← Nouns Cooking · Mexican

Ingredients

• 300 ml neutral oil (vegetable or avocado)
• 5 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
• 60 g unsalted peanuts
• 2 tbsp Sesame seeds
• 25 g dried chiles de árbol, stems removed
• 3 Dried pasilla chillies, stems and seeds removed, torn into pieces
• 1 tbsp Cider vinegar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 pinch Sugar (optional)

Method

1. Warm the oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and fry gently for 2–3 min, until pale gold.
2. Add the peanuts and cook for 2 min, then the sesame seeds for 30 seconds, until everything smells toasty.
3. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool for 2–3 min (very hot oil burns chillies in seconds). Stir in the árbol and pasilla chillies; they should sizzle gently, not violently.
4. Leave to cool for 10 min, then tip into a blender or food processor with the vinegar, salt and sugar and pulse to a coarse, crunchy oil. Don’t make it smooth.
5. Spoon into a clean jar. Keep at cool room temperature or in the fridge for up to a month; stir before using.

Tips

• Contains peanuts and sesame.
• If the chillies turn black and smell acrid, start again: burnt chillies make the whole batch bitter.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

¡Hola! Jalapeño Rick Bayless