The best oil for chili oil

What the oil has to do

Sichuan-style chili oil is made by pouring hot oil over ground chili, often in two or three pours at falling temperatures: the hottest pour draws out fragrance, the cooler ones colour. The oil has three jobs. It must take the heat of the first pour without smoking. It must carry the chili’s fragrance rather than cover it with its own. And it must hold up in the fridge, which is where a homemade jar lives.

That rules in two kinds of oil: a neutral oil that tastes of almost nothing, and roasted rapeseed oil, 菜籽油, the Sichuan choice, which tastes strongly of itself in a way that belongs in the dish. The Woks of Life lists vegetable, canola, peanut, soybean and grapeseed oils as good neutral choices, and caiziyou if you can find it.

The oils compared

Treat every smoke point as a range. Published figures differ from source to source, because smoke point depends on how refined the oil is, how fresh it is, and how it is measured. Refined oils sit higher; unrefined and cold-pressed oils of the same seed can smoke far lower. The figures above come from Wikipedia’s compiled table, trade bodies for canola and olive oil, and two retailers’ charts, and none of them is a guarantee for the bottle in your cupboard. If your oil smokes before a recipe’s temperature, turn the heat down.

Caiziyou, the Sichuan choice

菜籽油 (càizǐyóu) is rapeseed oil pressed from roasted seed. Wikipedia describes the Chinese oil as having a distinctive taste and a greenish colour from roasting and expeller-pressing, and as fundamental to Sichuan cooking. It is not canola in a different bottle: canola is rapeseed bred to a specific definition and refined until neutral.

• Cook it before you use it. The Mala Market notes that below about 410–464°F (210–240°C) caiziyou smells raw or grassy, so Sichuan cooks heat it until it smokes, then let it cool before pouring. Heat it over medium, take it off the heat as soon as it smokes, and don’t let it climb past about 464°F.
• It clings. Caiziyou is thicker than most everyday oils, and The Mala Market says red oil made with it coats cold dishes and noodles better.
• Where to find it: specialist Sichuan pantry importers. The Mala Market notes that it was almost unknown outside China until recently. If you can’t find it, a neutral oil makes good chili oil; it just tastes less of Sichuan.

Why not extra-virgin olive oil

Olive oil is a fine cooking oil, and the North American Olive Oil Association argues that its stability matters more than its smoke point. Here, though, three things count against it:

• The taste. Oregon State University Extension notes that olive and peanut oils have distinct flavours of their own, while canola is blander and lets added flavours stand out. Chili oil is meant to taste of chili and spice, not of olives.
• The heat. The Mala Market’s first pour goes in at 356–375°F (180–190°C). The Olive Oil Association puts extra-virgin olive oil’s smoke point at about 350–410°F, so a hot first pour sits at or near the bottom of that range.
• The fridge. The Woks of Life warns that olive oil tends to harden in the refrigerator, and homemade chili oil has to be refrigerated.

Peanut oil and allergies

Peanut oil comes in two very different kinds, and the label matters.

• Highly refined peanut oil is exempt from US allergen labelling: FDA’s allergen rules exclude highly refined oils, so the bottle may not say “Contains: peanut”. The National Peanut Board explains that refining removes the peanut proteins.
• Cold-pressed, expeller-pressed or roasted (“gourmet”) peanut oil keeps peanut protein, the National Peanut Board says. It tastes strongly of peanut.

The hot pour, safely

Recipes pour at different temperatures, depending on the chili and the result they want. The Woks of Life pours at 325–350°F (163–177°C) for fresh, moist chili flakes, 250–275°F (120–135°C) for drier flakes and a darker oil, and 225–250°F (110–120°C) for flakes that are already dark-roasted. The Mala Market pours in three stages: about 356–375°F (180–190°C), then about 302°F (150°C), then about 248°F (120°C). Too hot, and the chili burns and turns bitter.

1. Use a heatproof bowl with plenty of room above the oil. The oil bubbles up hard when it hits the chili. Stand the bowl on a heatproof surface.
2. Keep everything dry. Bowl, spoon, strainer and chili flakes. Water makes hot oil spit and bubble violently; the moisture in fresh aromatics is why they sizzle so hard when they go in.
3. Use a thermometer. An instant-read or clip-on thermometer takes the guessing out of each pour. Both recipes above give temperatures, not times.
4. Test a pinch first. The Woks of Life suggests trying the oil on a small amount of chili before the main pour, working fast because the oil cools as it sits.
5. Stay with the pan. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of cooking fires, according to CPSC and the US Fire Administration. If the oil smokes more than you meant it to, turn the heat off.
6. Keep a lid within reach. If oil catches fire, slide a lid over the pan and turn off the heat. Never use water on an oil fire, and never carry the pan outside.
7. Let it cool, then jar it and refrigerate it within 2 hours. FDA gives foods that need refrigeration no more than 2 hours at room temperature. Some recipes rest chili oil on the counter overnight; skip that step.

Storing what you make

The oil does change how the jar ages. Oregon State notes that canola and olive oils contain fewer polyunsaturated fats than many other vegetable oils, so they turn rancid more slowly, and University of Georgia Extension notes that light and heat speed rancidity. For more than 4 days’ worth, freeze it in tablespoon cubes. How to store and freeze chili oil.

Where it fits on the tray

The Gentle Hearth tray starts with the chili oil or chili crisp you already own, so none of this is needed for tonight’s dinner. Homemade red oil is the upgrade, for when you want to choose the chili and the oil yourself. For dishes whose heat is a finish, the heat lives in the bowl, whichever jar it comes from. See the heat ladder, or compare chili oil and chili crisp.