Sichuan Chili Oil

Name: Sichuan Chili Oil
Yield: Makes about 1 1/2 cups
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1/2 cup, Asian chili powder; 2 tablespoons, sesame seeds; 2 tablespoons Sichuan, peppercorns, crushed; 1/2 teaspoon, salt; 1 cup, vegetable oil; 1 (1-inch) piece, ginger, unpeeled, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds and smashed; 2 , bay leaves; 3 , star anise pods; 5 , green cardamom pods, crushed

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated July/August 2017, America's Test Kitchen TV

Chinese

Make Ahead

Condiments

The hallmark of Sichuan chili oil is a balance between là—the concentrated heat from dried chiles—and má—the numbing effect of Sichuan peppercorns.

SERVESMakes about 1 1/2 cups

TIME40 minutes, plus 20 minutes cooling and 12 hours standing

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Chili oil is a key ingredient in Sichuan cuisine, as it gives many Sichuan dishes their distinctive spicy and numbing flavor. Sichuan chili oil is a quintessential example of málà—a combination of spicy chiles (là: hot, spicy) and numbing S...

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