I've Been Using This Sizzling Oil Sauce, and It Transforms Any Main Course

A good main-course meat can be made great with a complementary finishing sauce. This might look like a drizzle of an espagnole sauce, a buttery pan sauce, an easy board sauce, or maybe a bright vinaigrette, but lately I’ve been branching out. My latest meat sauce obsession is sizzling oil sauces. They’re delicious, fragrant, and—best of all—nearly impossible to screw up. 

I first started using this Chinese technique after making recipes from The Woks of Life, a delightful and approachable cookbook that you should check out (read my review here). This flash-fried sauce pops up regularly in the book as a dressing or a dipping sauce for meats and vegetables, and it’s a surefire way to add a massive amount of flavor to any dish. Though I'm not sure what the Chinese term for this method is (let me know if you know!), Reddit tells me it may be "you po" 油泼, as in: pouring a splash of hot oil over aromatic ingredients.

By the way, if you think this is just another hot chili oil, hang in a moment longer. While this sauce can certainly contain chilies, it's not like chili crisp and it doesn't have to have any spice at all.

How to make a hot oil sauce

1. Mince aromatics

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

This type of sauce starts with finely chopped aromatics. It’s usually a combination of garlic, fresh ginger, chilis, and scallions, but you can really take the reins and use your own aromatic mixture of aromatic vegetables. The only thing you need to make sure of is to thinly chop or mince the ingredients. They get cooked in a few seconds so if the pieces are too large, they won’t cook through. Add these finely chopped herbs and vegetables to a heat-proof container. I use a measuring cup because it’s deep and I can make a lot or a little bit of this sauce.

2. Heat the oil

In a skillet, heat a tablespoon or two of cooking oil over medium heat. Let the oil get to the shimmering (but not quite smoking) stage. This is when the oil spreads over the surface of the pan and the glimmer of the oil kind of moves like water even though nothing is touching it. That means your oil is around 350°F—frying temperature. 

3. Flash fry the aromatics

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Quickly and carefully, pour the hot oil into the heat-proof bowl with the minced aromatics. The ingredients will sizzle as they briefly fry. (If they don’t, your oil wasn’t hot enough.)

Swirl the oil in the cup so the oil makes contact with everything. This should all happen within five seconds. The oil will quickly cool down and soon a gorgeous aroma will bloom from the cup. Now you can add other balancing seasonings like a combination of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and a splash of vinegar. Stir it well and taste to see if it needs adjusting. 

This sauce is incredible tossed with shredded meats like chicken and pork, or drizzled over thinly sliced steak, but it makes a fabulous dressing for roasted vegetables as well. Eggplant loves this stuff, in my humble opinion. And if you’re hesitant about adding oil to a sauce, don’t be. If you think about vinaigrettes on salads, and how steaks are often finished with tablespoons of melted butter, is this really more fat? Hardly. This is just another wonderful seasoning tool in your cooking tool kit. 

My Simple Sizzling Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 scallion, minced

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1-2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

• 2 tablespoons canola oil

• 2 teaspoons light soy sauce

• 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar

• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce

1. Add the scallion, garlic, and ginger to a heat-safe bowl or measuring cup. 

2. Heat the oil in a frying pan until it shimmers, about 3 minutes over medium heat.

3. Pour the hot oil over the aromatics in the measuring cup and swirl.

4. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, and oyster sauce. Whisk until well incorporated. Taste and adjust. Use to drizzle over roasted meats, vegetables, or even as a condiment.

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