Oil infused with chili peppers

[glen]

Good evening!!  I was thinking of other recipes or idea's for using hot peppers.  The latest was chili infused oil.  This is something that I have tasted since there is oil in my Chili crisp recipe and it is excellent.  Why not make an oil, that is infused with chili?  To use as a table condiment?  This oil could be as spicey as you would like.  I suggest using thin walled peppers for any chili oil recipes.  I googled this idea and come to find out I am late to the table.  The Chinese have already thought of chili infused oil and have been using it for a long time.  

I found this chili oil recipe in the comment section of a different chili oil recipe.

The commenter says:


I love this stuff. I’ve made it a bunch of times before I ever saw a recipe for it. I recently made a batch with Bhut Jalokias that I grew. I used ordinary vegetable oil since it’s neutral and has a high smoke point. First I heated 1 cup of oil over medium heat until I could see the waves of convection in the oil. It was good and hot but not boiling. I added 6 or 8 fresh picked ghost chilies halved with the stems removed, seeds and all and cooked them for 5 minutes. They started to immediately cook. I stirred the oil nearly constantly making sure the peppers stayed submerged as much as possible and cooked throughout. After the 5 minutes I added a second cup of oil and continued to let it heat for another 5 minutes. Then I took it off the heat and let it cool. I fished out the pepper halves and sat them on a paper towel lined plate and jarred the oil. It is very hot. I love it. It goes on just about anything, rice, pasta, meats, drizzled on a salad, you name it. I’ve even used a little in a pan to make an delicious omelette. I saved those fried pepper halves too and have diced them and added them to many different things to give heat and a complex fried fruity flavor.

If you wanted to use tiny peppers or tobasco you could chop them up in a food processor and just fry them in the oil of your choice.  I would add salt to taste.  Then, I would strain the oil to remove the seed and chopped pepper.  You could leave the peppers in also.  They are tasty too.  But, if you just want the oil straining is an option.  Depending on what kind or type of peppers you use, the oil will take on a red color or tinting.  

This chili infused oil could be used in so many recipes where you want a spicy flavor.  Or, smeared on roasted meats.  Used in marinades.  Spoon a little into your soup.  Or stew.  On just about anything.  Now, if you use something like Bhut Jalokia you would use very little.  A drop or two.  If you used Thai Hot peppers or tobasco peppers it will be spicy but not overwhelmingly spicy.  Everyone has different tolerance levels for hot and spicy food so this idea requires you to experiment to find out what is right for you.

You can also sweeten the oil.  You would need to experiment with this as well.  To about 1 cup of oil I could start with 2 table spoons of sugar.  Add the sugar after the chili oil has cooled down some.  Stir it well so it dissolves.  I use yellow sugar here in Panama but I am sure any sugar would be ok.  You can always add a little more sugar later.  Also, further experimentation could be done.  Add some ginger or garlic to the chili's when you are cooking the oil.  You can use your imagination and come up with different recipes.  Don't burn it though.  Stand over it and stir continuously 

I have found that the hotter the chili's the less extra ingredients you need though.  But, that's just me.

Once you have made your chili oil, fill a small bottle with it.  Keep it in the fridge of course.

[glen]

Here are some photo's of some chili oil I just made today.  I could have strained out the chili's to make pure chili infused oil.  However, the chili is better tasting than the oil so I left it in.  This recipe has ginger, garlic, a mix of peppers, salt and a little msg along with the oil.  I tasted the oil.  Its hot and delicious.  You can either spoon the oil onto some rice or whatever, or do as I plan to do.  I really dig in with the spoon and make sure I get the peppers.

I fried the peppers in the oil for about 10 minutes.  Not enough to darken the oil or peppers too much.  I stirred continously.

Notice how red the final product becomes.  Beautiful red.

I realize that this type of product is not popular with the forum members.  I hope my posts spur at least one person to try some of these idea's for chili's oil recipes.

Chili oil and chili crisp and chili paste is Asian in origin.  

[glen]

I was brought up on Louisiana hot sauce. Tobasco sauce was usually always around when I was a kid. Then when I joined the Army, they had Tobasco sauce in our Meal Ready to Eat rations for field training. Now, I pretty much don't eat hot sauce any more. I discovered chili oil. Its better. Peppers are fun to grow. Your son will enjoy it if you have a few tobasco plants growing in pots this Spring. Today I had a bunch of birds in my yard that were eating my hot peppers. Not mockingbirds. In the US, mockingbirds will always eat your bird peppers. Here in Panama we don't have mockingbirds. The bird I am talking about is brown in color. I don't know what type of bird they are. A little fatter than a mockingbird. They eat my pequins but they also like tobasco's. They are the only bird I have ever seen eat my tobasco peppers. Occasionally they will eat other larger red peppers as well. There must have been 10 of those birds in the yard feasting. I don't mind, I have plenty. You should consider having a few bird peppers in the yard for the mockingbirds. They love em.

[glen]

When Walmart starts putting out bedding plants you might see some hot peppers for sale also. They might have cayenne or tobasco or thai hot peppers. Inexpensive and easy to plant. All three are great tasting medium spicey peppers for making sauces etc. I plant the majority of my peppers in pots. You can keep them on the patio or somewhere close by so you can admire them when you want to. Beautiful plants. Your son will enjoy watching them grow.

[glen]

I have to log an update on my oil infused with chili peppers. I put both of those jars in the fridge last night. This morning I noticed that both jars had hardened oil in them!!! Darn it! The oil congealed in the jars. Further investigation was warranted of course. Come to find out I used palm oil to make the recipe!!! I don't know yet how bad this mistake is. I am hoping that if I spoon some of this out of the jars to use it it will return back to its liquid state. We'll see. This is what happens when you can't see. No wonder that recipe tasted so good!!! The moral of the story is that you need to use oil that will not harden in the fridge. No olive oil. No palm oil. Any recipe like this must be kept refrigerated for safety reasons.

Further update.  I have been scooping hard chili oil out of those jars.  It looks like lard.  Its hard.  I put the hot chili lard into a little bowl then micro wave it for 20 seconds and it returns to normal.  It is very good still.  I will not make this recipe with palm oil again.  Palm oil is very delicious but not appropriate for this recipe.

[glen]

I hope he chooses a six pack of plants!!!

[rdback]

You might want to be careful with that Habanero Bon lol. But, I think you'll really like the Fresno. Nice pepper with a friendly little Hello. Great flavor.

[rdback]

Sept 24, 2020 18:40:52 GMT -6 @bon said:

...Do you know if dehydrating alters the flavor/heat on hot peppers?...

I have not experienced loss of spiciness from dehydrating, but I dehydrate at a low temp (105F). Lower temp preserves color and doesn't destroy seed viability. I think the flavor changes perhaps, but is not lost - it's more "concentrated". Think of a dried tomato - the flavor is more intense than a fresh tomato.