If regular chili oil isn’t spicy enough for you, make this homemade, extra spicy version using Thai hot peppers.
Extra Spicy Chili Oil Recipe
I love making my own homemade chili oil because it’s simple, takes just a couple ingredients and tastes SO good.
Lately I’ve been craving a spicier version, so I made this extra hot chili oil using just Thai hot peppers.
Thai dragon peppers, to be specific.
They’re bright red, fiery hot and give that perfect numbing heat sensation.
If you love spicy food and have a high heat tolerance, you’ll love this recipe!
Thai Chili Oil Video Recipe
Homemade Spicy Chili Oil
There are a couple tricks to making incredible homemade spicy chili oil:
Use an Oil with a High Smoke Point
Use a neutral flavored oil, like vegetable, canola, peanut, soybean, or grapeseed oil.
It’s important that the oil not add any taste, so you’ll want to avoid sesame oil. It’s also vital that the oil have a high smoke point, so don’t use olive oil.
Instead, we’ll infuse the neutral flavored oil with our own aromatics to create the flavor we want.
Use Aromatics to Infuse the Oil
To make the best tasting chili oil, you want to first create an infused oil.
I recommend doing this through both dry spices and fresh aromatics.
For the dry spices, you want star anise, black cardamom, green cardamom, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and peppercorns.
Use Sichuan peppercorns for that numbing, tingly heat or whole black peppercorns otherwise.
For the fresh aromatics, roughly chop ginger, garlic, onion, green onion and parsley.
you can vary the spices according to your liking. for this batch, I used 2 black cardamom pods, 8 green cardamom pods, 2 star anise, 2 bay leaves, 2 cinnamon steaks, a 1″ knob of ginger, half an onion, a full head of garlic, 5 green onions and 5 bunches of Chinese parsley. these infused ~3 cups of oil
I like to first gently smash the dry spices using the back of a knife or a mortar and pestle to break up the hard exteriors.
Then, lightly toast them in a pan until the spices darken and release their fragrance.
Heat up a pot of oil on high heat.
When the oil is bubbling and hot, add in your fresh aromatics and toasted dry spices.
Lower the heat down to a low simmer, where the oil is just hot enough to create small bubbles.
Simmer the oil for 30 minutes, or until the spices and aromatics have fully infused the oil. You’ll know they’ve released all their flavor when the aromatics darken and wilt.
Once infused, strain the oil and discard the used aromatics.
create a flavorful infused oil by simmering the aromatics and toasted spices in a neutral oil. this process takes a while, but is well worth the wait!
Thai Chili Powder
I highly recommend making your own Thai chili flakes, for the spiciest and most flavorful homemade chili oil.
It’s very simple to do – just grind up some dried Thai chilies in a blender and follow my recipe here.
You can find Thai chilies on Weee and Amazon, or you can grow your own.
I like growing my own Thai chilies in my indoor gardens so that I always have fresh birds eye chilies or dragon peppers on hand for Thai food.
I buy my seeds here.
Read more: How to Grow Thai Hot Peppers
a bundle of spicy hot Thai dragon peppers are what give this homemade hot chili oil it’s heat
Chili oil will look and taste different depending on your source of chilies and how old they are. Fresh chilies will produce a brighter, more vibrant chili oil with more flavor so it can be nice to grow your own. I like to grow a variety of Asian hot peppers in my indoor hydroponic gardens, as they’re easy to grow and produce tons of peppers per bush. From there, it’s easy to dry the chilies and grind them to make your own chili powder, and eventually, chili oil.
For the chili oil, you can use a blend of chili powders depending on your spice preference.
- Thai chili powder: intense burning heat
- Chinese red chili powder: moderate heat
- Korean gochugaru powder: mild heat and used more to provide a ruby red color
The fun part of making your own chili oil is you can experiment to create the perfect level of spice for your palate!
If it’s your first time making spicy chili oil, I recommend 50% Chinese red chili powder, 40% Korean gochugaru powder and 10% Thai chili powder.
In a separate, heat proof bowl assemble your chili powder(s).
You’ll be pouring in very hot oil, so I use a stainless steel mixing bowl to prevent accidents.
Add some salt for flavoring and toasted sesame seeds (optional). If you have pale white sesame seeds, you’ll want to first toast them until golden brown in a pan.
Mix the chili powders, salt and sesame seeds until combined.
Then add in a couple drops of water so the mixture turns from dry to damp. This will help prevent burning and an unpleasant charred taste.
Pour the Hot Oil in 3 Stages
Once your oil has been fully infused, turn off the heat and remove the pot.
Pour the hot infused oil over the chili powders in 3 stages: the first for spiciness, the second for flavor and the third for aroma.
Pouring the oil in 3 stages creates both a hot and flavorful oil by allowing the oil some time to cool in between pours.
If you’ve ever tried making homemade chili oil and noticed a burnt or charred taste, this will prevent that!
in a heatproof bowl, combine your chili powders and toasted white sesame seeds. Add some water to coat the spice mixture so it’s slightly damp and less likely to burn, then pour in your hot oil
once the spices have stopped sizzling, pour in your second ‘dose’ of the hot oil. mix, then add in your final third hot oil pour. let the chili oil cool down, then place in a glass jar or storage container and refrigerate.
Thai Chili Oil
A fiery hot chili oil using Thai chili peppers.
Ingredients
- 3 cups neutral oil
Chili Powder
- ¼ cup Thai chili powder
- ½ cup Chinese chili powder
- ½ cup Korean chili flakes
- ¼ cup white sesame seeds, toasted
- 1 tsp salt
Spices
Aromatics
Instructions
Prep
- In a blender, grind the dried Thai red chilies into a fine powder. Repeat with the Chinese red chilies. Set aside.
- In a pan on low heat, toast the white sesame until lightly golden brown. Set aside.
- In a heatproof mixing bowl, combine the Thai chili powder, Chinese red chili powder, Korean chili flakes, salt and toasted sesame seeds. Set aside.
Make the Infused Oil
- Lightly smash the spices with the back of a knife or using a mortar and pestle. In a pan, add the crushed spices and lightly toast for 3-5 minutes, or until the spices have released their aroma and slightly darkened in color.
- Roughly chop the aromatics: ginger, onion, green onion and parsley. Leave the cloves whole to prevent them from burning.
- In a pan, heat up the neutral oil on high heat until the oil reaches about 250° F and releases small bubbles. Pour in the toasted dry spices and aromatics and lower the heat to low. Let the aromatics simmer and infuse the oil for at least 30 minutes, and up to an hour.
- When the aromatics have fully released their oils and aromas when they dry up and darken, turn off the heat and set the oil aside. Strain the used aromatics and discard.
Make the Chili Oil
- Pour the hot oil over the chili mixture in 3 stages.
- With the first 1/3 of oil, the chilies should toast and sizzle. Stir to distribute the heat of the oil.
- Pour the next 1/3 of oil and mix.
- Finally, pour in the remaining 1/3 of oil and mix.
- When the chili oil has cooled, pour into a glass jar and store in the fridge.
Notes
Chili oil will last 6 months in the fridge.
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