With all the David Chang Chili Crunch news, I wanted to use opportunity to grace the internet with the best Chili Crisp Crunch (so I don't get sued) recipe in the history of Chili Crisp Crunch Recipes.
Chili Crunch Madness
Now that the entire food world has some idea of what chili crisp is I'm going to do everyone a favor and just give you the best chili crisp crunch recipe on the internet. You haters might say things like, "but your recipe isn't authentic and has zero roots in its Asian ancestry!" Exactly! "But this recipe isn't anything like the chili crunch I've had and has Mexican ingredients in it." Yes, that's exactly the point! A recipe is a recipe and should have no place in the land of trademarking the name of the idea or conceptualization of a concept. So in the spirit of the recent Chili Crunch wars I give to you the most bastardized, out of whack, gringo botched version of the most delicious recipe of chili crisp crunch you will ever eat! Bone Apple Teeth!
Chili Crisp Crunch (yield roughly 1.5 kilo)
Ingredients:
30g Black Peppercorns whole
20g White Peppercorns whole
8g chili threads
10g Ancho chilis, seeds and stems removed
20g Aleppo chili pepper
150g Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
150g Sunflower seeds
7 each corn tortillas
450 grams raw shallots
100 grams raw garlic
oil for frying
500g neutral oil
20g kosher salt
25g granulated sugar
Directions
Chili Crisp Crunch.
Place black peppercorns and white peppercorns in a saute pan over medium heat and begin to toast. Swirl pan around to toast evenly. Once peppercorns start getting aromatic, add the chilies to the pan and toast until everything is warm to hot to the touch and the chilies become fragrant and aromatic. Set to the side once toasted to await processing.
Place the sunflower seeds and pepitas in a saute pan and being to toast over medium high heat. Once the seeds begin to change color and toast (you will hear them begin to crackle and pop in the saute pan) you can remove them from the heat and place them to the side with your toasted spiced and chilies.
Heat oil for frying in a small saute pan or fryer, and bring to 350 degrees F. Fry sliced shallots and garlic until golden brown and bubbles stop escaping the vegetables while frying. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and let rest on a sheet pan covered in paper towels to collect excess oil. After frying the garlic and shallots, fry tortillas one by one until each becomes crispy like a tortilla chip. Remove the tortillas from the oil like the garlic and shallots and place into a sheet pan lined with paper towels to collect excess grease.
In a blender or spice grinder, blend peppercorns and chilies until completely pulverized into a fine powder. Place mixture into a large clean bowl.
In a robot coupe, pulse tortillas, seeds and fried garlic and shallots until the texture of coarse sand. Place mixture into clean bowl with spices and chilies.
Pour the remaining neutral oil, kosher salt and sugar over everything and mix thoroughly. Store in an airtight container.
