![]() ![]() If the Kickstarter goes well, more products will follow, such as a mapo tofu sauce, fermented bean paste, and an heirloom variety of Sichuan Province’s famous peppercorns-all staples of Sichuan cuisine that often get shortchanged by substandard products available on the American market.īut we’re here for the chile crisp, the first and only packaged condiment of its kind-available in the U.S., that is-that deserves a spot on the shelf next to Lao Gan Ma. Today marks the launch of Gao’s Kickstarter, a pre-order system for her Sichuan Chile Crisp, which Gao expects should arrive in mailboxes by the end of the year. This crispy chile oil is the first and only packaged condiment of its kind Olivia Galletly And now she’s bringing it to the rest of the world. ![]() Her product line includes a crispy chile oil. She’s also been selling spice mixes and condiments in China under the brand name Fly By Jing. Gao, a Chengdu-based chef and culinary educator, has built a career out of exploring the heritage of Sichuan Province’s famously fiery cuisine while advancing it on the modern global stage. Unfortunately, no Western-facing brand has risen to the occasion. Just as we are all better for Heinz coexisting with artisan upstarts like Sir Kensington, the crispy chile oil category deserves some diversity on grocery shelves. It’s a gentler, subtler chile oil, lower volume but brighter timbre, reflecting the simple yet soulful flavors of her hometown of Tianjin. For instance, my friend Helen You, the chef of Dumpling Galaxy in New York, flavors hers with star anise and ginger. ![]() In China, crispy-chile-laden hot oil is an entire genre of condiments, often custom made in restaurants and home kitchens. The crispy-hot chile flakes that add welcome crunch to everything they touch? Lovely, but a little lacking in character. The salt and MSG that makes it finger-licking good? They also mean that overindulgence can make you feel like you mainlined a jumbo bag of potato chips. Her chile oil commands the cultural cachet of Heinz.īut like Heinz ketchup, the angry lady chile oil can be a bit much. The angry lady drives a Bentley worth five hundred grand. Tao’s 20-year-old company is a condiment empire, raking in nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars a year. It occupies a similar position to Huy Fong’s sriracha a decade ago, back in the halcyon days before that sauce gained mainstream acceptance and, in short order, was declared so over. Often dubbed “the angry lady chile oil” in honor of brand founder Tao Huabi’s stern portrait on the label, Lao Gan Ma has become a cult condiment for heat freaks in America. Eggs in need of something extra? The oily heat, the crunch of chile flakes and fried peanut, and the blast of umami from granules of MSG are all here for you. Need a quick topping to give your salad some crunch? Scoop up a spoonful of the crispy stuff. No idea what to put on noodles? Get the Lao Gan Ma. I have lost track of how many boring meals that Lao Gan Ma brand Spicy Chile Crisp has rescued from the blandness abyss. ![]()
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