Chengdu Crispy Chili Oil (All Natural, Made in Sichuan)

While most of the Chinese-style chili oils and crisps on the U.S. market are made in the U.S., we went to the source to source ours. Chengdu Crispy Chili Oil is made in small batches in Chengdu by a team of national level Master Chefs. They started as a video recipe collective, each Master Chef teaching his own specialties, before branching into producing a limited number of traditional Sichuan products. When we tasted their chili oil, we knew immediately it was the one we wanted our name on, and we were thrilled when they agreed to collaborate with us on it. 

Their goal with this chili oil was to create the quintessential Chengdu-style oil: They start with a farm-style caiziyou, or roasted rapeseed oil, infusing it with aromatics and combining it with Sichuan's beloved erjingtiao chili, rare Tribute Sichuan pepper and other secret spices—no generic chilies or spices. They pour the oil over the chili mix in three temperature phases, a method invented by Sichuan chefs to ensure ultimate flavor, fragrance and color. And because it is a condiment as well as an oil, they added soy sauce and yeast extract for umami and peanuts and sesame for nutty crunch. All natural, what it doesn't contain is any additives or preservatives.

When 99% of their customers on Taobao, China's mega-Amazon, rate this spicy oil as "authentic" and say it "tastes better than homemade," then you know it’s the real deal!

Why We Love This Chili Oil

We won’t claim that our new Chengdu Crispy Chili Oil is the best of the dozens of chili oils on the market now, because “best” is totally subjective, and we still believe you can never have too many. But we’ve tasted them all—as well as dozens made in China—and we will tell you why it’s the best for our palate and purposes.

It's VERSATILE: In Sichuan, chili oil may be used as a condiment for noodles and soups, but it’s more frequently used as an ingredient of a noodle sauce and for liang ban/cold dishes/salads/side dishes. These cold dishes play an integral role in Sichuan cuisine, and they usually come dressed in a chili oil-based sauce, which requires chili oil, not just crisp. As per its name, Chengdu Crispy Chili Oil has both oil and crisp. Specifically, it's two-thirds oil and one-third crisp, versus a chili crisp or crunch, which generally has little to no oil atop the crisp. 

It's BALANCED: The heat and flavor of this oil are pronounced without being overwhelming. It’s not too salty or full of forced umami (loads of msg or mushroom powder), so it plays well with soy sauce in your dumpling sauce. It’s not too garlicy, so feel free to use it with dishes that already include garlic. It’s not too sweet, as sweet is not the typical Sichuan flavor profile. It’s not too numbing, because it’s better to add your own preferred level of freshly ground Sichuan pepper to a dish. And it’s spicy but not too spicy, because Sichuan uses chili oil in abundance but still wants to enjoy the food.

In short, this chili oil won’t throw off your dumpling sauce or cold dish sauce or noodle sauce by overwhelming the other flavors. Instead it complements them with a balance of spicy, numbing, salty, garlicy, nutty umami. Add it to your dandan mian, zajiang mian, cold noodles, sesame noodles, chili oil wontons, smashed cucumbers, eggplant salad.... and everything else, Sichuan or not. It plays nice!

Also note its generous size of 8 ounces in a world of 5-6 ounce chili crisps. 

Producer: Made for The Mala Market in Chengdu by Sichuan Masters' Cooking 
Size: 8.3 ounces (236 grams)
Ingredients: roasted rapeseed oil (infused with onion and ginger), chilies, peanut, soy sauce (soybean, salt, caramel), sesame, salt, garlic, sugar, Sichuan pepper, spices, yeast extract
Contains: peanut, soybean, sesame

Non-GMO, Vegan, Gluten-Free (double-tested for gluten)