Do you know Terracotta Warriors – one of the eight wonders of the world? Do you know Sanqin package that consists of Liangpi (cold rice noodles), Roujiamo (Chinese hamburg) and Bingfeng (famous Shaanxi local beverage)? Many people who have been to China or Xi’an must be familiar with it. But, have you heard of Eight Strange Customs of Shaanxi? If you are interested in it, you can learn more here. One of these 8 strange customers is treating Capsicum as a dish. Szechuan and Hunan are well known for eating spicy food, while Shaanxi people go even further than that. We could just eat the Homemade Chinese Hot Chili Oil with baked pancakes, and that is considered a meal.
However, Shaanxi people don’t just eat chili powder or pepper flakes, we use homemade chili oil instead. You might think that is oil, but it is really the chili with oil. Every housewife’s kitchen in Shaanxi must carry this special homemade Chinese chili oil. Chili oil goes with everything you can think of, such as noodles, dumplings sauce, and all Chinese salads.
The way to make Chili Oil is pretty simple, but also very interesting. Even you use the same spices, the flavor can be different. The most common way is to put all the spice powders with chili flakes and powder in a ceramic container (leave about 1 inch to the opening), and then pour the hot oil into it. Canola oil brings the best out of the taste. The key to making tasty chili oil is the oil temperature. If the oil is overheated, it will burn the chili and the chili oil will taste bitter; if the oil temperature is too low, then there is no spicy fragrance.
您知道世界八大奇迹之一兵马俑吗?您听说过三秦套餐凉皮、肉夹馍和冰峰吗?可能很多去过西安的人都对这些比较熟悉。但是您知道陕西八大怪吗?如果您感兴趣或想要重温一下,可以点击这里了解。陕西八大怪风俗之一就是“油泼辣子一道菜”。陕西有歌谣唱到:刨(不)说川湘能吃辣,老陕吃辣让人怕。辣面拌盐热油泼,调面夹馍把饭下。它主要描述了陕西人的能吃辣,一碗裤带面,热辣椒油一泼,这就是一顿饭了,也即我们常说的油泼面。或者来一块锅盔,从中间掰开后,加点自制的辣椒油,吃起来简直是聊咋咧!
陕西人的能吃辣与四川和湖南人不同,陕西人通常不吃辣椒面或者单独吃辣椒片,而是制成特殊的辣椒油。几乎每个关中人家里都备着这么一罐辣椒油,使用频率可以达到每天一次。这种自制的辣椒油用处也非常之多,可以拌面条,调饺子汁,所有凉菜都可以放一点。
做这种辣椒油的方法非常简单,但是也很有意思,即使使用相同的调料,每家每户的味道也可能不同。最普遍的做法就是在一个瓷罐子中放入所有调料粉和辣椒面与辣椒片,然后将油烧到7、8成热,直接泼在辣椒混合调料中并不断搅拌,放凉后就可以享用了。做这种辣椒油,最好使用菜油,调合油和色拉油不能达到最佳效果。诀窍在于热油的温度,不能太高也不能太低。高了,辣子面会焦,烫出来的味道就会发苦;低了,就没有辣子的香味。
用料
主料:
1/4 杯干辣椒面
1/4 杯干辣椒片,最好带籽,辣椒片不要太大
1大勺芝麻
1小勺盐
1小勺黑醋
1杯菜油,最好选用菜籽油,不要使用调合油等
调料粉用料:
2片姜片
1/2勺干花椒
1小勺小茴香
1颗八角
1片香叶
1段大约2cm的桂皮
1颗草果
1颗肉蔻
做法
- 将所有调料粉用料研磨成细粉末。
- 将辣椒面和辣椒片与调料粉放入一个防热的容器中,最好使用陶瓷罐或者碗,加入1大勺芝麻和1小勺盐,混合均匀。辣椒和调料粉的比例大约为5:1。
- 在炒锅(或大铁勺)中加热1杯菜籽油,直至7成热并且开始冒烟。
- 将热好的油一半倒入辣椒混合物,这时候你会看到油花在辣椒中不断冒泡泡,轻轻搅拌均匀。
- 将剩下的油再次加热至7成热,稍等一会后再将剩下的所有油泼入辣椒中,搅拌均匀,等稍凉一点后加1小勺醋,立马就可以闻到香味啦。
- 等需要的时候拿出来用就可以了!
Homemade Chinese Chili Oil (油泼辣子)
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Chilli pepper finely ground
- 1/4 cup Dried Chili flakes Coarsely ground with seeds
- 1 tablespoon sesame seed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black vinegar
- 1 cup vegetable oil (corn oil, soybean oil, or canola oil)
Spice Ingredients
- 2 pieces ginger slices
- 1/2 tablespoon Chinese peppercorn
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 star anise
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 inch Cinnamon cassia
- 1 Black cardamom
- 1 Nutmeg
Instructions
- Finely grind all spice ingredients into the powder.
- Put spices powder mixture with all the chili pepper powder/flakes in a heatproof container, add 1 tablespoon sesame seeds and 1 teaspoon salt, mix well. It’s better to use a ceramic jar or bowl. The chili and the spices powder rate is about 5:1.
- Heat 1 cup vegetable oil to a 7 on a 0-10 scale (10 being boiling hot oil), or until it starts to smoke. Good quality chili is very important, and the canola oil could bring the best taste of the chili. The oil should cover all the powder mixture.
- Remove the oil from the heat and pour half of the oil into the chili mixture, the mixture will be bubbling.
- Heat up the remaining oil again until it starts to smoke, and pour all of it into the mixture, stir evenly and add 1 teaspoon black vinegar after it cools down.
- Enjoy whenever you want!