It feels like just yesterday I was confiding to
that, though I love chili oil, I felt too intimidated to attempt making it myself. She urged me to give it a go, sharing that she always keeps a variety of jars on hand in her own fridge. Since then, I’ve made her classic everyday oil tens of times, making tweaks to my preference (upping the heat, lowing the oil-to-crisp ratio).
When all of my Padrón peppers, a Spanish pepper similar to a Shishito, ripened in my garden at once, I decided to improvise and create a chili crisp that incorporates fresh peppers, but also adds in mushrooms as Hetty does in another version of her own crisp, almonds for texture, and just enough of a kick.
You will need:
180 grams fresh Padrón peppers, stems removed
1 teaspoon salt
10 cloves raw garlic
80 grams fresh mushrooms (I used Maitake)
1/2 cup raw almonds
1 1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon dried Sichuan peppercorns, pounded or blitzed in a spice grinder
1 tablespoon tamari
How to make it:
Add the fresh chilies to a food processor and blend until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl, mix in salt, and let sit as you prepare the other ingredients. Set aside a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl, as well as a paper towel-lined plate, to use later.
Add the garlic and mushrooms to the food processor, and blend until finely chopped. Add to a medium pot large enough to hold all the ingredients, and add just enough olive oil to cover. Bring to a simmer, then turn down to low so that there are small bubbles consistently throughout. Cook for 5 minutes, using a wood spoon to stir frequently and scrape any crispy bits off of the bottom so they don’t burn.
While the garlic and mushrooms cook, blend the almonds in the food processor (you don’t need to clean it out between each add—it’s all going to the same place!), then add to the garlic-mushroom mixture, along with the peppers. Add just enough olive oil to cover and bring back to a low simmer. I found that I needed about 1 1/4 cup of olive oil, including the first add. Don’t leave your pot for too long—things will move quickly!
About 10 minutes in, add the red pepper flakes which will give your mixture a lovely light red hue. I cooked mine for about 15 more minutes, until the garlic is just golden and the mixture is crispy (you can fish some out with a spoon, let cool, and taste it to make sure). As soon as it reaches this space, blink and it will burn—but you also don’t want to pull it too quickly, or it won’t be crispy.
As soon as it’s ready, pour the mixture over the sieve set over the bowl to drain the oil, then spread the crispy bits over your paper towel to cool and let the crispiness set! Add the Sichuan peppercorns and tamari to the oil in the bowl. Once the crisps have cooled, fold them back into the oil.
Transfer to a sterilized jar and store in the fridge for up to 3 months. (I leave mine on my dining table, since it’s so saturated in oil that it feels safe to me, but you do you!)
P.S. This recipe borrows techniques from two chili crisp recipes in Hetty’s wonderful cookbook Tenderheart and her newest cookbook Linger comes out October 7th!
P.S. This was my first time ever sending out a Friday post! I’m thinking about sending out quick, easy tips on Fridays so you have them heading into your weekend. I’d love to know what you thought!
Hi Leslie, thanks so much for the recipe! As I was reading it I realized that you put that the Padrón pepper is an Italian pepper and I I’m not sure if it’s another pepper that I’m unfamiliar with or if perhaps it’s a Pimiento de Padrón or better known as Pimiento de Herbón, where it is originally from? If it’s a Pimiento de Padrón or Herbón it has a Protected Designation of Origin (POD) or DOP in Europe and it comes from the beautiful region of Galicia, Spain, which I’m from. The only reason I’m pointing it out is because we Gallegos are fiercely proud of these peppers and their rich history and it’s an honor to be able to share this knowledge with others. The joke with these peppers in Galicia is “Pimientos de Padrón, algunos pican y otros no.” As you eat them it’s always a risk because you never know when one is going to be spicy 👍
Hi Leslie! I have been wondering this for so long — where did you get these beautiful raspberry-pink bowls? I have searched the internet high and low for this color and have come up short!