An International Chili Crisp #Recipe- With A Local Maple Twist! #Chilihead Joy!

I just made a Chili Crisp condiment that is SO good that I literally licked the plate! LOL Chinese Chile Crisp is one of THE “GOAT” all-time great condiments, and I’ve been indulging in it for years- WAY before it got hot and trendy! Good ol’ amazon.com and Walmart.com have provided me with jars of the classic Laoganma Spicy Chili Crisp for decades, and there are entire blogs devoted to singing it’s history and praises… Chili Crisp is essentially an infused oil, and it is wonderful, of course, on Chinese dumplings and noodles, but it is honestly fabulous on and in almost anything, from croissant sandwiches to roasted veggies, and from waffles and muffins, to meats, to soups, to eggs, to rice, to ice cream! I have tried many versions of Chili Crisp, and I backed Fly By Jing on Kickstarter, after we came back from a month-long “foodie” trip through China, and I discovered that she was starting to produce her now-famous Sichuan Chile Crisp, which is pretty wonderful. But, oddly, I usually return to Laoganma… which has an inimitable je ne sais quoi (French for “I don’t know what”, LOL), which is probably MSG, Monosodium Glutamate, a truly misunderstood and unfairly maligned spice that gives foods Big Time Umami, and is literally served in Asian restaurants as a condiment, table-side, to be added to dishes to bring out their flavor. (Ac’cent, a classic “flavor enhancer”, is MSG + other spices, by the way…)

I recently found a very interesting and delicious-sounding recipe for a Native American version of Chile Crisp in Food & Wine Magazine; the recipe for Owamni Maple Chili Crisp from Sean Sherman, The Sioux Chef. His recipe calls for using Maple Syrup, and an assortment of American-grown chilies, including chiles de arbol, chipotle, guajillo, and & anchos… and it got me thinking! I had a huge selection of Mexican and American dried chilies in our pantry, as well as Italian and Chinese ones, and we had a jug of great, local West Virginia Maple Syrup from MoonStruck Maple… And so I set about creating an international “local” version of Chile Crisp, combining The Sioux Chef’s recipe with a Chinese version from Chili Pepper Madness. (I did a lot of recipe research for the Chinese Chili Crisp recipe, including perusing a number of Asian foodie websites, and I liked Chili Pepper Madness’ the best).

The first thing I did was get out all the dried peppers we had in the pantry: Ancho, Guajillo, Arbol, Meco Chipotle, Oaxaca Pasilla, Puya, Piquin Entero, Oaxaca Black, Sichuan Tribute Peppers from China, and Diavoletti Rossi from Calabria.

Most of the Mexican peppers are not super-hot- a few pack some heat, but for the most part they are smoky and very flavorful, without whacking you over the head with what I call “mouth-burning joy”. For that pleasure (I am a #chilihead, after all), I added the Chinese Tribute Peppers and tiny, little Diavoletti from Calabria! (I strongly suggest TASTING EACH PEPPER so you know what you are dealing with!)

I started with the Sioux Chef’s recipe, washing and de-stemming all the peppers, and cooking them in batches for a minute in the microwave. Then I cut them up and de-seeded them, and mixed them with Moonstruck Maple Syrup and several cloves of sliced garlic, and chopped them up in our little Ninja food processor; you want small pieces, like you would find in a jar of Chili Crisp. Then I switched gears, and sort of used Chili Pepper Madness’ recipe. I put about 2 cups of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan, and a little Sesame Oil (because I love the way it smells and tastes, and it adds a certain Asian je ne sais quoi, LOL), added all the pepper bits, another 8 cloves of sliced garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, whole cinnamon sticks, and star anise pods. I heated the oil to medium, and simmered it for about 20 minutes, until the pepper and garlic bits in the pot were lightly browned. I then took the pan off the heat, and let it cool, so the oil would really get infused with the flavors of the chilies and spices.

I put the Gochujang Korean Chile Paste (which is not super-hot, just incredibly delicious, and which you can get on amazon.com, if you don’t have an Asian Grocery near you), dark, Chinese soy sauce, more Moonstruck Maple Syrup, (instead of sugar), a sprinkle of Kosher salt, and a bit of MSG (Ac’cent), in a bowl. At this point TASTE it, and tweak the seasonings ’til you like it: does it need more soy sauce, more maple syrup, more hot pepper? I also added some fresh, grated ginger, because it seemed like the right thing to do! 🙂 I strained the chili bits from the oil, and set them aside. I then mixed the oil with the chili paste mixture, and whipped it in the Ninja food processor a bit to homogenize it. I let the chili bits cool to crisp them up, but I didn’t find them crispy enough, so I sauteed them in some of the chili oil in a non-stick saucepan until they were as crispy as I wanted them. I removed the cinnamon sticks and star anise pods, and stirred the crispy chili and garlic bits into the spicy oil… And that’s it, folks! If you don’t immediately douse everything you eat with it, LOL, leave it in the jar overnight in the fridge to let the flavors blend, and stir it up before serving.

A great Chili Crisp recipe to start with is Chili Pepper Madness’ here: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/chili-crisp/

Sean Sherman’s recipe for Owamni Sweet Potatoes with Maple-Chile Crisp is here: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/owamni-sweet-potatoes-with-maple-chile-crisp

Ingredients:

Dried chili peppers of your choice. I used mostly Mexican peppers, as well as Chinese and Italian ones: Ancho, Guajillo, Arbol, Meco Chipotle, Oaxaca Pasilla, Puya, Piquin Entero, Oaxaca Black, Sichuan Tribute Peppers from China, and Diavoletti Rossi from Calabria. I bought them at Mexican groceries, and online from a variety of sources, including amazon.com, eBay, and Guelaguetza: https://www.ilovemole.com/

Maple Syrup, preferably a local one. (I used Moonstruck Maple’s Maple Syrup from West Virginia)

Vegetable oil (You can use sunflower, peanut, or other vegetable oils)

Chinese Sesame Oil (Available on amazon.com, and at Asian Groceries, such as H-Mart)

Sichuan Peppercorns (Available on amazon.com, and at Asian Groceries, such as H-Mart)

A Head of Garlic (You can also add shallots, and scallions, if you like; they crisp up nicely)

Cinnamon Sticks

Star Anise Pods (Available on amazon.com, and at Asian Groceries, such as H-Mart)

Kosher Salt

Soy Sauce (We use a dark, Chinese one; they are available on amazon.com, and at Asian Groceries, such as H-Mart)

Ac’cent (MSG) (This is optional, but I highly recommend it! If you don’t use it, you can use Kosher Salt, or more Soy Sauce, to taste).

Gochujang Korean Chile Paste (Available on amazon.com, and at Asian Groceries, such as H-Mart)

Grated Fresh Ginger