Asian Chili Oil...As Promised

I promised everyone on Facebook that if they would help me get this blog up to 20 followers, I'd cut loose with my chili garlic oil recipe. This recipe is something that I keep in my fridge at all times because I drizzle it on everything. I do not buy chili oil from the store. Making my own tastes so much better. I start out by toasting some sesame seeds over low heat until they start to turn brown and get a nutty flavor. As a matter of fact, since it's raining out, today would be a good day to simply toast up a batch of sesame seeds to just have on hand.

Here are the aromatics that will get infused into the oil. It is not simply chilis, oil and garlic. Nope. There's much more flavor in there. Let's talk about some of these aromatics.
First, there are Szechuan peppercorns. What these do is give your tongue a numbing sensation. I use them quite often when cooking spicy Asian dishes and they are something that I always have on hand.
I also use green cardamom pods. These are optional, as are the whole cloves. You don't have to add them, but since I have them on hand, why not? The rest of the must have aromatics are star anise, a stick of cinnamon and a couple of bay leaves.

This was the ingredient that I was waiting on. I order it from Amazon because there are no supermarkets, in my area, that carry gochugaru. Gochugaru is Korean red pepper flakes. These are delicious.

You use any neutral flavored oil. I chose to use avocado oil.

The aromatics, along with a couple of scallions and a couple cloves of smashed garlic get infused into the oil, over super low heat for as long as it takes for the onion and garlic to get quite brown. It can take up to an hour.
After that, you pour the oil through a strainer to strain out all of the aromatics leaving you with just the flavored oil.
Pour the oil very slowly over the gochugaru in a heat proof container (I use a stainless bowl) as it will bubble up. After that, stir in the toasted sesame seeds and sea salt to taste.

Store in the refrigerator. This oil will last up to 6 months when properly stored.

Asian Chili Oil

1-1/2 cups avocado oil (or any other neutral flavored oil, like canola or vegetable)
4 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns
5 green cardamom pods
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
2 scallions, white parts only
2 cloves garlic, smashed
3/4 cup gochugaru
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon French grey salt (or whatever salt you like)

Combine the first 9 ingredients in a heavy bottomed saucepan and cook, over very low heat, until the garlic and scallions are quite brown and fragrant.
In the meantime, add the gochugaru into a heat proof bowl. Measure out the salt and sesame seeds into a small bowl and set aside.
Once the oil has been fully infused and is very fragrant, pour S-L-O-W-L-Y through a fine mesh strainer over the top of the gochugaru. This will bubble up very vigorously. Once you've poured all of the oil in, add in the sesame seeds and salt. Stir well (I use a chopstick for this). Cool to room temperature, pour into a container with a tight-fitting lid and store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. Use whenever you need a kick of chili flavor.
 

Maangchi's Galbi Grilled Ribs With Green Onion Salad Side Dish

 I'm hoping that Maangchi will like another one of my posts on Twitter. It makes my entire day when she does. I can't help it, though. She has so many great recipes that just appeal to me.

Last night, I made 2 of Maangchi's recipes. Bob was not able to partake of kimchi or the green onion salad, so I eyeballed the onion salad to make enough for just one person. It was spicy and delicious and it completely hit the spot with me. I plan on using the superfluous kimchi in another Maangchi recipe. I haven't made kimchi yet because I have very limited refrigerator space and, living in a fifth wheel, I just really don't want either my indoor, or my outdoor kitchens smelling like it. So, I simply had Bob pick up a jar that was alive with all the good stuff that kimchi has in it. I plan on using the rest of the kimchi to make another Maangchi recipe and then I think I'll move onto a different type of cuisine for a while.
I'm just trying to use stuff up. 

I grow green onions out in my raised beds. I did quite the thinning on them. They are huge! I planted over 300 and I've been able to share with a few of the neighbors, which is cool. I've even shared onions with Ginger (you'll see her commenting every now and then on here...she's my younger sister). Anyhow, you can't have a green onion salad side dish without green onions.
Both recipes have scallions in them.

The Galbi Ribs start out with short ribs. You do not want the flanken style for this, you want the meatiest short ribs you can find. Unfortunately, these were the best that the store had and, at $7.99 per pound, I feel we paid for bones. You can't win them all. Soak these in cold water and pat dry. 

Next, you cut the meat out, so that it makes as long of a strip as you possibly can. These get sprinkled with sesame oil, sugar, salt, scallion and chopped garlic.
Here's where I make a confession. I forgot to add the garlic until just before I cooked these. It happens. You'll want to pat/smack all these ingredients into the meat and then roll them back up...

like this.
Put them in the fridge for a couple of hours to marinate.
In the meantime, make the Green Onion Salad side dish. 

This salad usually gets put into the lettuce/perilla leaf bundles along with the Galbi. Click here and scroll down for the recipe.
I could eat this salad every single day. I'm not thinking that my stomach will thank me, but my taste buds sure would!

These ribs are best cooked over charcoal, but I used my grill pan. You unroll them and start searing. 

Let them get some crispy edges. Just keep turning them back and forth. 

Then use scissors to cut up into bite-sized pieces. Let those cook until there's no longer any pink on the outside of the meat. After this is when you, traditionally, set out a plate of lettuce or perilla (or both) leaves, some ssamjang, slices of raw garlic and some Green Onion Salad.
Bob is going to be starting to get some extensive dental work done, so, hopefully, when that is all over, he will be able to eat one of these bundles. 

So, this is how we enjoyed these delicious Maangchi recipes last night.

Thanks, Maangchi!