Sichuan Chili Oil

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

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.

SERVES Makes about 1 1/2 cups

TIME 40 minutes, plus 20 minutes cooling and 12 hours standing

Sichuan Chili Oil

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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