Mom’s Pork Crackling Chili Oil Crisp
Here is my mom's AMAZING pork crackling chili oil crisp she makes for us to put into our soups and so much more. It's so flavorful, spicy, crunchy, and packed full of deliciousness. The crunchy little bits of pork crackling in each bite when you put it in your soups/congee is pure heaven.
Ingredients
For the pork crackling
- 2 lbs skin on pork belly (sliced into small pieces)
- 2 tsp salt (12g)
- 1 tsp garlic powder (3g)
- 1/2 cup water (115g)
For the chili oil
- 4.5 cups vegetable or canola oil (981g)
- 1 cup minced garlic (210g)
- 2/3 cup minced shallots (180g)
- 1 cup finely minced lemongrass (120g)
- 2/3 cup coarse Korean chili pepper flakes (58g)
- 3/4 cup Thai chili pepper flakes (87g)
- 1 Tbsp salt (22g)
- 1 Tbsp Totole chicken bouillon/soup powder (9g)
- 2-3 tsp ground Szechuan peppercorns (add more or less depends on you) (6g)
- 1/2 cup reserved pork fat (from cooking the pork belly)
Instructions
Cooking the Pork
- In a good non stick pan, add in the small diced pork belly along with the seasonings and water. Stir and cover with a lid. Cook on medium heat (covered) for about 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally in between until most of the water has evaporated. Uncover and allow the pork belly to render on medium low heat for another 5-10 minutes until it becomes super golden brown and completely crispy. Make sure to stir occasionally for even cooking. Once golden brown and crispy, pour the pork & fat over a colander. Allow the pork to cool and reserve 1/2 cup of the pork fat.
For The Chili Oil
- In a deep non stick pan, heat up the oil to at least 250-275'F up to 300'F (medium heat). Slowly add in the minced garlic and let it brown up (should take about 5-8 minutes or so). Make sure the oil is not so high or else the garlic burns before it's totally crispy. You want to slowly brown the garlic to get it crisp; not burnt and soggy. Once the minced garlic are nice and brown, grab a spider or a strainer and strain out all the minced garlic from the oil and place it into a clean bowl.
- While the oil is still in the pan, let's crisp up the shallots and lemongrass. Before you add those in, TURN OFF THE HEAT or else you may over boil/foam up the oil if your pan is not deep enough (this is for your safety). Add the shallots to the oil and turn on the heat again. Cook the shallots until slightly golden (~5 mins or more) and strain and place with the garlic crips. Turn off the heat and then add the minced lemongrass. Turn the heat back on to medium. Let it crisp and cook for an additional 5-8 more minutes. Then turn OFF the heat and add in the pepper flakes, seasonings, the crispy pork belly and 1/2 cup of the reserved pork fat. Stir well. Let it cool for about 5 minutes before adding in the fried minced garlic and shallots back in. Stir well. And that's it! Let it cool before storing it into glass mason jars. Place into the fridge for up to 6 months.
- Use on noodles, soups, stir fry, dumplings, etc!
Notes
- It is important to control the oil temperature so you don't burn the aromatics and chili flakes.
- If you want this chili oil to be on the spicier side, switch out the Korean pepper flakes for ALL Thai pepper flakes since Thai pepper flakes are more spicy. If you want a bright red color to the chili oil, add the Korean pepper flakes. Add as much ground Szechuan peppercorns to your preference. Start with 2 tsp and add more if you like the flavor.
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