Chili oil

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Chili oil (also called hot chili oil or hot oil; called la you 辣油, hongjiaoyou 红椒油, hong you 红油, lajiao you 辣椒油, hong lajiao you 红辣椒油, or jiao you 椒油 in Chinese; rayu ラー油 in Japanese, and gochu gireum 고추기름 in Korean)) is an ingredient used in Chinese cuisine as well as in some other cuisines of East and Southeast Asia. Particularly popular in Sichuan cuisine, it is used as an ingredient in cooked dishes as well as as a condiment. It is sometimes used as a dipping sauce. It is also employed in the Korean Chinese noodle soup dish jjamppong.

Chili oil is typically red. It is made from vegetable oil, often soybean oil or sesame oil, although olive oil^[1] or other oils may be used. Other spices may be included such as Sichuan pepper, garlic, or paprika. The spices are soaked in oil. Commercial preparations may include other kinds of oil, water, dried garlic, soy sauce, sugar, etc. Recipes targeted to Western cooks also suggest other popular oils such as canola, peanut, grapeseed, olive, and any dried or fresh hot peppers. The solids typically settle to the bottom of the container in which it is stored.^photo When using chili oil, the chef or diner may choose how much of the solids to use; sometimes only the oil is used, without any solids.^photo

Chili oil is commercially available in glass jars,^photo although it may also be made from scratch at home.^photo It is usually available by request at Chinese restaurants.

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