Lao Gan Ma Laoganma Crispy Chilli in Oil 210 g (Pack of 1)

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at Selfridges) and designer packaging, this black truffle-infused hot sauce sounds ludicrously bling. Throwing everything into a pan with the oil and heating it is the classic infusion method, but isn’t the best in this case – by the time your onions and garlic are crisp, the other aromatics will have burnt. The original fried onion and Guizhou chilli oil is the cult classic (warm heat, incredible savoury depth), but the black bean version (“God tier! A fast-acting Jamaican jerk seasoning that, says Dougie Bell, the owner of Edinburgh sauce experts Lupe Pintos, offers instant escape from our “drab, wet, windy winterland”.

But Mayur Patel, a co-owner of the Bundobust restaurants, deploys them to create a “veggie, no-guilt ’nduja”. In Malaysia, sambal is an ingredient and condiment on every table, every meal time,” says Mandy Yin, the owner of Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar in London, which sells its own sambals. In Ghana, most people use it like a table sauce or a salsa for fish,” says Adejoké Bakare of this west African answer to XO, flavoured with dried and fermented fish or fried meat.Lao Gan Ma, iconic in China, is increasingly appearing in cupboards and fridges in the rest of the world. Often described as Thai chilli jam, nam prik pao made by Mae Ploy – based on a savoury core of smoky fried shallots, garlic and shrimp paste – is an ingredient and a table sauce. Yes, many Lao Gan Ma products have emerged over the years, but there are three main types that are most popular from our perspective. Huge in China, Lao Gan Man’s crispy chilli oils also have a passionate following among western food geeks. It’s cracking on stir-fried veg or anything that needs a savoury, salty kick,” says Patel of this 19th-century Swiss-German creation.

Chilli crisp (chilli oil complete with an edible ‘sediment’ of crunchy garlic, shallot chilli and spices) is a relative newcomer to the world of cult condiments in the UK – but it has quickly become the most vogue jar you can have in your pantry. When her husband died, she moved to the city of Guiyang and started selling noodles with a sauce that she made herself. Bakare’s Brixton restaurant, Chishuru, makes its own shito, but the Ghana Best brand is available at Tesco and Asda. The name means “old godmother” and everyone who picks a jar up must face the stern look of a short-haired woman.In Romania, this simple garlic dressing – five cloves crushed with one teaspoon of salt in 100ml of water – is, says Irina Georgescu, the author of Carpathia, “drizzled on polenta, roasted vegetables, fried fish or added to meatballs. Vibrant heat and big flavours are constants, but ingredients can range from as little as chillies, salt and vinegar or lime, in the basic sambal oelek, to mango, tamarind, shrimp paste or smoked fish (most Asian supermarkets carry several examples). Crystal hot sauce, Walkerswood jerk marinade, Best Ghana shito, Lao Gan preserved black bean chilli oil and Maggi liquid seasoning. A decent amount of salt and some sugar will dissolve nicely into the oil and ensure it’s at its best. I am proud to say that your genealogy has been the sole tutorial for my Asian-inspired culinary adventures for years; probably since you began.

We use the Chili Sauce with Black Bean most often, as a condiment for fried rice, stir-fried noodles, pan-fried noodles, noodle soups, and dumplings.growth – the second fastest of every Chinese province that year, and ahead of the national rate of 6. Even Guizhou’s lack of “three feet of flat land” has been to her advantage: it is on steep land that “new world foods” like chillies grow best, says Brown. As you gradually pour the hot oil over them, the mixture will bubble up and instantly infuse, searing the spices as it does so to ensure a crispier sediment. There are several hundred fresh or cooked variations of this thick sauce, most commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Yin eats sambal with eggs, noodles and soups, stirs it into pasta sauces or combines it with mayo on a jacket potato.