How to Make Youpo Chili Oil

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Estimated Cooking Difficulty: ★★★

Essential Ingredients and Tools

1 clove of garlic
100 g of dried chili powder
5 g of salt
15 g of toasted white sesame seeds
1 Xiaomi pepper
150 ml of peanut oil (can be substituted with rapeseed oil)
10 g of five-spice powder (optional)
1 piece of tsao-ko (optional)
3-5 scallions (optional)
Other spices: Star anise (1 piece), Sichuan peppercorns (20-50 grains, depending on preference), Bay leaves (2-3 pieces), Angelica dahurica (2-3 slices), Ginger slices (sliced from a thumb-sized piece) (optional)
30 g of sugar
5 ml of white vinegar (approximately the amount held by a small iron spoon)

Peel 2 small cloves of garlic.
Chop the small garlic cloves and Xiaomi peppers on a cutting board.
Pour the peanut oil into a bowl.
Heat the oil, add the other spices and scallions, and fry until the spices turn brown. Remove and discard them.
Transfer the oil from the bowl into an iron wok and heat it for 2 minutes (heat rapeseed oil until it starts to smoke).
You should now have an empty bowl.
Add the dried chili powder, white sesame seeds, minced garlic, Xiaomi peppers, salt, five-spice powder, and tsao-ko to the empty bowl as "seasonings."
Turn off the heat and let the oil temperature cool down to 210°C.
Pour the hot oil from the wok into the bowl and stir with a spoon. (For extra spiciness, you can add a separate bowl of the same seasonings when the oil temperature reaches 165°C and mix them in.)
After pouring in the hot oil and stirring slightly, add the white vinegar. It will bubble again. Continue stirring; the vinegar enhances the aroma.
Once the chili oil has cooled to warm, add sugar and MSG. The sugar softens the spiciness and reduces the harshness.

Adding five-spice powder and tsao-ko as "seasonings" enhances the aroma, making the Youpo chili oil more fragrant.

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