On 10/15/2013 1:20 AM, Julie Bove wrote:
> I am watching a show called Taste This. Not sure who the male chef is
> but he is doing pub food. He made chili. Said that every pub in
> Scotland serves a good chili. I did not know this! He made it in a
> skillet and said that you start with a good chili oil which you can make
> yourself. He sprayed it from a bottle. From there he lost me. He used
> sausages and other meats in there and said that he will not use kidney
> beans because they have a tough outside. I can't remember now what
> beans he used. Maybe black. I just sat there thinking... They do
> not! Have a tough outside that is. They re my favorite beans for
> chili. He also topped the finished chili with cubes of 1-5 year aged
> sharp cheddar. His chili does not look like any chili I've seen.
>
> But my question is... What is chili oil? And do you put it in your chili?

I've never heard of Scottish chili. I wouldn't use chili oil in chili
but there's no reason why you can't.

Chili oil, as I know it, is an oil infusion of dried chili pepper. It's
a clear reddish orange liquid and has some sesame oil. I've seen it on
tables of Japanese curry shops and it adds some zing to curry and rice.
I have a bottle of the stuff at home and use it for frying but using it
that way tends to make everybody in the house cough.

Chinese style chili oil tends to have some pepper solids in it. My guess
is that they use it a lot in spicy wok dishes.

My favorite dish at the local curry house is spicy chicken wings.
Chopped garlic is fried in a wok with chili oil and deep fried chicken
wings are added and stir fried for a few seconds. The more garlic in the
dish the better. Garlic and chili oil makes for a great spicy sauce.