Chinese Chili Oil Recipe

I’m excited to share with you the ultimate Chinese chili oil—fiery, aromatic, and packed with bold, mouthwatering flavor. It’s smoky, spicy, and laced with fragrant spices, perfect for drizzling over noodles, dumplings, rice, or anything that needs a kick. It’s quick, easy, and seriously addictive—you’ll want to put it on everything!

Chinese Chili Oil Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup dried red chili peppers
1/3 cup dried lantern chili peppers
¼ cup paprika powder
3 tablespoons white toasted sesame
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon rice wine, separated
1 tablespoon red Sichuan peppercorns
1 tablespoon green Sichuan peppercorns
1 piece cinnamon
1 black cardamom (cao guo)
1 star anise
1 slice Chinese licorice root (gan cao)
2 cloves
2 bay leaves
¼ piece dried tangerine peel
3 slices ginger
6 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups cooking oil (high-smoking point)
3 tablespoons Chinkiang vinegar

Chinese Chili Oil Instructions

1. Rinsed and dried all the spices and chilies.
2. To grind the chili peppers, in a grinder, add the dried red chili peppers and lantern chili peppers. (We use 2 types of chili peppers because they are different in taste. The lantern chili peppers are more aromatic.) Grind until they become powder.
3. Transfer the chili powder to a bowl. Add the paprika powder to it. (Traditionally, Chinese don’t use paprika, but it is going to add a beautiful red shade to the chili oil.) Also, add in the toasted sesame and salt. Whisk. Set aside.
4. Add 1/2 teaspoon of rice wine to the red Sichuan peppercorns. (To prevent the peppercorns from getting burned.) (Red Sichuan peppercorns are known for their amazing aroma)
5. Add another 1/2 teaspoon of rice wine to the green Sichuan peppercorns. (Also, to prevent the peppercorns from getting burned.) (We use two types of peppercorns because the green ones are more numbing than the red ones.)
6. In another bowl, we are going to mix in all the spices and herbs: cinnamon, black cardamom, star anise, Chinese licorice root, cloves, bay leaves, dried tangerine peel, the Sichuan peppercorns that were mixed in the rice wine, ginger, and garlic.
7. In a wok, over the lowest heat, pour in the cooking oil. Heat it up for about 1 minute until the oil is 180 degrees F / 82 degrees C.
8. Transfer all the spices and herbs. Cook about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat. Let it soak for another 20 minutes. Remove all the spices and herbs.
9. Over high heat, continue to heat up the oil until smoking hot. Turn off the heat. Let it cool for about 3 minutes.
10. Pour half of the oil into the chili pepper mixture. Whisk immediately. Then pour the rest of the oil into it. Whisk. Lastly, pour in Chinkiang vinegar to prevent the chili peppers from burning. (Because the oil is still very oily, the vinegar will evaporate immediately.