Chili Oil
Chili oil is oil infused with dried or fresh chiles -- often with garlic, ginger, Sichuan peppercorn, and toasted spices -- used across Chinese and Southeast Asian cooking as both an ingredient and a table condiment.
How to buy
Check the jar for sediment: good chili oil has a generous layer of crispy chile flakes and aromatics settled at the bottom, which is often the best part, not just clear red oil on top. Sichuan-style 'chili crisp' versions add fried garlic, shallot, and often peanuts or soybeans for crunch.
How to store
Refrigerate once opened to slow oxidation and preserve the crunch of the fried solids at the bottom; it keeps for several months refrigerated, though unopened jars are shelf-stable at room temperature for shorter-term pantry storage.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Spicy, toasty, and savory, often layered with garlic, shallot, and sometimes a numbing tingle from Sichuan peppercorn. Quality ranges from simple chile-infused oil to complex, crunchy chili crisp with deep umami.
- Texture
- The oil itself is thin, but good chili oil carries a textured sediment of crispy fried chile flakes, garlic bits, and sometimes nuts or soybeans that add crunch.
- Aroma
- A toasty, spicy, slightly smoky aroma from toasted chile flakes and aromatics bloomed in hot oil.
How to prepare
- Drizzled as condiment — Spooned over noodles, dumplings, or rice at the table.
- Stirred into dressings — Mixed with vinegar and soy sauce for cold noodle dishes.
- Used in stir-fries — Added partway through cooking for heat and aroma.
- Mixed into dipping sauces — Combined with soy sauce and vinegar for dumpling dips.
Classic dishes
Chinese
- Dan dan noodles — Noodles tossed in a sauce built around chili oil's heat.
- Mapo tofu — Silky tofu finished with a pool of chili oil.
- Hong you chaoshou (wontons in chili oil) — Wontons served swimming in a spicy, savory chili oil sauce.
- Dumpling dipping sauce — Soy sauce and vinegar spiked with chili oil.
- Cold sesame noodles with chili oil — Noodles dressed with sesame paste and a spoonful of chili oil.
- Shui zhu yu (Sichuan boiled fish) — Fish poached in broth and finished with a generous pour of chili oil.
- Smashed cucumber salad — Cucumbers dressed with chili oil, garlic, and vinegar.
- Lanzhou beef noodle soup — A noodle soup where chili oil is a customizable finishing topping.
- Liangpi (Xi'an cold noodles) — Wide cold noodles dressed heavily in chili oil.
- Spicy wonton noodle soup — A noodle soup topped with a spoonful of chili oil for heat.
- Chili crisp fried rice — Rice stir-fried with chili crisp for heat and crunch.
- Chili oil congee — Rice porridge finished with a drizzle of chili oil.
- Mala tang — A hot pot-style noodle and vegetable dish seasoned in part with chili oil.
Korean
- Bibimbap with chili oil drizzle — A modern variation that swaps in chili oil for some of the gochujang.
Vietnamese
- Chili oil pho topping — Some versions of pho are finished with a spoonful of chili oil for heat.