Chilli crunch with rice and egg

main dish Asian cuisine dinner
Total: 1 hr 45 min. | Active: 30 min.
vegetarian, lactose-free

When I eat at Asian restaurants, I'm always bowled over by the crispy, aromatic chilli crunch oil that is often served with dim sum, ramen or other dishes. After experimenting for a long time, I finally came up with the perfect chilli crunch recipe and I absolutely love it. It's hot, contains lots of crispy pieces of shallot and garlic, and is wonderfully aromatic thanks to all the spices, which include star anise, cinnamon, bay leaf and ginger. I've had a jar of chilli crunch in the fridge ever since – ready for the next use or as a saviour on stressful days when I'll simply serve it with rice and egg!

Recipe by:
Daniela Bieder – daniela CULINAIRE

Ingredients

for 4 people

Oil
2 dl peanut oil
2  shallots, cut into thin rings
3  garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1  spring onion, coarsely chopped
3  garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
4 cm ginger, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp Szechuan pepper, as desired
1  star anise
1  cinnamon stick
1  bay leaf
Chilli crunch
5 g chilli flakes
1 tsp cane sugar
1 tsp salt
½ tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ tbsp Gochujang paste (chili paste), as desired
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
30 g salted, roasted peanuts, finely chopped
Rice
300 g jasmine rice
5 dl water
Eggs
4  fresh eggs
  water, boiling

How it's done

Oil

Heat the oil to 160 °C in a small pan. Fry the shallots for approx. 4 mins. until golden brown. Pour the oil through a sieve into a heatproof container. Transfer the shallots to kitchen paper, drain, leave to cool. Pour the oil back into the pan, reheat it to 160 °C. Add the garlic and fry for approx. 2 mins. until golden brown. Pour the oil through a sieve into a heatproof container, transfer the garlic to kitchen paper, drain, leave to cool. Pour the oil back into the pan, add the spring onion and all the other ingredients up to and including the bay leaf, simmer over a low heat for approx. 1 hr.

Chilli crunch

Mix the chilli flakes, sugar and salt in a bowl. Heat the seasoned oil to 130 °C, pour through a sieve and into the chilli flakes, leave to cool.

Stir in the sesame oil, soya sauce, Gochujang paste, sesame seeds and peanuts. Break up the fried shallots and garlic, mix in.

Rice

Rinse the rice in a sieve under cold running water until the water runs clear, drain well. Bring the salted water and rice to the boil, turn off the heat and leave the rice to absorb in the covered pan for approx. 15 mins. without removing the lid. Separate the rice with a fork.

Eggs

Simmer the eggs in boiling water for approx. 7 mins., rinse in cold water, then peel.

To serve

Plate up the rice and egg, top each with approx. 2 tbsp of the chilli crunch.

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