Cook your shallots and garlic in neutral oil and add to ground chiles or red-pepper flakes along with desired spices, a bit of sugar and salt and boom, you have your own homemade crisp and crunch. What I quickly discovered is there’s really no way to falter. The only thing I had to mail-order was Sichuan peppercorns. Most of the recipes I sourced called for ingredients that were available at most supermarkets: dried chile pods, chile pepper flakes, garlic, shallots and spices such as cinnamon sticks and whole star anise. The pandemic afforded time to dive deeper. ![]() That was followed by a wealth of online recipes for homemade chile crisp. Soon, I started seeing a variety of chile crisp sauces available for online ordering. My first store-bought chile crisp turned out to be the standard-bearer: Lao Gan Ma, the Chinese company that makes a variety of chile sauces including a revered chile crisp and a nubby fried chili oil. Made with crushed and ground dried chile pods, fried shallots and garlic, sesame seeds or chopped peanuts, and spices steeped in a neutral oil (vegetable, canola, peanut), chile crisp has become my favorite condiment that makes everything better - noodles, dumplings, ramen soups, stir-fry dishes, scrambled eggs, pizza and even fried chicken. Chile crisp, or sometimes called chili crunch, is a more full-flavored and texturally superior version of the chili oil I was hoarding. It wasn’t until the start of the pandemic, when my cravings for takeout Chinese food grew more intense, that I discovered the burgeoning realm of chile crisp sauces. I’d combine them into a separate jar that I topped off with neutral oil so that I’d always have a stash in my fridge - as important to me as good soy sauce and Asian vinegars in my homemade Asian cooking repertoire. Whenever I ordered Chinese takeout, I always requested extra little containers of hot chili oil - ground dried chile pepper flakes and seeds steeped in fireball-red oil. Greg Morago / Greg Morago Show More Show Less The spicy chile crisp recipe from Serious Eats includes a variety of dried chiles, fresh ginger, star anise, shallots, garlic, crushed peanuts, and Sichuan peppercorns. Greg Morago / Greg Morago Show More Show Less 5 of5 The chile crisp recipe from Bon Appetit includes shallots, garlic, star anise, fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks, and red pepper flakes. Greg Morago / Greg Morago Show More Show Less 4 of5 The chile crisp recipe from the New York Times is made with dried minced onions, red pepper flakes, Sichuan peppercorns and sesame seeds. Greg Morago / Greg Morago Show More Show Less 3 of5 ![]() We tested three recipes for chile crisp from, left to right, Bon Appetit, Serious Eats, and the New York Times. Greg Morago / Greg Morago Show More Show Less 2 of5 Chile crisp, or sometimes called chili crunch, is made with crushed and ground dried chile pods, Sichuan peppercorns, fried shallots and garlic, sesame seeds or chopped peanuts, and spices steeped in a neutral oil.
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