Invented in the 1990s by Guizhou noodle shop owner Tao Huabi, chili crisp is a relative newcomer to the American condiment scene, but it’s become a cult-favorite sauce with chefs and home cooks alike.
Chili crisp is a spicy oil-based condiment most commonly used in Chinese cuisine, made by infusing oil with dried red chiles, fried garlic, shallots, ginger, and other aromatics. The result is a fiery, tangy condiment filled with texture.
The types of chilies and oil vary by brand, as does the ratio of each ingredient. And other ingredients like fried fermented soy beans, star anise, sesame seeds, and MSG can be added as well. Lao Gan Ma — the one created by Tao — is the OG, but in recent years, a slurry of of newcomers are putting their own spin on the sauce. For many, dumplings and noodles are a standby way to use chili crisp, but there’s much more you can do with your jar.
Quick tip: Chili crisp and chili oil have slight differences. Whereas chili oil is spicy, smoky sauce made from oil, dried peppers, and aromatics, chili crisp boasts an additional crunchy texture and umami wok char that’s captured with its fried bits.
At MANJU Dumpling Pop-Up in Nashville, Tenn, chef Yuriko Say serves wontons in a dip that combines chili crisp with dark sweet soy, black vinegar, and orange zest. At home, various kinds of dumplings – even the frozen gyoza from Trader Joe’s – can be dressed up with a dab of chili crisp in whatever soy sauce you have on hand.
At China Live in San Francisco, chef George Chen makes his own chili crisp with freshly fried shallots and yellow soybeans that toasted in a hot wok until fragrant. His chili crisp is popular on a variety of dumplings, rice, and noodles dishes at China Live, but it’s especially good in the Hong Kong wok-fried noodles. “It’s a drier dish that begs for some heat and the crunchy texture goes really well with pan-fried crispy-ish egg noodles.”
Tony Gentile, co-owner of Flagship Restaurant Group in Austin, Texas, says chili crisp is great with any noodle, even the non-Asian variety. His new menu at Anthem features a twist on cacio e pepe that swaps ramen noodles for spaghetti, topped with Sichuan chili crisp and flying fish caviar. Similarly, James Beard-nominated Pichet Ong, executive chef of NiHao in Baltimore, uses chili crisp to add a little heat to sea urchin pasta, while award-winning chef Maneet Chauhan even adds chili crisp to her macaroni and cheese.
“Sichuan chili crisp is extremely versatile and can be used to compliment a range of cuisines,” says Macks Collins, chef and co-owner of Piccalilli in Culver City, Calif. “Its crispy texture makes a nice contrast on anything soft or tender, which is why I love adding Sichuan chili crisp to my eggs in the morning.” Whether it’s a fluffy scramble, soft-boiled, or poached eggs, the crunch is a nice spicy accent to a rich, creamy yolk.
In Miami, chef Ben Murray created Benh Mi, a Vietnamese-inspired sandwich concept, when he and his kitchen team were furloughed during the pandemic. He uses chili crisp in the sauce for his lemongrass meatball banh mi. “The sauce is similar to a bulgogi sauce that the meatballs swim in after I cook them,” he says.
Nick Wong, chef de cuisine at Houston’s UB Preserv, recommends whisking chili crisp into mayo and using it as a sandwich spread. “Chili crisp is great in mayo because it helps to spread that savory flavor,” Wong says. He pairs chili crisp with a tangier mayo such as Kewpie or Duke’s and finds it especially good on veggie sandwiches, like grilled zucchini and eggplant or with mashed avocado and a fried egg.
Fly By Jing is a popular new brand of chili crisp.
Fly By Jing
Ong says he always has chili crisp on hand in his kitchen. “I really enjoy eating numbing spicy food in a cold dish since it seems less potent,” he says. Ong is best known for his desserts and whips up a sweet dipping sauce with sugar, dried shrimp, lime, chili crisp, and maldon salt to pair with raw tropical fruits such as Asian pear, guava, watermelon, or starfruit as a refreshing healthy snack.
Chocolatier Susanna Yoon of Stick With Me Sweets in New York City has another sweet recommendation: topping chocolate bark and dark chocolate toffees with some of the spicy stuff. To give her dark chocolate bars a kick, she pours tempered chocolate into a mold and sprinkles on her housemade dried chili crisp for an addictively crunchy finish. Yoon makes her own dried chili crisp by slicing peppers in half, removing the seeds, and soaking them in warm water for 20 minutes. “Once the chilies are soft, I thinly slice them lengthwise to get them nice and curly,” she says. Season the peppers with kosher salt, a touch of sugar, potato starch and if desired, MSG, then deep fry the peppers in oil until they turn golden brown.
Portland, Ore.’s Salt & Straw is known for pushing the boundaries in ice cream with whimsical and savory flavors. For their chocolatier ice cream series in February 2020, they partnered with small-batch bean-to-bar chocolate maker David Briggs of Xocolatl de David to make a salsa macha ice cream, a Mexican version of chili crisp made with red pasilla, chipotle peppers, and dark chocolate. To recreate this flavor at home, you can top your favorite dark chocolate or vanilla ice cream with a spoonful of store-bought or homemade chili crisp.
“Chili oil on ice cream is a magical thing,” says Salt & Straw co-founder Tyler Malek. “A good sweet chili oil can be used as a topping poured directly on top of ice cream, or really quickly melted down with a bit of chocolate and coconut oil for a quick at-home magic shell. One thing to watch out for when choosing a chili crisp for ice cream is to avoid strong garlic or onion flavors, both tend to bloom in pretty funky ways when served cold with ice cream.”
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