Recipes

Recipes

A list of recipes for my personal reference.

Chili Crisp

Ingredients

  • 1/2 head of garlic
  • 1 cup of neutral oil, divided
  • 1/4 cup dried onion flakes
  • 1 tsp sugar, divided
  • 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
  • 1/3 - 1/2 cup of dried (Sichuan) pepper flakes
  • 1/8 cup of sesame seeds
  • 1/8 cup fermented black beans
  • 2 tsp of Sichuan peppercorn (red)
  • Soy sauce to taste
  • 1/2 tsp MSG

Steps

  1. Pulverize the garlic (in a food processor). Add it to a small saucepan with 1/2 cup of the oil. Turn heat to its lowest setting and allow the garlic to cook gently for 20-30 minutes until it just starts to turn golden. If you want, now add ginger at the same time.
  2. While the garlic is cooking, use a spice grinder or mortar/pestle to crush the chilis and peppercorns.
  3. When the garlic is golden add the remaining oil, all of the onion flakes, half of the sugar, and half of the salt. Turn the heat to medium (or medium-low). Cook for a few minutes until the onion flakes are golden or light brown. This should take a few (~5) minutes.
  4. Add the crushed peppercorn, sesame seeds, chili flakes, black beans, and the remaining salt and sugar. Stir to coat and cook for about 1 minutes. Turn off the heat. If the oil doesn’t quite cover everything, feel free to top it off.
  5. Place everything in a jar, and top with a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce. Taste and adjust salt if necessary. It should keep for a couple of months in the fridge.

Salsa

Ingredients

  • 1 poblano pepper
  • 1-3 serrano peppers, maybe a few árbol in addition/instead
  • 4-6 Roma tomatoes
  • 1-2 tomatillos
  • 1/2 white onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • lime juice
  • salt

Steps

  1. Heat a grill and add some wood chips for smoke
  2. Place the peppers, tomatoes, and tomatillo on a tray and place them on the grill. Let them to cook until charred, removing individually as appropriate.
  3. Place all the hot peppers in a food processor and pulverize them completely. Remove to a separate bowl.
  4. Place the poblano, 1 or 2 tomatoes, all of the tomatillos, half of the diced onion, and all of the garlic in the food processor. Also add any charred skin from the tomatoes left aside. Pulverize completely.
  5. Add the rest of the tomatoes and tomatillos to the processor and pulse a couple of times.
  6. Add the reserved hot peppers, gradually adding more until desired heat level is reached.
  7. Add lime juice and salt to taste.