Homemade chili oil is the single most useful condiment I keep in my kitchen. One spoonful on top of plain rice, a steaming bowl of noodles, a fried egg, or a plate of dumplings turns it into something completely different. The technique is one moment: pour hot oil over your aromatics and listen for the sizzle. Everything else is just chopping. This is the version I make every few weeks and never run out of uses for.
Prep
10
min
Cook
5
min
Makes
1
jar
Level
Beginner
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This is the kind of recipe that belongs in the Basics Series because once you have a jar in the fridge, half a dozen other recipes get better automatically. It is the spoon I reach for on noodles, dumplings, rice, salads, and soups. Most Chinese chili oil is just hot oil over chili flakes and aromatics; this version adds soy sauce, salt, sugar, and MSG directly into the bowl so the soy toasts as the oil pours. The result is deeper and savorier, almost lao-gan-ma style.
Everything goes in the bowl together except the oil, which gets heated separately
Ingredients
What you need
Makes 1 medium jar · tap to check off
2-3 tbsp dried chili flakes
2-3 garlic cloves (finely grated)
2 cm ginger (finely grated)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp MSG
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
About 1 cup vegetable oil
⚠️
Use the right bowl
The hot oil hits 180°C. Use a stainless steel or thick-walled heatproof bowl. Thin glass can shatter, plastic will melt, and ceramic with hairline cracks can break. If you only have glass, make sure it is pyrex-grade heat-tempered. This is the one part of the recipe you cannot improvise on.
How to Make It
1
Combine everything except the oil in a heatproof bowl. Chili flakes, grated garlic and ginger, bay leaf, sesame seeds, paprika, salt, MSG, sugar, and soy sauce all go in together. Give it a quick stir so it is evenly distributed when the oil hits.
2
Heat the oil to 160-180°C. Pour the vegetable oil into a small pot and heat over medium-high. If you have a thermometer, watch for 160-180°C. Without one, the oil is ready when a single chili flake dropped in bubbles vigorously on contact.
3
Position the bowl somewhere safe. Set it on a flat surface near the stove. Have a spoon ready. Step kids and pets out of the room. The next part involves moving hot oil.
4
Carefully pour the hot oil over the ingredients. Slowly, in a steady stream. It will bubble violently and the smell will hit you immediately. The aromatics fry on contact, the soy toasts at the bottom, the chili flakes bloom red.
The pour, this is the moment everything happens
5
Stir until combined. Once the bubbling settles after about 30 seconds, stir thoroughly so everything is evenly suspended. The color should be a deep glossy red. If it looks pale or anemic, add another pinch of chili flakes and stir.
6
Cool completely, then jar it. Let the oil come fully to room temperature in the bowl before transferring to a clean glass jar with a tight lid. Store at room temperature in the cabinet for a couple of weeks, or in the fridge for up to two months.
Finished and stirred, that mesmerizing glossy red is what you are aiming for
🌡️
Why the temperature matters
Too cold and the aromatics never fry, the chili flakes stay raw and grassy, and the oil tastes dull. Too hot and the chili flakes burn black and turn bitter in seconds. 160-180°C is the sweet spot where everything blooms but nothing scorches.
Four Ways to Riff On It
The base technique is the same every time: aromatics in a bowl, hot oil on top. Swap what goes in the bowl and you get a completely different chili oil from the same five minutes of work.
Classic (this post)
Chili, garlic, ginger, soy, MSG. The all-purpose default. Deeper and more savory than pure chili oil, works on absolutely everything.
Sichuan Mala
Add 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns, 1 star anise, and a small cinnamon stick to the bowl. Numbing, tingly, layered. The version you taste at proper Sichuan restaurants.
Crunchy Garlic
Double the garlic, skip the soy sauce, and add a tablespoon of fried shallots after pouring. Garlic-confit energy, addictive on noodles.
Smoky & Mild
Swap chili flakes for 2 tbsp smoked paprika and 1 tbsp Aleppo pepper. Almost no heat, deep smoky flavor, gorgeous on roasted vegetables and eggs.
The pairing this oil was born for, crispy dumplings drowned in it
How to Use It
Pairs with
Spooned over pan-fried gyoza, the iconic pairing. Generous drizzle, do not be shy.
In a clean sealed jar, chili oil keeps 2-3 weeks at room temperature in a cool dark cabinet, or up to 2 months in the fridge. The oil will solidify slightly in the cold, that is normal, just let it come to room temperature before using or scoop with a warmed spoon.
That is the whole post. Make a batch, jar it, and just see how often you reach for it in the next two weeks. My bet is more than once a day. Drop a comment below and tell me what you put it on, I am always collecting new uses.
