Tag: Chinese
How to make Chili Oil in an Instant Pot
How to make Chili Oil in an Instant Pot
Ever eat at a Chinese restaurant and they have that chili oil at the table? Then you end up putting it on everything because it’s so damn good. Well now it’s time to learn how to make it for a fraction of the price of the store bought brands. Making this couldn’t be easier using the Instant Pot. The most important thing in making this chili oil is to not burn the ingredients. You want to keep the oil between 225 and 250 degrees. The Instant Pot has a custom temperature setting which makes making this street free. You can still make this on a stove top if you don’t have an Instant Pot. Just make sure to use a cane thermometer to make sure the oil doesn’t get too hot. If the ingredients burn, you will have to start over.Most cultures have some sort of chili oil in their cuisine, all made very similarly. This recipe is for a Chinese style chili oil, so I used ingredients in Chinese cooking. If you were to make a chili oil for Italian cuisine, you would you’d Italian crushed chili flakes and maybe some garlic and dried herbs in the oil. So experiment with making different oils. The chili flake is always the main ingredient, followed by aromatics steeping in the oil.
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 large cinnamon stick
- 5 star anise
- 3 tbsp Szechuan peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup crushed Szechuan chili flakes
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to the sauté function. Choose custom temp. Set to 230 degrees, Add your oil, cinnamon stick, star anise, peppercorns, and bay leaves to the Instant Pot. Cook for 30 minutes, giving an occasional stir. Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Put the crushed chili flakes in a mason jar. Take a small piece of cheese cloth and put it over the jar, with a rubber band around it to hold in place.
- Take out the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Pour the oil into the mason jar. The cheese cloth will catch all of the peppercorns and star anise..
- Screw on the cover and let cool to room temp. Refrigerate up to 6 months.
Dong Po (Chinese Braised Pork Belly)
Dong Po (Chinese Braised Pork Belly)
Dong Po is braised pork belly that was named after the Song Dynasty poet and gastronome, Su Dongpo. This pork belly is sweet and rich in flavor. The pork is traditionally cut into 2″x2″ cubes. For this recipe, I use sliced skin on pork belly since my local asian market didn’t have any whole belly to cut. The hard boiled eggs are not traditional, but I added them because I like the texture complexity that hard boiled eggs add with pork belly. Dong po can be served over steamed rice, rice noodles, or just by itself.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 1 lb skin of pork belly sliced, cut into chunks
- 4 slices of ginger
- 1 cup rice cooking wine
- 1/4 cup light soy sauce
- 1/4 cup dark soy sauce
- 2 1/2 oz rock sugar
- 4 hard boiled eggs
Instructions
- Blanch your pork belly for 1 minute to get rid of any impurities. Drain and set aside.
- In a large skillet, sear the pork belly pieces. Remove from skillet.
- In the same skillet, stir in the light and dark soy sauces, cooking wine, and ginger. Bring to a simmer and add in the rock sugar.
- Make sure all of the rock sugar is dissolved. Add in the pork belly. Simmer covered on medium heat for 90 minutes.
- Uncover. Add the hard boiled eggs and simmer for another 15-20 minutes,
- After the final simmering, the sauce should have reduced and thickened. This can be served over rice, noodles, or just by itself.
