Spice lovers – here’s a chilli oil which only needs a minute to infuse! With just 3 ingredients, drizzle your homemade Rayu Chilli Oil all over your favourite Japanese dishes like Tantanmen Ramen and Gyoza.
Why We Love This
Rayu is our favourite condiment! Pour a few drops over freshly cooked gyoza dumplings, infuse into a tasty dumpling dipping sauce, or swirl it over the top of Japanese yakisoba (stir fried noodles).
You can use this over anything you like. It lends itself well to most Japanese recipes, but why not try it over the top of something completely different like our Vietnamese rice paper pizza!
What is Rayu?
Rayu is a sesame chilli oil. It’s most often used in Japanese dishes to add heat and flavour, but can be used for anything that calls for chilli oil.
The most common brand in Japan is S&B, and you’ll usually find a bottle or dish of the oil in ramen restaurants across the city. Another popular version, usually used at home, is taberu rayu or chilli oil for eating which also contains crunchy fried garlic. Both Momoya and S&B are popular brands for this variety of chilli oil.
What You’ll Need
Three ingredients are all that stand between you and a fresh batch of homemade chilli oil. You’re also guaranteed to already have these in the pantry!
- Vegetable Oil – You can use any kind of lightly-flavoured oil – we’ll often use sunflower or canola oil but you can also use corn oil or even peanut oil to tweak the flavour.
- Sesame Oil – Use a high quality oil for the best flavour. The sesame oil is always added after you’ve infused the chilli powder into the vegetable oil and doesn’t require cooking, so it doesn’t lose it’s flavour. P.S. Don’t have sesame oil on hand? You can try making your own homemade sesame infused oil.
- Chilli Flakes – Today we’ve used a blend of regular chilli flakes and gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) – these help to balance the chilli heat and add a touch of sweetness. You can use just chilli flakes, just gochugaru, or swap them for hot paprika if you like.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Don’t Over Cook – Avoid boiling the vegetable oil and chilli flakes, they’ll burn if you cook them too long. Heat them through gently until the colour and flavour infuses, then take off the heat.
- Control the Spice Level – For a milder result, use gochugaru or for a spicier version use only chilli flakes.
FAQs
Rayu (pronounced rah-you) is the Japanese version of this oil, while (pronounced lah-you) is the Chinese version.
Taberu rayu translates as “rayu for eating”, so it includes the chopped ingredients used to flavour the oil (usually garlic, ginger, chilli, spring onion, etc). This is a simplified recipe which doesn’t include the extra flavourings. It focuses on the chilli heat and nutty, savoury sesame flavour, and it can be made and infused in minutes. It’s most similar in flavour, colour and consistency to S&B style La Yu rather than taberyu rayu.
This oil is best used as a condiment for adding to finished dishes. Pour it over freshly cooked ramen noodles, yakisoba noodles, tofu or add to dumpling dipping sauces. Add to instant noodles, rice, blanched veggies, scrambled eggs, or just about any dish where you’re looking for an extra burst of savoury heat.
We don’t recommend using it during cooking as the sesame oil flavour will become less intense once cooked. That’s why we add the sesame oil after the chilli flakes have infused with the base vegetable oil.
Start drizzling your chilli oil all over these Japanese favourites:
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp chilli powder Gochugaru, Japanese Red Pepper Powder or Chilli Flakes work well.
Instructions
- Heat the vegetable oil and chilli powder on low heat in a small saucepan for 30 seconds – 1 minute. You should see the colour start to darken as the oil takes on the red from the chilli powder.2 tbsp vegetable oil, 2 tsp chilli powder
- Allow to cool for around 10 minutes, then add in sesame oil. Combine and store in a clean jar or oil bottle at room temperature.3 tbsp sesame oil
Video
Recipe Notes
- Storage – Store in a small sterilised jar in your fridge or cupboard. Should last at least a few months.
- Don’t Over Cook – Avoid boiling the vegetable oil and chilli flakes, they’ll burn if you cook them too long. Heat them through gently until the colour and flavour infuses, then take off the heat.
Control the Spice Level – For a milder result, use gochugaru or for a spicier version use only chilli flakes. - Ingredients –
- Vegetable Oil – You can use any kind of lightly-flavoured oil – we’ll often use sunflower or canola oil but you can also use corn oil or even peanut oil to tweak the flavour.
- Sesame Oil – Use a high quality oil for the best flavour. The sesame oil is always added after you’ve infused the chilli powder into the vegetable oil and doesn’t require cooking, so it doesn’t lose it’s flavour.
- Chilli Flakes – Today we’ve used a blend of regular chilli flakes and gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) – these help to balance the chilli heat and add a touch of sweetness. You can use just chilli flakes, just gochugaru, or swap them for hot paprika if you like.
Nutrition
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