Hong Kong Style Chile Oil Recipes

CHILI OIL (HONG YOU)

Chili Oil (Hong You) image

The best method of making chili oil for Sichuan cooking I have found - from the outstanding Fuchsia Dunlop book "Sichuan Cookery". I use it for dipping sauces etc; my hubby pours it over his pasta for breakfast! The more sediment you have, the hotter it is.

Provided by currybunny

Categories Szechuan

Time 20m

Yield 1 jar

Number Of Ingredients 2

Ingredients

100 g chili flakes or 100 g coarsely ground chilies, with seeds
550 ml peanut oil or 550 ml corn oil

Steps:

Put the chili flakes into a glass preserving jar.
Heat the oil over high heat until smoking hot.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes to 120 - 130 degrees celcius. (I don't have a themometer, I just cool for 10 minutes).
Pour onto the chilies, stir once or twice and leave to cool in a shady place. The oil and chilies will fizz and swirl around at first but the chilli flakes will settle as the oil cools. You can use the oil immediately, but the flavour and fragrance will improve after a couple of days.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 4501.6, Fat 490.4, SaturatedFat 82.9, Sodium 1749.3, Carbohydrate 53, Fiber 37.1, Sugar 7.7, Protein 14.4

SPICY WON TONS WITH CHILE OIL

Spicy Won Tons With Chile Oil image

Sichuan won tons are typically doused with hot, numbing chile sauce, but this less fiery version, adapted from "Hong Kong: Food City" by Tony Tan, is more like what you'd find at Cantonese restaurants. These delicate won tons are subtly sweet, ginger-scented and filled with a tender combination of pork, egg, stock, soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine. Eat a couple of the won tons on their own to appreciate their delicate flavor before surrounding them with chile oil sauce, which will inevitably dominate them. Scale the amount of chile oil to suit your tolerance.

Provided by Alexa Weibel

Categories dinner, snack, project

Time 5h

Yield About 40 won tons

Number Of Ingredients 19

Ingredients

25 grams dried red chiles, preferably Sichuan or Tianjin chiles (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup neutral oil, such as sunflower, canola or vegetable oil
1/3 cup well-stirred chile oil, plus more to taste
1/3 cup light soy sauce
4 teaspoons toasted white sesame seeds
4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns, lightly crushed
1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar, plus more to taste
10 ounces ground pork (at least 20 percent fat)
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 teaspoons Shaoxing rice wine
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoons chicken stock (or water)
About 40 (3 1/2-inch-wide) square won-ton wrappers (preferably yellow, Hong Kong-style)
2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

Steps:

Make the chile oil: Snip any stems off the chiles and discard any exposed seeds. Heat a wok or large skillet over low. Add 1/2 teaspoon oil and the chiles and cook, stirring constantly, until the chiles are fragrant, toasted and slightly darkened, about 3 minutes. Transfer the chiles immediately to a large plate and let cool completely.
Add the cooled chiles to a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped into small pieces. Transfer to a medium heatproof bowl. Add the remaining oil to the wok or skillet and heat over medium-high until shimmering and smoking, then immediately turn off the heat and let cool 3 minutes. Pour the warm oil over the chiles, stir to combine, then let cool 2 hours or up to overnight. (You'll have a generous 1/2 cup. Chile oil will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 2 months.)
At least a couple hours before you plan to make the won tons, prepare the chile-oil sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together all the sauce ingredients to combine (makes about 3/4 cup). Add more chile oil to taste. Set aside. (Chile-oil sauce is best prepared at least a few hours in advance, and will keep a few weeks refrigerated in a covered container.)
Prepare the filling: Put all the ingredients except the chicken stock in a medium bowl and mix well. Add the stock 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring in a circular motion until incorporated before adding the next spoonful.
Assemble the won tons: Fill a small bowl with water and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Working with one won-ton wrapper at a time, place 1 rounded teaspoon of pork filling in the center of the wrapper. Dip your finger in the water and run it around the edges of the wrapper. Lift and fold one corner over the filling toward the opposite corner over to form a triangle, gently pressing the air out as you seal the edges with your fingertip, then dab one of the lower corners with water and fold over to reach the other lower corner, forming a smaller triangle; pinch both corners to seal. Transfer to the parchment paper, and cover loosely with a damp kitchen towel or a sheet of plastic wrap to prevent drying out. Repeat until all the filling is used.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil over high heat. Working in batches to avoid crowding, cook the won tons until they float to the surface, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon. Divide the won tons among bowls, drizzle with chile-oil sauce and garnish with scallions.

LANZHOU CHILE OIL

Lanzhou Chile Oil image

This easy-to-savor chile oil is traditionally made with a specific chile, èr jīngtiáo. Spoon it over hand-pulled noodles in broth.

Provided by Brandon Jew

Yield Makes a scant 1 cup

Number Of Ingredients 13

Ingredients

1 cup (240 ml) neutral oil
⅛ medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 green onion, coarsely chopped
½-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
½ small cinnamon stick
1 black cardamom pod
1 star anise pod
½ tsp. fennel seeds
½ tsp. red Sichuan peppercorns
¼ cup (25 g) Chinese chile flakes
1 Tbsp. raw white sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. raw black sesame seeds
1 dash dark soy sauce

Steps:

Fill a wok or small saucepan with the neutral oil and secure a deep-fry thermometer on the side. Add the yellow onion, green onion, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, fennel seeds, and peppercorns. Place the pan over medium heat and warm the oil until it reaches 300°F (no higher, or the oil will taste burnt) and the onions begin to caramelize at the edges, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Line a fine-mesh strainer with a double layer of cheesecloth and set over a heatproof bowl. Pour the oil mixture through the strainer, then gather up the sides of the cheesecloth and tie closed with kitchen twine to form a sachet. Add the sachet, chile flakes, white and black sesame seeds, and soy sauce to the oil and stir to combine. Let cool to lukewarm, then cover and let sit overnight at room temperature. Remove the sachet and gently squeeze any oil in it back into the bowl. Discard the sachet.
Transfer the chile oil to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

CHILE OIL

Chile Oil image

Used in Chinese, Japanese, and Southeast Asian cooking, chile oil is easy to prepare at home, and it's infinitely better than store-bought. Its intense heat enlivens many foods, especially dumplings, which benefit when chile oil is part of the dipping sauce or used as a garnish. Some cooks add aromatics, such as ginger, star anise, and Sichuan peppercorns, to the oil, but I like to keep the chile flavor pure. While you may use other cooking oils, such as canola oil, my preference is for the kind of peanut oil often sold at Chinese markets, which is cold pressed and filled with the aroma of roasted peanuts. It is texturally light, has a high smoking point, and offers a wonderful nuttiness that pairs well with the intense chile heat. Lion & Globe peanut oil from Hong Kong is terrific. Use just the infused oil or include the chile flakes for an extra brow-wiping experience.

Yield makes 1 1/4 cups

Number Of Ingredients 2

Ingredients

1/4 cup dried red chile flakes or coarsely ground dried chiles
1 cup peanut oil

Steps:

Put the chile flakes in a dry glass jar.
Attach a deep-fry thermometer to a small saucepan and add the oil. Heat over medium-high heat until smoking hot (the temperature will top 400°F) and remove from the heat. Wait 5 to 7 minutes for the temperature to decrease to 325° to 350°F (drop a chile flake in and it should gently sizzle), and then pour the oil into the glass jar. The chile flakes will sizzle and swirl and then settle down. Cool completely before covering and storing. Give it a couple days to mature before using. Chile oil keeps for months in the cupboard.