How to Make Infused Chilli Oil

The perfect balance of flavour and heat this infused chilli oil has makes it perfect for adding that extra punch to any dish.

I love infused oils but going to the extra effort takes it to the next level!

Ingredients

• Olive Oil 500ml
• 2 Whole Dried Chillies
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 1 Star Anise
• 1/2 Tbsp Mustard Seeds
• 1 Tbsp Black PepperCorns
• 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
• 1 Tbsp Chilli Flakes

Step 1: The Heat

To start off light a chimney of charcoal. A handy tip is to move your charcoal around with an old pair of BBQ tongs.

Step 2: The Ingredients

Next, you’ll need a pan. To the pan add:

• 2 Whole Dried Chillies
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 1 Star Anise
• 1/2 Tbsp Mustard Seeds
• 1 Tbsp Black PepperCorns
• 1 tsp Fennel Seeds

Step 3: The Toast

Place the pan over medium heat.

Allow everything to toast in the pan, making sure to move things around every so often.

Once you can start to smell all those amazing ingredients, remove them from the heat.

Step 4: The Prep

Remove the whole chillies from the pan and transfer the rest into a mortar and pestle.

Cut the whole chillies into strips using a pair of scissors.

Add 1 Tbsp Chilli Flakes.

Then crush all the ingredients; this will allow all of the flavours to infuse into the oil.

Step 5: The Bag

Next, you’ll need a bag safe for sous viding. Open up the bag and pour in the ingredients.

Up until need, I had been using a ziplock bag as a cheap way of doing it.

After the bags were often failing, I invested in a vacuum sealer. It is worth it if you can get one.

Now add 500ml of oil, today I’m using Olive oil, but you can do this with most oils.

Then push out most of the air from the bag but leave a little so some of the oil can still move throughout the bag.

Seal the bag.

Step 6: The Sous Vide

Set your sous vide machine to 70c or 158f, place the bag in.

Set your timer for 6 hours and walk away.

Step 7: The Rewards

After 6 hours, this oil will have had enough time to suck up all that flavour!

Remove from the water bath.

Cut open the bag.

The amount of amazing flavour that came off the bag when I cut it was amazing.

Carefully pour the oil into a jar through a strainer to catch any of the ingredients.

You can see the vibrant colour the oil has taken on.

Step 8: There You Have It!

This oil packs a beautiful punch and has a whole lot of flavour.

It is perfect for adding to any meal.

My favourite is to add it to my fried eggs in the morning or spoon it over some meat as a topping.