Ingredients:
1kg rapeseed oil
18 star aniseeds
4 cinnamon sticks
7 dry bay leaves
9 tbsp peppercorns
200g chilli flakes
7 tbsp Maldon sea salt or any other coarse salt of your choice
In a medium size sauce pan heat the oil with star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and peppercorns, so all the spices apart from chilli flakes.
When the oil starts to bubble, slightly turn the heat down to medium or low depending on your cooker and cook for 30 minutes.
The ideal temperature should be around 115°C so be careful and keep it as close to it as possible, avoid burning oil and the spices. It’s best practise to set up a timer and check the temperature every 5 minutes.
When the oil is done cooking, the seeds and pods should be darker in color, but not blackened (that means they burned, which results in subpar chili oil).
No let the oil cool down for 5 minutes while you prepare a heatproof bowl with crushed red pepper flakes, salt and sieve on top of it to separate the spices.
Carefully pour the oil into the heatproof bowl , making sure all of the spices will get discarded.
When the oil cools down completely transfer it to a container you want to store it in. I recommend something different than a bottle as if you will be pouring it you would miss on the chilli flakes and salt that always sits on the bottom of it (salt doesn’t dissolve in oil). And it is that nice, crunchy, flaky salt that transfers all of the flavours from the infused oil to your mouth receptors! I recommend to use a wide jar or a plastic container where you can quite easily place a fork and with the fork drizzle it over the plate. I know, not the most practical way but it works and we’ve been all doing it this way with my housemates for a long time now!