In the culinary world, Sichuan pepper oil is famous for its unique aroma and spicy taste, and has become a favorite of many food lovers. Zanthoxylum pepper is widely distributed in the mainland, cultivating spice crops with a long history, the peel of Zanthoxylum pepper is spicy, it is a good seasoning raw material, it is favored in people's daily life, Zanthoxylum pepper oil is an indispensable condiment for Sichuan cuisine and Chongqing hot pot, every household in the production area of Zanthoxylum pepper likes to make a certain amount of Zanthoxylum pepper oil for their own consumption every year, some of the pepper oil made has no hemp smell, and has a flavor, so how to boil fragrant and hemp pepper oil at home?
Fresh peppercorns are about to hit the market, and it's the annual season to make peppercorn oil. Sichuan pepper oil is fragrant and hemp, generally used to make noodles, rice noodles seasoning, cold salad seasoning, hot pot raw materials, pepper oil is one of the essential seasonings in the family kitchen. The purpose of this article is to explore the method of making fragrant and fragrant pepper oil at home, and to focus on the selection of peppercorns, oil and key processing processes.
The first is the choice of peppercorns, and the choice of peppercorns is crucial. Zanthoxylum pepper is carefully screened to ensure that the oil produced is of high quality. High-quality peppercorns should be full and brightly colored, and they should be selected to ensure that they are free of mildew and impurities. Generally, fresh peppercorns are selected, and the color of peppercorn oil made of discolored peppercorns is dark. Now the pepper sold on the market is mainly Dahongpao pepper and green pepper, Dahongpao pepper has a good color, but the fragrant hemp flavor is not as strong as green pepper. Green pepper hemp flavor is heavy, the fragrance is stronger, the purchase of fresh pepper must be just picked, if the pepper is not stored properly will become black, the pepper oil used to make is turbid, the fragrance is poor. The fresh flavor of the pepper oil made with green pepper is particularly prominent, and green pepper is preferred.
When buying Sichuan pepper, it is necessary to distinguish between real and fake Sichuan pepper, some sell dog pepper similar to the appearance of Sichuan pepper, etc., fake Sichuan pepper is not numb and does not have the unique fragrance of Sichuan pepper. The newly purchased peppercorns are processed immediately, because the peppercorns sold at the farmers' market have been sold for a few days, and if the pepper oil is not boiled in time, the fresh peppercorns will deteriorate, affecting the quality of the peppercorn oil produced. After the fresh pepper is purchased, the pepper stems, residual leaves and spoiled peppercorns should be removed, and then washed and air-dried with water. Some of the new flower pepper that makes pepper oil is not washed, boiled directly, because of the mixed dust in the picking, transportation and sales of peppercorns, this pepper oil is not good color.
The second thing to consider is the choice of oil. In the past, because Zanthoxylum pepper oil was mainly consumed by people in the southern region, the traditional method usually used locally produced rapeseed oil or peanut oil as the base oil, but nowadays more and more people tend to use more mild edible vegetable oils such as sunflower oil or corn oil to avoid the peculiar smell of the oil itself and hide the unique flavor of Zanthoxylum. The ideal oil should be light in color, pure in taste and resistant to high temperatures. Generally, 5 kilograms of corn oil are added to each kilogram of fresh peppercorn, so that the pepper oil is particularly fragrant, and if the corn oil is sold as a commodity, it will be more than doubled.
The most critical step is the machining process. The first is the cleaning of peppercorns - this process must carefully remove the branches, dust and other pollutants, and then the oil boiling link, add corn oil or rapeseed oil or sunflower oil to the pot, heat until the bubbles floating on the surface of the oil gradually disperse, until the bubbles are gone, stop the fire, and cool. When the oil temperature drops to 120 °C to 150 °C, pour the fresh peppercorns into the pot, stir-fry, and maintain the temperature of 120 °C to 150 °C for about an hour, so that the fragrant hemp flavor in the peppercorns can be soaked out as much as possible.
These three steps are indispensable, and each of them affects the quality of the final product. If you want to make really fragrant and hemp pepper oil, you also need to pay attention to the following points: One is to clean the pepper: Before the official start, quickly rinse the peppercorns with clean water to remove any dust and other impurities that may remain on the surface; The second is balanced temperature control: the temperature of the hot oil should not be too high to avoid destroying the active ingredients in the pepper, and it is generally best controlled between 120°C and 150°C; The third is precipitation: Although modern processes may use centrifugal separation and other methods to improve efficiency, it is best to leave it for several hours or even overnight to allow the suspended particles to settle naturally, so that the pepper oil will be more clear and transparent; When it cools to room temperature, you can put all the pepper and oil into the bottle for preservation, pay attention to sealing, the longer the pepper in the oil is soaked, the stronger the hemp fragrance, and the food is poured into a small bottle for use.
In general, by strictly controlling the quality of Sichuan peppercorns, selecting the right oil combinations, and following meticulous processing processes, ordinary families can successfully concoct homemade Sichuan pepper oil that is both spicy and attractive, and has a long aftertaste. This is not only a culinary attempt, but also a kind of respect and exploration of authentic ingredients and the cultural heritage behind them. With people's growing personalized needs, it has become a new attitude to make seasonings that suit their own tastes. So, why not try it out this weekend by following the tips above?