Grilled Chilli Oil
(Nam Prik Pao)
This makes 2 tablespoons, allow it to cool and store in a screw-topped jar in the fridge, top it up with sunflower oil to keep the paste soft.
Ingredients:
5 cloves garlic peeled
5 shallots peeled
5 long red dried chillies
1 tbsp ground dried shrimps
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
8 tbsp sunflower oil plus more for storage
How to make it….
- Heat up grill whilst you are peeling the garlic and shallots. Cut the shallots in half. Place garlic, shallots and chillies on tin foil under the grill, turn when the skins of the chillies blister and start to char. Watch out as chillies will be done very quickly. If you burn them they will smoke badly. You may need to remove the chillies and allow the garlic and shallots to continue cooking.
- Pound the dried shrimps in pestle and mortar and transfer to another dish. Allow chillies cool then gently shake to allow the seeds to fall out, chop.
- When the garlic and shallots are done pound them together with the chillies in a pestle and mortar to make a paste.
- Heat the oil in a small frying pan and add the paste. Stir it all into the oil. Add sugar, salt and pounded shrimps. Cook for 5 mins stirring all the time.