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Epicurious
Bon Appétit

Chile Crisp

By Chris Morocco

5.0

(7)

Crispyfried eggs drizzled with crunchy chile and garlic oil.
Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Andy Baraghani

This all-purpose chile crisp—which is tangy, spicy, and addictive—will give your other condiments an inferiority complex. You’ve been warned. Put it to good use on eggs, meat, seafood, or hearty salads.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

4 small shallots, thinly sliced
2 heads of garlic, separated into cloves, thinly sliced
2 (3") cinnamon sticks
6 star anise pods
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 (2") piece ginger, peeled, very finely chopped
1/4 cup crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. sugar

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring shallots, garlic, cinnamon, star anise, and oil to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, reducing heat as needed to maintain a gentle simmer and swirling pan occasionally, until shallots and garlic are browned and crisp, 20–25 minutes. (Take your time—you want to drive all the moisture out of the shallots and garlic before they brown.)

    Step 2

    Mix ginger, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, and sugar in a medium bowl to combine. Strain shallot mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into ginger mixture. Let shallots and garlic cool in sieve (this will allow them to crisp further), then stir into sauce.

    Step 3

    Do Ahead: Chile crisp can be made 1 month ahead. Cover and chill.

TagsCondimentChineseEast AsianAsianShallotVegetableGarlicRoot VegetableChileDairy FreeNut FreeVeganVegetarianEasyMake AheadSimmerBon Appétit
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