Chinese · Main
Chilli con Carne
Crunchy, smoky, barely-sweet chilli crisp with fermented black beans — the jar guests try to take home
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Serves
- 16
Ingredients
- Neutral oil — 500 ml
- Shallots, 2 mm rings — 150 g
- Garlic, 2 mm slices — 80 g
- Gochugaru / coarse chilli flakes — 60 g
- Sichuan peppercorns, cracked — 8 g
- Fermented black beans, rinsed, chopped — 40 g
- Roasted peanuts, crushed — 80 g
- Caster sugar — 20 g
- Fine salt — 10 g
- Toasted sesame seeds — 20 g
- Star anise — 2
- Cinnamon stick — 1
Method
- Fry shallots in the oil from cold to 150°C until golden, 12–15 minutes; lift out.
- Fry garlic at 140°C until pale gold, 4 minutes; lift out (both crisp as they cool).
- Add star anise, cinnamon and Sichuan pepper to the oil; infuse at 120°C for 5 minutes; remove whole spices.
- Put chilli flakes, black beans, sugar and salt in a heatproof bowl; pour the 170°C oil over — it must foam.
- Cool 10 minutes; stir in shallots, garlic, peanuts and sesame.
- Jar once fully cool; keeps 2 months in the fridge.