Smoky, spicy, ruby-red, and worth making a full batch.
This is the chili oil that goes on everything — eggs, rice, roasted vegetables, hummus, noodles. Ghost peppers make it genuinely hot. Skip them or swap for something milder if you want the flavor without the fire. Let it sit 24 hours before using — it gets better as it steeps.
Ingredients
The aromatics:
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
- a clove or two of garlic, diced
- a small piece of ginger, roughly chopped
- a few stalks of green onion, roughly chopped
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
- 3 cloves
- 3 cardamom pods
- a shake of white sesame seeds
- a pinch of Himalayan pink salt
The oil and heat:
- 3 cups avocado oil or a neutral oil like grapeseed
- 3 ghost peppers, sliced in half — adjust for heat or skip entirely
- ⅓ cup gochugaru (Korean red pepper powder)
You’ll need a 16 oz heatproof glass jar.
Method
- Toast the whole spices — cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and cardamom — in a dry saucepan over medium heat for 3–4 minutes until fragrant. Set aside.
- Pour oil into the saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, green onion, garlic, ginger, and ghost peppers if using. Once the oil starts lightly bubbling, reduce to medium-low and simmer 10–15 minutes.
- Remove the fried aromatics with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel — they’re good as a crispy topping on rice or noodles.
- In the heatproof jar, combine the toasted spices, gochugaru, sesame seeds, and salt.
- Carefully strain the hot oil through a fine-mesh sieve directly into the jar over the spice mixture. For extra depth, leave the cinnamon stick or a ghost pepper in the jar.
- Let cool uncovered, then seal. Wait 24 hours before using.
Build It Your Way
- drizzle over eggs, rice, roasted vegetables, or noodles
- stir into hummus or tahini
- use as a base for stir-fry sauces or salad dressings
- spoon the crispy fried aromatics over fish, salads, or grain bowls
- add to ramen or miso soup
- mix into Greek yogurt for a spicy dipping sauce
A little goes a long way. Adjust to your heat tolerance.
Swaps & Notes
- Ghost peppers are serious heat. Gochugaru alone makes a flavorful, moderately spicy oil — no ghost peppers needed.
- Make sure all utensils and the jar are completely dry before use. Water and hot oil don’t mix.
- Keeps in the pantry up to a month, refrigerated up to 4–6 months.
- The oil deepens in flavor as it sits. Day two is better than day one.
