Chili Oil and Chili Crisp: What They Are, How They're Made, and How to Use Them

Chili oil (辣椒油, là jiāo yóu) — oil infused with dried chilies — is one of the oldest and most universal condiment approaches in Chinese cooking. Nearly every regional cuisine in China, and much of Southeast Asian cooking, uses some version of hot oil infused with chili. The concept is simple: hot fat extracts fat-soluble flavor compounds from chili.

Chili crisp (辣椒酱, or by various brand names including 香辣油, xiāng là yóu, fragrant spicy oil) is a more recent evolution: not just infused oil but a suspension of fried crispy bits — shallots, garlic, dried shrimp, spices — in the chili oil. The texture of the crispy bits is the key innovation; it provides crunch alongside heat.

Chili Oil vs Chili Crisp

| | Chili Oil | Chili Crisp | |---|---|---| | Texture | Pure liquid oil with chili flakes, drinkable | Mixture of oil and crunchy bits (shallot, garlic, etc.) | | Primary use | Drizzling over dumplings, noodles, soups | Spooning onto/into food for crunch + heat | | Chinese term | 辣椒油 (là jiāo yóu) | 辣椒酱 / 香辣酱 | | Famous brands | Pixian Doubanjiang region, regional producers | Lao Gan Ma (Làogānmā, 老干妈) | | Home making ease | Very easy | Moderate; requires frying |

Both are used as finishing condiments — added to food at the point of eating rather than cooked in.

Basic Chili Oil: The Method

The most basic Chinese chili oil — a technique used in home kitchens across China:

Ingredients:

1 cup neutral oil (vegetable, grapeseed, or sunflower — not olive oil)
3–4 tablespoons Korean gochugaru or Chinese dried chili flakes (là jiāo miàn, 辣椒面)
Optional aromatics: 1 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, 2–3 whole Sichuan peppercorns — added to the cold oil

Method:

Place dried chili flakes in a heatproof bowl.
If using whole spice aromatics: add them to cold oil, heat slowly over medium heat until the spices begin to sizzle. Remove spices. Let oil continue to heat.
Heat oil in a small saucepan to 170–190°C (watch carefully — too hot chars the chili flakes; the smoke point of the chili is exceeded before the smoke point of the oil).
Pour hot oil slowly over the chili flakes. They will sizzle aggressively.
Stir; let cool. The oil will turn deep red.

The temperature question: This is the most critical variable. Too cool (under 150°C): the chili won't bloom properly; the oil will be pale and weakly flavored. Too hot (over 200°C): the chili flakes will blacken and taste bitter and burnt. The ideal range is 165–190°C, and the specific range for your chili variety may vary — test a small batch.

Storage: Chili oil keeps at room temperature for 2–3 months; refrigerated for 6 months. The oil will not be bacterially unsafe but flavor degrades over time.

Chili Crisp: The Full Recipe

Chili crisp requires more technique than basic chili oil — the fried ingredients need to be prepared separately, then combined with the infused oil:

Ingredients:

1 cup neutral oil
3 shallots, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons dried chili flakes (gochugaru or Chinese)
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorn, roughly ground (optional but traditional)
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon dried shrimp (xiā pí, 虾皮) — optional, adds depth
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt

Method:

Heat ½ cup of the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic; fry slowly, stirring often, until golden brown and crispy — 8–12 minutes. The shallots should be deeply golden, not pale or burnt. Remove with a slotted spoon; the oil is now shallot-garlic infused.
In a heatproof bowl, combine: chili flakes, Sichuan peppercorn, sesame seeds, dried shrimp, sugar, salt.
Heat the remaining oil (and the shallot-garlic infused oil combined) to 175–185°C.
Pour the hot oil over the chili mixture in two stages: pour half, stir, wait for sizzling to subside, pour the rest.
Add the fried shallots and garlic to the bowl. Add soy sauce. Stir to combine.
Cool completely before transferring to a jar.

Lao Gan Ma: Why It Became a Global Phenomenon

Lao Gan Ma (老干妈, literally "Old Godmother") is a Guizhou, China-based company founded by Tao Huabi in 1996. The company produces multiple chili condiment products, of which the most famous internationally is the Spicy Chili Crisp — a black glass jar with a red label and the founder's face on it.

The product's global expansion occurred gradually through:

Export to Chinese diaspora communities globally, where it was a pantry staple for decades
Discovery by non-Chinese food media and professional chefs around 2015–2020
Social media documentation of its use in non-Chinese applications (drizzled on pizza, stirred into pasta, added to eggs) which demonstrated the product's versatility beyond Chinese food contexts
The COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2021) during which home cooking increased dramatically, adventurous condiment purchases rose, and the product appeared prominently in Western food media coverage of "pantry staples"

Lao Gan Ma's international sales have grown substantially in the 2020s. The product is now available in mainstream Western grocery stores (Target, Whole Foods) rather than only in Asian grocery stores.

What makes the original Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp distinctive: The use of Sichuan pepper (subtle numbing; the mala sensation), dried shrimp (adding seafood umami), fermented black beans in some formulas (depth), and a specific ratio of oil to solids that is heavier on the crispy bits than most Chinese competitors.

How to Use Chili Oil and Chili Crisp

Dumplings and potstickers: Drizzle chili oil or spoon chili crisp over boiled dumplings or steamed dumplings before eating. The classic pairing — soy sauce + black vinegar + chili oil over boiled wontons is canonical Sichuan street food.

Noodles: Dan dan noodles, cold sesame noodles, sesame noodles — all are designed to receive chili oil at the table. Chili oil + black vinegar + soy sauce is the standard noodle sauce base in Sichuan cold noodle dishes.

Rice: Spoon chili crisp directly over white rice — the crunch and heat complement plain rice entirely.

Eggs: Chili crisp scrambled eggs; chili crisp fried eggs; chili oil drizzled over soft-boiled eggs. This is the most commonly shared Western adaptation of chili crisp that drove broad non-Chinese awareness.

Pizza and pasta: Non-traditional applications now completely normalized in Western food culture. Chili crisp on pizza is particularly effective for the same reason it works on rice — the crunch and heat complement the mild base.

Tofu: Spoon chili crisp over silken or cold tofu (liang ban doufu, 凉拌豆腐) — one of the most effortless Chinese preparations, the tofu serving as a neutral vehicle for the chili crisp flavor.

Korean applications: Chili oil/crisp has been incorporated into Korean food (over bibimbap, in bibim noodles, over tteokbokki) as a cross-cultural adaptation that has become natural in Korean food culture.

Regional Chili Oil Variations

Sichuan: Often includes ground Sichuan peppercorn (the ma element); sometimes includes fermented black beans or doubanjiang in the base

Hunan: Uses a different dried chili variety; often more fruit-forward heat profile, less numbing

Yunnan: May include wild herbs specific to Yunnan; distinctive floral heat character

Japanese rayu (ラー油): Japanese adaptation of chili oil; typically lighter color, sesame oil component, used over gyoza and ramen

Korean: Gochu-girum (고추기름) — red pepper oil used in Korean cooking; made from Korean gochugaru which has a sweeter, fruitier heat profile than Chinese dried chilies

The full recipes live in the book.

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