as clear
i live in china and half the people that make this just leave it in. it makes it more spicy but lessens the subtlety of the oil. they will just spoon a little bit of the paste out with the oil when adding
I've now been convinced to seek out caiziyou, but there's info in English online. Do you know if there are any safety precautions about this oil like with mustard? (ie, needing to apply high heat before consumption). Also, I wanted to pass on a tip for seeding dried chillies. Use a chopstick! Tear off the head, and thread the chile from the tapered end of the chopstick until it rips open and spills out the seeds. I use this technique all the time.
Hmm... so we're not aware of any safety precautions, but caiziyou is unequivocally never used uncooked so... maybe? It's generally used for Chili oil, chili pastes, and stir-frying so you'd be getting the oil up past at least 180 in each of those applications anyhow
If you got a good source for chili oil, totally buy it outside! At our local market we got some Sichuan shops that make their own chili oil. The one thing is that the bottled stuff really doesn't taste too great, so stay away from that stuff if possible :) It's one of those ingredients like, say, Hollandaise, that seems to really lose quality when manufactured
I'm intrigued by the rapeseed oil you're using. Looks so tasty/funky. Hoping I can find it in the US in one of the larger Denver area asian supermarkets. Somewhere in the CCTV Bite of China series there is a sequence of a rural farmer pressing the oil by hand with an antique wedge press. I realize its prob really comes from a shiny factory in Shenzen but still ...
Yeah, if you've ever been to Sichuan, the first time you cook with the stuff you can't help but think, "oh, smells like Sichuan!" Hope you guys can find the stuff, lemme know if you're successful. Usually I check Amazon to get a rough feeling for what people can source outside of China, but didn't have any luck :/ Again, *maybe* we could try extra virgin rapeseed oil and see if it's the same thing. I'm tentatively optimistic
It'd be worth checking the levels of erucic acid in this oil as too much is dangerous for humans. Canola oil is less than 2% erucic acid compared to rapeseeds 50%. I have ZERO idea what this means for our purposes though. I'll leave this here for a biochemist or food scientist to comment on. I can read blogs and websites. Please only respond if you're an expert.
I'm a microbiologist so I hope this would qualify me to make a comment on your rapeseed/canola and erucic acids. Rapeseed does have a naturally high concentration of erucic acid, but, canola which is rapeseed with low-erucic acid rapeseed or lear is made for consumption and has a much lower concentration of that acid.
Thanks Michael; unfortunately for me I knew that already! I've been under that impression as well but apparently they're using high erucic oil in China and not suffering ill effects. Or maybe it's a different cultivar. There's gotta be some rapeseed specialist out there that also looks up chinese cooking videos. The animal data shows cardiac lesions due to high erucic acid oils which makes me feel a bit cautious about seeking out rapeseed oil that isn't low in erucic acid.
Very good !.... The quantity of all the spices for a liter of oil would be ?....If I was to do a 4 liters batch, can I do a concentrrate and add the rest of my oil ( 3 liters )to the one I prepared ?
In the store and in your last picture the final product has sesame seeds. Where do they come in? Are they important? Is it for visual appeal? When do you add them? Do they go in when the oil's hot or when it's fridge cold?
I'm curious about your decision to toss the sediment. I've been reading Fuscia Dunlop's Sichuan cookbook and I'd say that more often than not, when chili oil is used, it is some mix of oil and sediment that is called for.
Amazing recipe like all your other recipes. Is there a commercial alternative for this chilli oil that you would recommend ? For the purpose of making mouth watering chicken.
Hey guys, great recipe! I do wonder though, every time I try to do this the chili oil came out burnt. It is unappetizingly bitter. My oil is at smoking temperature just as you did. Or maybe I made it too hot? Idk.
Hungarian sweet paprika is absolutely awesome. We get some off Taobao, it was such a game-changer first time I used it. I feel almost snobbish for saying this, but the McCormick's mass produced paprika isn't really the same category of 'thing' IMO. Btw, I love Hungarian food, any resources you'd recommend?
@@ChineseCookingDemystified I am so happy to hear that you are interested in Hungarian cuisine! I am a big fan of your channel! Unfortunately most sources that are in English tend to tweak the recipes just a bit too much, and the more authentic sources are mostly in Hungarian. I'd recommend "Szoky Konyhaja" - he covers all the basics and some of his videos have English subtitles ( ua-cam.com/channels/0vkwOj-1WbO1TbkyevYO3g.html ). Another way is to get a Hungarian friend - yes, this is me volunteering :)
I did find caiziyou at our Asian market in Tulsa, but it also has Sichuan peppercorn oil as well. I'm guessing when I make Hongyou with it, it will be similar to the taste of the one you get at your Sichuan market. Until I get the Cayenne pepper you've identified as erjingtiao, I substituted pulla chiles and about 3 guajillo for red color. I can find the Heaven facing chile here. My only issue is I'm going to have to make a press to get a decent amount of oil out of the saturated softball size mass of chili powder. Even with all my effort I'm sure a half cup of oil went to waste. I heated up some more oil and ran it through again to end up with about 16 oz.
I'm in Tulsa, OK. I just ordered some chili seeds called Chinese long peppers, which look identical to Joe's long cayenne. The root you used to color the oil red is available on eBay. I chose to use guajillo, because they're chilis as well so flavorwise it just made sense and a heck of a lot easier to get. The hongyou turned out intensely red. If you're interested in a nice very hot chili, a friend of mine brought me a wild one from Nicaragua. It points up, great producer, same size as 朝天椒 but a lot hotter. The first 1/2 second is sweet & fruity then you've licked a stun gun. Used sparingly great flavor with the heat.
Lucky you that you were able to locate caiziyou in US! Would you mind sharing the store info so that I can check if they're open to shipping to CA? Thanks.
It's called Lihong Prickly Ash Oil, so it's main ingredient is 菜籽油 but it's flavored with 花椒. The company is SICHUAN NG FUNG LIHONG FOOD CO., LTD. It has GreenFood seal 1.8 liters. It cost me around $18 and change. I bought it at Nam-Hai International Market 11528 E 21st St, Tulsa, OK 74129 (918) 438-0166 g.co/kgs/ZpqQY7 Hope this helps.
Heya Chris and Steph! Great video, as always! Can you give me a couple of options on what oil to use for this? We are still in Shenzhen so I should be able to buy something authentic for it. I have used Knife brand peanut oil (this is what we use to cook with) but would like a more Sichuan or Hangzhong taste to it. Thanks
Impossible to find that Chinese oil in Seattle. Also the Zicao impossible, and I went to a Chinese spice/medicine area of a Chinese Asian market. I showed the Chinese lady the reddit name and she was confused. Oh well. Also impossible to find those chilis by name in the chinese market. They have different kinds, both labeled "dried chilis" but the chinese symbols in the reddit post didn't match their package symbols. I bought two slightly different looking ones, but appeared identical to the video chilis, and one was clearly hotter than the other. I went 50/50 on those. (De-seeding took 30 minutes!) I also went 50/50 on sunflower and peanut oil. I used anatto instead of zicao, and I did notice that it tinged the oil more yellow...I used 20 anatto seeds. the spice blend has the most subtle, almost imperceptible impact. I look forward to using it on you Dan Dan recipe tomorrow. I do notice that the chili oil at the nearby dumpling house has a lot of seeds, but not very spicy. I am guessing they don't use a spicy chili.
Yeah, sorry for making you run around like that! I know that it's basically impossible to find caiziyou in the United States - it's a sort of cold pressed rapeseed oil. Something like this, although the color's a bit darker: www.costco.co.uk/Food-Wine-Household/Food-Cupboard/Oils-Vinegars-Dressings/Brock-Morten-Cold-Pressed-Rapeseed-Oil-5L/p/215810 Of course, that's in the UK. In American, cold pressed rapeseed oil's still banned due to its high erucic acid content (back in the 70s it was thought that erucic acid caused heart damage, but those findings have recently come into question). Regardless, peanut or sunflower oil - of a combination like you did - would still work totally fine. As for the chilis, again, I'm sorry that I made things confusing. I wanted to communicate the actual chilis used in Sichuan so as to pass on the knowledge of what you're looking for when selecting chilis. These are all of the Capsicum annuum cultivar so there's no need to be **too** paranoid. Maybe one day they'll sell erjingtiao and chaotianjiao in Chinese supermarkets abroad, I dunno. But in the meantime, know that your searching for (1) heat (2) color (3) fragrance. Using the blend that use did should totally work fine - I'm sure Sichuan restaurants in the States ain't getting their chilis shipped over my airmail. You can also totally get creative. Wanna try out a blend of guajillo (fragrance), cayenne (color), and tien tsin (heat)? Go for it! The New World's got a breathtakingly awesome selection of chilis... we always aim to communicate the *exact* recipe on this channel, but that doesn't mean you gotta feel bound to stick with it. Experimentation is half the fun of cooking. If I was redoing this video, I'd probably try to communicate that a bit harder. And noted on the anatto seeds. We've never tried it ourselves and was relying on the opinion of a chef friend of mine. I'll edit the reddit post. Again, my personal recommendation to up the redness would be to include a bit of a quality Hungarian sweet paprika. We tested that out and it works great.
A lot of seeds but didn't spicy means, they used dried big red chilli or curly red chilli which is good for coloring but not so spicy compared to the bird chili here in asia.
You can purchase the hard-to-get ingredients in this video from links below - all shippable to US : 1. zichao (紫草) - the 'near impossible' ingredient to get in US - www.86mall.com/item/537458365758.html?p=2992.8&m=c02e65726d04ce91142fbd562fbdddbe. $11.83 / 500g 2. er jing tiao (二荆条) - www.spicyelement.com/products/dried-chili-pepper-er-jing-tiao $8.99 / 3.5oz 3. chao tian jiao (朝天椒) - www.spicyelement.com/products/spicy-element-sichuan-dried-red-chili-pepper-whole-chao-tian-jiao-facing-heaven-pepper-3-53-oz-for-sichuan-dishes-and-chongqing-hot-pot100g $8.99 / 3.5oz 4. cai zi you (菜子王) - www.86mall.com/item/529776392248.html?p=5237.4&m=56459ffce2eb31ead1b0b87545b4d7bd $22.55 / 5L The other ingredients are mostly available from Amazon under $3.00 at smallest units. I've ordered them and will try this recipe!
I need to correct info above. In the end, zichao is too expensive due to shipping, and caiziyou are not importable to US. But James Cecil said he found caiziyou in Tulsa.
Hi had a couple of Questions. First, what an easily found type of chili I can use for this recip? I live in California. And can't get to a good Asian market. Second, what if anything can you make with the strained chili pulp, and how long will the oil last? Thanks Love your channel.
I made this a bit over a month ago and stored two bottles in the fridge - one of them is slightly thicker, and both are not as clear as i remember it , but I'm not quite sure. Could it be that they have gone bad? Or is that normal? I was going to give it as a christmas gift but now I'm a little scared that they might not be good anymore :'( any suggestions/ideas? I'm desperate, please help?
Ok, I tried this yesterday. However, only a bit of the oil came out from the chilly paste. Should I use a press? Put more oil? I used 2 to 1 like you said, measured by weight. Or maybe not strain it and use the wet flakes as well?
Could the chili powder sediment optionally be kept in the oil? I really like a bit of sediment in my oils but I want to try this recipe without deviating too much
Question: what is the best use of the leftover Chili powder stuff when it's done ? Question 2: is it good or bad to think about adding a pinch of smoked sweet Paprika to the Spice Mix ?
I had a go at some chili oil today to eat with some tofu. I didn't know just how fast they toast and I borderline burnt a portion of the chillies. Nonetheless, I used them anyway and the final oil was still tasty; it was just toaster than usual with a very faint undertone of bitterness from time to time. Not a total loss in other words if you burn the chillies slightly.
Hey quick question! If I want it to be more numbing, it should be ok for me to throw in a few more Sichuan peppercorns right? or would it mess with the flavor too much?
Hey, just a quick question - is cold-pressed rapeseed oil similar to Caiziyou? We're able to buy that quite easily here in Europe, but not so much the real thing, so I was just wondering if there's any flavour overlap there.
I believe so, but I'm not 100%. The color appears slightly different, but in theory it should be the same. At the very least, it should be a solid sub.
Are you using a digital instant read thermometer or something else? At 130C on that thermometer, I had to take the pot off my stove and nothing seemed to be happening. Should I see the ingredients sizzle?
It took me weeks to find the chilies, the Chinese words names must be separated when writing otherwise it won’t show up in the searching engine, I found that Anthony Bourdain used to buy his Sichuan ingredients at www.themalamarket.com and separate the name of the chilies to be able to find them in this page, thanks for the recipe! Once my ingredientes arrive I will prepare it, I live in a large Asian community but I can not find the name of the chilies written on the bags
Great video! I was wondering why you strain the mixture after combining oil and dry chili powder? Most other recipes leave the chili pieces in. Is this a personal or regional preference?
I talked about this a bit in the reddit post. Confusingly, there are two things that are often translated as 'chili oil' - (1) 'lajiaoyou', which uses flakes and keeps them in, is found all over China, and is sort of a 'condiment' that goes with soups, dumplings, and so forth and (2) 'hongyou', which is used predominantly in Sichuan and other SW Chinese cuisine as more of an ingredient. That second type - hongyou - is what we're making here. In English, sometimes it's called 'chili oil', or 'sichuan chili oil' or 'red oil'. Figured no one would know what I'm talking about if I went with the direct translation of 'red oil', so instead went with 'sichuan chili oil' :)
Holy shit guys! I think I might've figured out what "Erjingtiao" are. I'm not certain, but their similarities to cayenne made me go down a bit of a rabbit hole.
I'm 90% sure that Erjingtiao are a variety of cayenne that you can find in the West as "Joe's Long Cayenne" - you won't find it in any supermarkets, but there's seeds online. That strain comes from Italy where's it's also used in Cambrian cuisine, though I can't seem to find any more information on that front. So - if you need a sub, cayenne pepper or certain varieties of peperoncino should be what we're looking for! God that's a relief off my shoulders lol
Chinese Cooking Demystified I can get that variety of seed easily, I also found celtuse seed. Trying to source erjingtiao seed was not successful.
Where you based out of? If it's in the USA maybe I could bring some back with me next Chinese New Year and mail it if ya remind me :)
I'm in Tulsa, OK. I just ordered some chili seeds called Chinese long peppers, which look identical to Joe's long cayenne. The root you used to color the oil red is available on eBay. I chose to use guajillo, because they're chilis as well so flavorwise it just made sense and a heck of a lot easier to get. The hongyou turned out intensely red. If you're interested in a nice very hot chili, a friend of mine brought me a wild one from Nicaragua. It points up, great producer, same size as 朝天椒 but a lot hotter. The first 1/2 second is sweet & fruity then you've licked a stun gun. Used sparingly great flavor with the heat. And yes it's still quite hot deseeded.
Chinese Cooking Demystified I am on long island, if you happen to be in the NY area.
Great!! Finally we may find the substitute for Erjingtiao here in the USA. Thank you!
I appreciate that you use proper Chinese terminology with good pronunciation. Makes it good for Chinese speakers so we can source stuff at the asian market. Keep up the good work!
Haha if I spoke Mandarin at length I dunno if you'd say the same thing about my pronunciation ;) But I do think it's important to keep things bilingual in order to source stuff - I remember back in the day when I was first learning how to look Chinese using some Fuschia Dunlop it'd be so damn annoying to have to figure out what ingredients she was actually referring to.
Sometimes we have to make a decision in the videos what exactly we decide to refer to a certain ingredient as (and sometimes that ends up being the English), but at the very least the written Chinese name for the ingredient are always in the reddit post!
I hear you on that. Wish her recipes had bilingual ingredient listings within the recipe.
Wish I feel the same as you, I'm a native speaker and I have absolutely no idea what he's saying - he butchers the pronunciation all the time.
Buy at mala market the Sichuan ingredients
@@ChineseCookingDemystifiedwhy not save the headache and just say both? It would be even more clear.
There is a simple way to deseed the chilli. Simply coarse crushed them with blender or manually a bit. (Just coarse crush, be carefull not to over dot it a smooth form. Place them on plastic bag or whatever bag you can find. Shake-shake them. The seed will go to the bottom. Carefully take the deseed parts out on a plate or something. The rest place on a bowl. Shake them a little bit, take the rest of the deseed parts out. Only the seed will be left on the bowl.
I just tried this and it works
I will do it like that the next time. I have deseeded them by hand and it was 1h of work, just to deseed, waste of time
@@guidow9616 same here. took about an hour. then forgot to wash my hands before going to pee 🔥😫
@@mkryu ouch
I just slice and scrape the seeds with a spoon
Hey guys! I know this is kind of an older video, but I just made this recipe for the first time with some New World chilies and thought you might be interested in the results. I used a blend of arbol and puya, spiced with ginger/star anise/Sichuan peppercorn/bay leaf/cinnamon, base oil was caiziyou. The spice mix didn't really come through in the final product--I made a half batch for sourcing reasons and had trouble temping such a small amount of oil, so I suspect that might have something to do with it. Despite that the oil is absolutely delicious. It's rich, hot, a little nutty, a little fruity. The color turned out nice and deep without any additives. Thanks for all the great recipes! I look forward to your next video.
When you blend up the dried chilis, add a couple drops of oil before turning it into powder and you will have a better chance of surviving when you take off the lid.
Hot damn. The real tips really are in the comments.
Steph and Chris, 谢谢 for sharing your knowledge and experiences with us!
One of the hardest parts of making foods with which you have little family or cultural experience with is knowing what a dish should taste like and having your ability to translate these dishes into more locally available ingredients makes Mandarin and Cantonese cooking so much more approachable.
I've been binge watching your channel, I am addicted. Awesome job and awesome looking recipes that I can't wait to try!
Your Sichuan chili oil recipe warms my Hungarian heart
After blending the chillies, I HIGHLY recommend taking a deep breath when opening the blender lid. Life changing 🥰
evil...
lmao
>life ending
fix'd
☠️☠️☠️
Rude 😂
Waiting for the final cool down of the oil as I type this. I appreciate all the work you guys put into this channel. Well done.
I made this oil tonight and it looks gorgeous! Can’t wait to use it! Thanks for sharing this recipe. Greetings from Minneapolis
Hello, where did you find the heaven peppers? For the life of me i can't find them, I know this has been a couple of years ago.
I finally made my own chile oil a few weeks ago. I got some erjingtiao chiles, heaven-facing chiles, caiziyou oil, and zicao online, and the final result was phenomenal. The zicao really makes a difference in the appearance of the oil; the only problem is, I now have enough to last the rest of my life.
I have made this recipe a lot of times since ive loved it everytime and just seems to quickly disappear LOL.
Ive also found out that korean chili powder gives it a nice rich red color.
Same thing with indian kashmiri chili powder. Obviously the taste is very different but i still found it to be delicious either way.
This guy is the best chinese cuisine recipes vlogger, all these are legit, you deserve more subscribers.
You do know steph has a huge role as well, right, like being the brains of it all
I made this the first time when I was still in Germany but now that I craved Sichuanese Food while studying in Korea I used local chillies from the market blended with heaven facing and even managed to source zicao hehe.
The only thing I couldn't source yet was Caiziyou so I went with half mustard seed and half soybean oil.
It looks just as dark as your oil.
Im really looking forward to making all sorts of dishes with this.
Thank you so much for doing all this research and sharing proper knowledge about Chinese cuisine with this whole world.
Big respect for you guys 👍👍❤️
I've made this and though I was missing some spices, it turned out fantastic! Definitely a staple in my kitchen now!
Is your oil still good after two months?
@@matheusbatista603 Sorry just noticed your comment as I was watching this vid to make my next batch of oil! Yes it was good. I've kept it in the fridge though.
Korean chili powder is great for this. The fragrant kind used for Kimchi work best. Can't wait to try the extra aromatics
Yeah, I think it's best to make your own chili powder, but deseeding chilis can undeniably be a nightmare. I haven't tried using it for Sichuan chili oil, but the Korean chili powder has a real nice color to it and I think should sub in nicely :)
韩国的难吃
I tried all your recipes. All terrific. Thank you so much and please post more and more i need it !
Cheers! We got a furongdan (a.k.a. Egg Foo Young) recipe that we just finished filming, then the week after as sort of a Thanksgiving thing we'll do a Sichuan pickled chili jiza (giblet) recipe. Any requests? After that we're still spitballing a few ideas.
Thank you.....
Chris has a great radio voice. Reminds me of Alton Brown - which gives your videos more feel of authority. It's like Chinese focused The Good Eats but better. Love it!
Haha cheers thanks! That sort of Alton Brown/SeriousEats vibe's always been kinda the target we're aiming for... I'll have to respectfully disagree on my voice being good for narration though ;)
菜籽油 is impossible to source in Sweden, but I found a very expensive cold pressed Swedish rapeseed oil (Kung Markatta) and I swapped the Chinese chillies for basic large Thai chilli and a bunch of bird eye chillies. Now I can't tell if it tastes like the real deal because I've never tasted pure Sichuan oil, but I've had Sichuan food in China and the 宫保鸡丁 I made after your recipe turned out amazing, better than the ones I've had outside China. Color-wise, the oil looks exactly like yours.
Funny enough, the day after I made the oil I found some dried facing heavens in an Asian market I hadn't been in before.
Caiziyou is made from roasted rape seed, the european oil won't have the same flavor. Try Inidan mustard oil.
This video should have over a million views its the definitive video
I appreciate your videos. They are well done and pleasant to watch. I would love to see the english translations for the rare ingredients you listed; rare outside of China. Specifically the "coloring herb" and the "extra virgin canola oil". I didn't have luck searching on google. Thanks again; very informative.
Right, so we usually go into (probably too much lol) detail on that front in the written reddit posts... so most of that info's there if you're curious.
For that coloring herb Zicao, I didn't bother translating it (even for the reddit post), as I assumed that it'd be next to impossible to find outside of China. The formal name is Radix Arnebiae and is sometimes called Gromwell Root... but if you google "Zi Cao" you'll get more results than either of those names :)
For the oil, the Chinese name is Caiziyou and it's more-or-less an extra virgin canola (rapeseed) oil. The Canadian producer I was talking about in the video's here: xvcanolaoil.com/ but I haven't used their stuff personally so it'd be a bit of an experiment. Reading about their process, it should be basically the same as Sichuan Caiziyou, with the one exception that the Canola seeds are toasted first in the Sichuan variety. If you want those super-authentic bonus points, try to source that stuff... if not, a pure Peanut or Sunflower'll do the job.
You guys are great. Thanks so much for the response. I wish you success with your channel.
leafnflower.com/eng/gromwell-root-lithospermum-root.html Looks like they might ship it in varying quantities in the US. I found an Amazon link as well, but it was significantly more expensive.
Wow. This was a gamechanger for me. I've used similar recepies before, but they were not using cinnamon nor cloves. Immediately when adding the spice mix to the oil it really started to smell "the right way" - the smell I had been missing. I am now waiting for it to cool down but I am SO EXCITED TO TASTE IT :O
How did it taste? :)
It is amazing! :D
I've only used it properly once now (some Dan Dan Noodles), but I am really looking forward to making some mapo tofu next week xD
The only thing I will change is to add some more sichuan pepper next time - probably a quality thing with my sichuan pepper.
I’m definitely going to try this. I don’t have all the right things, but this process is really going to improve my chili oil! Thank you so much! My boyfriend is addicted to this stuff and he begs me to make it all the time. I think he’ll like this version better. I’m so excited!
finally one who made the best condiment ever the best way to enjoy it when ur not in sichuan thank you!!
Your presentation has gotten so much better over the years.
Okay, I was able to get some dried Er Jing Tiao over here. Cost me an arm and a leg, but hey, it's food. Thay are longer and darker though, but the label clearly reads: 二荆条. Also got some grade A red and also green sichuan peppercorns. I'm happy as it gets.
Now I'm a bit confused about the Facing Heaven Chili. The first batch I ordered looked like the ones shown on wikipedia and apprently like those Fuchsia Dunlop uses - short, thick and rather plump. Some Sichuanese chefs I watched also seem use these for Gong Bao, calling them Facing Heaven. However I also saw them being refered to as "bullet head" or sometimes even "lanterns".
The second batch I ordered online looks like the ones you and also Chef Wang uses. Are there different varieties with the same name? Which ones are the right ones for Gong Bao? Is Wikipedia wrong? HELP!!!
I found a new Dutch/Chinese fusion cuisine use for the red oil. Mix some of the oil in Frietsaus (fritessaus). Patatje me rooie olie saus. Geweldig lekker. (So good)
Kewpie mayo met deze olie en je bent in de hemel
Big thanks for this recipe! been looking for a nice recipe for red oil and this is perfect!
Made this recently and loved the results-definitely an improvement over my previous efforts!
This is a pretty labour intensive version though, to be fair. I'm going to try to cut a few corners next time and see how big the differences are. Two thoughts, one a question for you:
1. What do you think the effect would be of adding all the spices during the ‘pouring stage’ rather than in the tea-ball when you’re bringing the oil up to temperature? Are you worried that some of them might burn at 190C? If so, why not add them during the second pour, once the temp is down to 130?
2. Deseeding those chillies is a massive pain. Previously, I’ve used Korean gochugaru powder and had very similar results. I’m interested in seeing how that works combined with the spices you use here.
Finally, folks in the UK might be interested in knowing that Tesco now carries Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil under the Tesco’s Finest brand. Probably the closest we’ll find to the oil referenced here!
Thanks, CCD; love the channel.
1. Sure, there's no reason you could do that after the second pour. Feels like it wouldn't save too much time though? I would worry about the spices at 190C+
2. So if you're looking for somewhere to cut, it'd be deseeding. I was very *very* paranoid about the color of my hongyou for this video. In hindsight, too paranoid. You can just give the chilis a rough chop at first, let most/many of the seeds fall and stay on the chopping board, and go from there.
Adding some gochugaru powder in place of the zicao is a very smart idea, I think.
Lastly, one thing that many people in Sichuan do that I didn't find in my research the first time around (was basing things mostly off of a recipe from a friend of mine) is get half of the chilis into a powder and keep half into flakes. Still haven't tried it that way myself, but it's a legit technique.
The herb he added for color could be alkanet or "Ratanjot". Not sure if it is the same stuff but looks similar. It is widely used in Kashmir region in India as food color, esp in Mutton Rogan Josh. You can source it from india or amazon.
I tried making this, but the end product tastes very much like oil that has been used for deep-frying. Naturally, I changed some things (what did you expect in a UA-cam comment), could any of these be the cause?
- Use sunflower oil (same smoke point as peanut oil)
- Used the recommended ginger, I also put it in the oil to "steep" at 130
- Couldn't find the tea egg, so we toasted the spices freestyle and fished them out with a skimmer. Did a good job but still some flecks left.
- "Pouring" was a bit slow because I used a ladle, though I had help so there was immediate stirring
My guess is that either little spice remnants or the pouring are the culprit, but would love to hear your opinion! Amazing channel :)
I love watching your videos! Warm greetings from Holland :)
2:53 That looks like Ratan Jot (Alkanet Root). It can also be found in south Asian stores
Looks to be different - Zicao is Lithospermum erythrorhizon. However, after looking up a bit about Jalan Rot I think that would actually be an EXCELLENT sub. Seems to have a more vibrant red color than Zicao, I'd use it in a heartbeat :)
@@ChineseCookingDemystified I'll probably end up using it as a substitute since its easier for me to find. The recipe looks great though! Can't wait to try it out
Could you use Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru) instead of dried peppers? How comparable would the flavours be?
you can also just mix all your chilies and filter your powder afterward. Seeds have a tendency to stay intact if you don't put on too high speed and wont go through a fine lid
Wouldnt’t it be a good option to replace the Hungarian Paprika Powder with some Gochugaru (Korean Chili Powder)? Since the paprika powder is so extremely finely milled, isn’t it hard to sieve it out? Best regards from Germany
Totally, nice idea. It was fine to sift it out, but Korean chili flakes might give off an even better color than paprika.
@@ChineseCookingDemystified Thank you very much for this answer. I have one more question about the oil. You mention that Caiziyou is a kind of virgin canola oil. Do you know how similar in taste it is to cold-pressed rapeseed oil, that is actually widely available and reasonably priced in Germany and Sweden? On reason for asking is that the cold-pressed oil I know has a much lighter colour, deeply golden, but not at all brownish.
Now, traditionally, here, one only uses it cold, and sometimes advices against heating it too much. However, sources I found state a high smoke point, so I suppose it could make no harm. If it changes in taste very much, I could imagine doing the first 190 °C step with neutral canola or the like, and the next two steps with the Virgin rapeseed? All of this depends of course, upon they have a similar taste in the first place? Fuchsia actually writes about it here: www.fuchsiadunlop.com/rapeseed-oil-and-grass-fed-beef/ but would love to hear what you say about it. thanks in advance!
@@epikurius5780 rapeseed and canola are actually the same oil. 'canola' is a Canadian marketing term. This comment is ancient, so I'm sure you either know or no longer care, but just throwing that out there.
I enjoy this channel.
Demsified, I enjoy your channel. very educational. detail and reasons added how and why to use your method. difficult to find such channel as they do not explain much. Just recipe and cook. Is fennel also known as caraway seeds? tqvm.
So i tried this. But ran into a few things.
Firstly i used no heaven facing chillies so its a tad on the mild side. I also maybe went a bit to nuts deseeding.
Second i used mustardseed oil which you sugested in another video to be close to the Sichuan rapeseed oil. But the smell and taste of mustard remained quite strong now of cource i have no caizio to compare but it seemed off to me. Maybe i didnt heat my oil hot enough or long enough.
For colour i added some cashmiri chillies this worked perfect its an even brighter red than yours. But my powder was a bit to fine i supose a some went trough my seeve and the oil is not as clear
Sorry if this has already been asked, but do you throw out the chili paste? Or can you use it for something else?
i live in china and half the people that make this just leave it in. it makes it more spicy but lessens the subtlety of the oil. they will just spoon a little bit of the paste out with the oil when adding
To the person who tried annatto and got a yellow tint on their chili oil: did you use paste or powder? Powder is more red, paste is more yellow.
I've now been convinced to seek out caiziyou, but there's info in English online. Do you know if there are any safety precautions about this oil like with mustard? (ie, needing to apply high heat before consumption). Also, I wanted to pass on a tip for seeding dried chillies. Use a chopstick! Tear off the head, and thread the chile from the tapered end of the chopstick until it rips open and spills out the seeds. I use this technique all the time.
Hmm... so we're not aware of any safety precautions, but caiziyou is unequivocally never used uncooked so... maybe? It's generally used for Chili oil, chili pastes, and stir-frying so you'd be getting the oil up past at least 180 in each of those applications anyhow
Subbed! Great vid ! Lot of work . Think I might buy the chili oil from my local Chinese . . I love Chinese cooking , it's fascinating to watch.
If you got a good source for chili oil, totally buy it outside! At our local market we got some Sichuan shops that make their own chili oil. The one thing is that the bottled stuff really doesn't taste too great, so stay away from that stuff if possible :) It's one of those ingredients like, say, Hollandaise, that seems to really lose quality when manufactured
For anybody in northern europe you should be able to buy unrefined rapeseed oil which is quite similar. It is quite common in Denmark
Cool recipe for a fragrant, clear hongyou. Thanks!
My eyes are burning just looking at that blender with the chilies
I'm intrigued by the rapeseed oil you're using. Looks so tasty/funky. Hoping I can find it in the US in one of the larger Denver area asian supermarkets. Somewhere in the CCTV Bite of China series there is a sequence of a rural farmer pressing the oil by hand with an antique wedge press. I realize its prob really comes from a shiny factory in Shenzen but still ...
Yeah, if you've ever been to Sichuan, the first time you cook with the stuff you can't help but think, "oh, smells like Sichuan!" Hope you guys can find the stuff, lemme know if you're successful. Usually I check Amazon to get a rough feeling for what people can source outside of China, but didn't have any luck :/
Again, *maybe* we could try extra virgin rapeseed oil and see if it's the same thing. I'm tentatively optimistic
It'd be worth checking the levels of erucic acid in this oil as too much is dangerous for humans. Canola oil is less than 2% erucic acid compared to rapeseeds 50%. I have ZERO idea what this means for our purposes though. I'll leave this here for a biochemist or food scientist to comment on. I can read blogs and websites. Please only respond if you're an expert.
I'm a microbiologist so I hope this would qualify me to make a comment on your rapeseed/canola and erucic acids. Rapeseed does have a naturally high concentration of erucic acid, but, canola which is rapeseed with low-erucic acid rapeseed or lear is made for consumption and has a much lower concentration of that acid.
Thanks Michael; unfortunately for me I knew that already! I've been under that impression as well but apparently they're using high erucic oil in China and not suffering ill effects. Or maybe it's a different cultivar. There's gotta be some rapeseed specialist out there that also looks up chinese cooking videos. The animal data shows cardiac lesions due to high erucic acid oils which makes me feel a bit cautious about seeking out rapeseed oil that isn't low in erucic acid.
Ok and good luck.
Very good !.... The quantity of all the spices for a liter of oil would be ?....If I was to do a 4 liters batch, can I do a concentrrate and add the rest of my oil ( 3 liters )to the one I prepared ?
i like your channel. keep up the good work
1) would a decent mustard oil work, here?
2) would the chili mash that's left over be usable for things like stir fries?
Is a couple of minutes really sufficient for infusing the oil with the spices?
In the store and in your last picture the final product has sesame seeds. Where do they come in? Are they important? Is it for visual appeal? When do you add them? Do they go in when the oil's hot or when it's fridge cold?
Would this be used as the base for the Sichuan pig ear cold dish/涼拌豬耳?
I'm curious about your decision to toss the sediment. I've been reading Fuscia Dunlop's Sichuan cookbook and I'd say that more often than not, when chili oil is used, it is some mix of oil and sediment that is called for.
There're many types of rec chili oil mix in Chinese cooking, the one shown in this video is a pure oil that's not supposed have any sediments.
My son can't handle peanuts so I used almonds. I thought mine didn;t look right at first then it's getting better as it cools. wow it's great
Hello, just made it, thanks for the recipe! Any thoughts on how to use the sediment after straining? it seems too good to throw.
Amazing recipe like all your other recipes. Is there a commercial alternative for this chilli oil that you would recommend ? For the purpose of making mouth watering chicken.
Hi, is 190C important for any specific reason? I had such oil to Szechuan pepper corns and now the batch smells burnt. Thanks!
is there any use for the stuff you strain out of it at the end?
Hey guys, great recipe! I do wonder though, every time I try to do this the chili oil came out burnt. It is unappetizingly bitter. My oil is at smoking temperature just as you did. Or maybe I made it too hot? Idk.
Hello, the Heaven Facing Peppers cannot be found unless corrected. Can you please suggest a substitute? Thank you
well I didn't expect the hungarian paprika, cheers from Hungary :D
Hungarian sweet paprika is absolutely awesome. We get some off Taobao, it was such a game-changer first time I used it. I feel almost snobbish for saying this, but the McCormick's mass produced paprika isn't really the same category of 'thing' IMO. Btw, I love Hungarian food, any resources you'd recommend?
that sounds hungry.....
@@ChineseCookingDemystified I am so happy to hear that you are interested in Hungarian cuisine! I am a big fan of your channel! Unfortunately most sources that are in English tend to tweak the recipes just a bit too much, and the more authentic sources are mostly in Hungarian. I'd recommend "Szoky Konyhaja" - he covers all the basics and some of his videos have English subtitles ( ua-cam.com/channels/0vkwOj-1WbO1TbkyevYO3g.html ). Another way is to get a Hungarian friend - yes, this is me volunteering :)
@ops26jn1 Perfect, just the sort of content I love. Even if I can't make stuff exactly, I adore this kind of resource for inspiration :)
hungarian paprika is used in many cuisines around the world, it's very useful!!
I did find caiziyou at our Asian market in Tulsa, but it also has Sichuan peppercorn oil as well. I'm guessing when I make Hongyou with it, it will be similar to the taste of the one you get at your Sichuan market. Until I get the Cayenne pepper you've identified as erjingtiao, I substituted pulla chiles and about 3 guajillo for red color. I can find the Heaven facing chile here. My only issue is I'm going to have to make a press to get a decent amount of oil out of the saturated softball size mass of chili powder. Even with all my effort I'm sure a half cup of oil went to waste. I heated up some more oil and ran it through again to end up with about 16 oz.
I'm in Tulsa, OK. I just ordered some chili seeds called Chinese long peppers, which look identical to Joe's long cayenne. The root you used to color the oil red is available on eBay. I chose to use guajillo, because they're chilis as well so flavorwise it just made sense and a heck of a lot easier to get. The hongyou turned out intensely red. If you're interested in a nice very hot chili, a friend of mine brought me a wild one from Nicaragua. It points up, great producer, same size as 朝天椒 but a lot hotter. The first 1/2 second is sweet & fruity then you've licked a stun gun. Used sparingly great flavor with the heat.
Lucky you that you were able to locate caiziyou in US! Would you mind sharing the store info so that I can check if they're open to shipping to CA? Thanks.
It's called Lihong Prickly Ash Oil, so it's main ingredient is 菜籽油 but it's flavored with 花椒. The company is SICHUAN NG FUNG LIHONG FOOD CO., LTD. It has GreenFood seal 1.8 liters. It cost me around $18 and change. I bought it at Nam-Hai International Market
11528 E 21st St, Tulsa, OK 74129
(918) 438-0166 g.co/kgs/ZpqQY7
Hope this helps.
Can virgin mustard oil be used to replace that canola oil? The mustard oil that's used in South Asian cooking.
Thanks, guys! Does anyone know if i can use peanut oil? And do i need to use refined one or NOT refined?
4:00
First: Aroma
Second: Color (Red)
Three: Flavor (Spicy)
Can you suggest a good oil substitute or how I can source the oil here in Toronto, Canada.
Heya Chris and Steph! Great video, as always!
Can you give me a couple of options on what oil to use for this?
We are still in Shenzhen so I should be able to buy something authentic for it.
I have used Knife brand peanut oil (this is what we use to cook with) but would like a more Sichuan or Hangzhong taste to it.
Thanks
Sichuan people usually use Rapeseed oil.
Can anything nice be made with the strained chilli powder or with the seeds ?
Impossible to find that Chinese oil in Seattle. Also the Zicao impossible, and I went to a Chinese spice/medicine area of a Chinese Asian market. I showed the Chinese lady the reddit name and she was confused. Oh well. Also impossible to find those chilis by name in the chinese market. They have different kinds, both labeled "dried chilis" but the chinese symbols in the reddit post didn't match their package symbols. I bought two slightly different looking ones, but appeared identical to the video chilis, and one was clearly hotter than the other. I went 50/50 on those. (De-seeding took 30 minutes!) I also went 50/50 on sunflower and peanut oil. I used anatto instead of zicao, and I did notice that it tinged the oil more yellow...I used 20 anatto seeds. the spice blend has the most subtle, almost imperceptible impact. I look forward to using it on you Dan Dan recipe tomorrow. I do notice that the chili oil at the nearby dumpling house has a lot of seeds, but not very spicy. I am guessing they don't use a spicy chili.
Yeah, sorry for making you run around like that! I know that it's basically impossible to find caiziyou in the United States - it's a sort of cold pressed rapeseed oil. Something like this, although the color's a bit darker:
www.costco.co.uk/Food-Wine-Household/Food-Cupboard/Oils-Vinegars-Dressings/Brock-Morten-Cold-Pressed-Rapeseed-Oil-5L/p/215810
Of course, that's in the UK. In American, cold pressed rapeseed oil's still banned due to its high erucic acid content (back in the 70s it was thought that erucic acid caused heart damage, but those findings have recently come into question). Regardless, peanut or sunflower oil - of a combination like you did - would still work totally fine.
As for the chilis, again, I'm sorry that I made things confusing. I wanted to communicate the actual chilis used in Sichuan so as to pass on the knowledge of what you're looking for when selecting chilis. These are all of the Capsicum annuum cultivar so there's no need to be **too** paranoid. Maybe one day they'll sell erjingtiao and chaotianjiao in Chinese supermarkets abroad, I dunno.
But in the meantime, know that your searching for (1) heat (2) color (3) fragrance. Using the blend that use did should totally work fine - I'm sure Sichuan restaurants in the States ain't getting their chilis shipped over my airmail. You can also totally get creative. Wanna try out a blend of guajillo (fragrance), cayenne (color), and tien tsin (heat)? Go for it! The New World's got a breathtakingly awesome selection of chilis... we always aim to communicate the *exact* recipe on this channel, but that doesn't mean you gotta feel bound to stick with it. Experimentation is half the fun of cooking.
If I was redoing this video, I'd probably try to communicate that a bit harder. And noted on the anatto seeds. We've never tried it ourselves and was relying on the opinion of a chef friend of mine. I'll edit the reddit post. Again, my personal recommendation to up the redness would be to include a bit of a quality Hungarian sweet paprika. We tested that out and it works great.
A lot of seeds but didn't spicy means, they used dried big red chilli or curly red chilli which is good for coloring but not so spicy compared to the bird chili here in asia.
Would it possible to double the quantities whilst keeping the same chilies to oil ratio without impacting taste?
Holy smokes, you said "muffed up!" That was a popular word when I was in High School! I wonder if we are roughly the same age? Graduated in '96 😄
You can purchase the hard-to-get ingredients in this video from links below - all shippable to US :
1. zichao (紫草) - the 'near impossible' ingredient to get in US - www.86mall.com/item/537458365758.html?p=2992.8&m=c02e65726d04ce91142fbd562fbdddbe. $11.83 / 500g
2. er jing tiao (二荆条) - www.spicyelement.com/products/dried-chili-pepper-er-jing-tiao $8.99 / 3.5oz
3. chao tian jiao (朝天椒) - www.spicyelement.com/products/spicy-element-sichuan-dried-red-chili-pepper-whole-chao-tian-jiao-facing-heaven-pepper-3-53-oz-for-sichuan-dishes-and-chongqing-hot-pot100g $8.99 / 3.5oz
4. cai zi you (菜子王) - www.86mall.com/item/529776392248.html?p=5237.4&m=56459ffce2eb31ead1b0b87545b4d7bd $22.55 / 5L
The other ingredients are mostly available from Amazon under $3.00 at smallest units. I've ordered them and will try this recipe!
I need to correct info above. In the end, zichao is too expensive due to shipping, and caiziyou are not importable to US. But James Cecil said he found caiziyou in Tulsa.
Is there any use for the chili Parts that you strain off
Hi had a couple of Questions. First, what an easily found type of chili I can use for this recip? I live in California. And can't get to a good Asian market. Second, what if anything can you make with the strained chili pulp, and how long will the oil last? Thanks Love your channel.
I made this a bit over a month ago and stored two bottles in the fridge - one of them is slightly thicker, and both are not as clear as i remember it , but I'm not quite sure. Could it be that they have gone bad? Or is that normal? I was going to give it as a christmas gift but now I'm a little scared that they might not be good anymore :'( any suggestions/ideas? I'm desperate, please help?
I have just made this, is it necessary to drain next day? I am so used to seeing chilli in bottom of chilli oil
Are there any store bought versions that would be passable?
Ok, I tried this yesterday. However, only a bit of the oil came out from the chilly paste. Should I use a press? Put more oil? I used 2 to 1 like you said, measured by weight. Or maybe not strain it and use the wet flakes as well?
id use more oil, around 500ml per 150g of chillies
okay I need to know where you got that cute little sauce pan from
Could the chili powder sediment optionally be kept in the oil? I really like a bit of sediment in my oils but I want to try this recipe without deviating too much
probably, other youtubers leave it in.
Are the remains that are left in the strainer useful as a chili paste?
Question: what is the best use of the leftover Chili powder stuff when it's done ?
Question 2: is it good or bad to think about adding a pinch of smoked sweet Paprika to the Spice Mix ?
The cooking police won't be joining at your door if you try the smoked sweet paprika. Try it and see if you like it.
It's a good idea if you want your chili oil to taste like BBQ sauce.
I had a go at some chili oil today to eat with some tofu. I didn't know just how fast they toast and I borderline burnt a portion of the chillies. Nonetheless, I used them anyway and the final oil was still tasty; it was just toaster than usual with a very faint undertone of bitterness from time to time.
Not a total loss in other words if you burn the chillies slightly.
How do you control or time the temperature if you don't have a laser thermometer?
This video makes my eyes burn just looking at it, lol.
Hey quick question! If I want it to be more numbing, it should be ok for me to throw in a few more Sichuan peppercorns right? or would it mess with the flavor too much?
You can totally put in more Sichuan peppercorns to make it more numbing, for sure.
Okay!!! Xie xie for the receipe. I'll make it now
You took out the crunchy bits which are the best parts of the chili oil. I prefer chili crisp better.
Hey, just a quick question - is cold-pressed rapeseed oil similar to Caiziyou? We're able to buy that quite easily here in Europe, but not so much the real thing, so I was just wondering if there's any flavour overlap there.
I believe so, but I'm not 100%. The color appears slightly different, but in theory it should be the same. At the very least, it should be a solid sub.
Thanks!
oooo I'm impressed with your command of that cleaver. reminds me of watching my folks use a cleaver
Used the oil in mayonnaise today and I can very much recommend
Great vid!
I have burnt my chili oil before. I will just follow this in my next tries
Are you using a digital instant read thermometer or something else? At 130C on that thermometer, I had to take the pot off my stove and nothing seemed to be happening. Should I see the ingredients sizzle?
For the first pour at ~190 the chilis will sizzle. The latter pours not so much.
Hello, just question. What is recommended fennel or caraway? Ir you use both?
It took me weeks to find the chilies, the Chinese words names must be separated when writing otherwise it won’t show up in the searching engine, I found that Anthony Bourdain used to buy his Sichuan ingredients at www.themalamarket.com and separate the name of the chilies to be able to find them in this page, thanks for the recipe! Once my ingredientes arrive I will prepare it, I live in a large Asian community but I can not find the name of the chilies written on the bags
Does the homemade Chinese red chili oil need to be refrigerated?
Yep!
Nope! Kept mine in the pantry for months.
Great video! I was wondering why you strain the mixture after combining oil and dry chili powder? Most other recipes leave the chili pieces in. Is this a personal or regional preference?
I talked about this a bit in the reddit post. Confusingly, there are two things that are often translated as 'chili oil' - (1) 'lajiaoyou', which uses flakes and keeps them in, is found all over China, and is sort of a 'condiment' that goes with soups, dumplings, and so forth and (2) 'hongyou', which is used predominantly in Sichuan and other SW Chinese cuisine as more of an ingredient.
That second type - hongyou - is what we're making here. In English, sometimes it's called 'chili oil', or 'sichuan chili oil' or 'red oil'. Figured no one would know what I'm talking about if I went with the direct translation of 'red oil', so instead went with 'sichuan chili oil' :)
Did not now that, thank you for the quick response
Cheers, just woke up and procrastinating a little bit before starting the editing of the next video lol
Hi guys anybody can tell me about what it's that, after 3 start and before cinamons