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Chili Oil Notes

uptointerpretation.com

31–40 of 164 posts

Re: Chili Oil Notes

#31

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Totally agree. It’s sad and they’ve lost the pulse of life and art

It's just another way of experiencing life. For many of us, the joy of exploring things this way isn't about removing the life or art from it; it's another way of witnessing and experiencing the life and art of it.

For example, I absolutely love aquascaping. I have a very scientific understanding and appreciation of it all, but it doesn't diminish how incredible and beautiful it all is for me. Some people look at it from a very aesthetic point of view, and to me it's often like some glorious chemistry and biology event occurring in front of me. I marvel at the fact that the nitrogen cycle is happening in this little slice of biotope. I love to test the water parameters and log what's been going in and out to better understand how it's working. I make nerdy little movies of the plants and animals. But you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who loves it significantly more, or finds it more beautiful in more meaningful ways. I just process it differently.

With the chili oil, understanding and experimenting with it can be part of how a more cerebral person engages with their appreciation, curiosity, or passion about the oil. Nerding out might just mean the person really loves it, and that's how they go about it. It's all good. Maybe they'll figure out a bad ass recipe that'll make the rounds eventually, and everyone can enjoy it.

Re: Chili Oil Notes

#32
post #30
post #24

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Next time, instead of traveling, just ask someone who's already been there for a summary.

Indeed, travel writing is an entire genre. But I also get the gp's point, that especially with cooking it's easy to overcomplicate things while ignoring how the inventors actually worked.

My point is that it is silly to complain about people being nerdy about a specific topic, just because there are others with more expertise. Especially in cooking, the concept of "inventors" and "authorities" for such basic things as chilli oil, is a strange one.

For me personally, getting deep into a specific food item like this is bascally like traveling. I will first do my own experimentation, not because I think I will discover something new, but because I will more deeply understand why things are done the way they are when I (later) read "proper" sources and consult with others. At that initial stage, I am bound to overcomplicate things, but it's the good kind of overcomplication.

It is like traveling to a new place, and walking around randomly before opening a map. Of course I "overcomplicated" my path from A to B, but I've seen so many interesting (but not necessarily important) things on my way.

Re: Chili Oil Notes

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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Having hobbies is not only infantile but "hollow and sad"? Very strange take. If it bothers you so much, don't engage with it. Taking time on a Sunday to write really nasty things about people sharing their hobbies on the internet doesn't seem especially full or joyful.

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Re: Chili Oil Notes

#35

There's another kind of chilli oil, pressed from Hungarian spicy paprika/capsicum seeds: https://rubinpaprika.com/magolajok/fuszerpaprika-magolaj-csi... It has a deeply nutty flavor and the spiciness is a bit sneaky, but it's a great addition to finishing oils.

Neat!, a quick search doesn't come up with anywhere to buy it in North America, also never seen this.

Re: Chili Oil Notes

#36

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I wouldn’t do this myself, but theoretically heating the oil relatively high for a while before consuming would destroy any toxin buildup. The other route would be adding enough acid to prevent botulism from growing, but I think that can be a bit tricky.

botulism is pretty resistant to heat. ph, salt. im sure a high purity ethanol also

The spores are, but the toxin is the problem and breaks down with heat so, in theory, if you boil the food for a bit before eating it, it would be safe.

Re: Chili Oil Notes

#37
Have y'all tried steeping in anchovies for salty / umami flavor? It definitely moves away from Asian chili oils and into Mediterranean, but I find anchovies add quite a hard-to-describe depth to the chili oil.

Re: Chili Oil Notes

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would this concern you more than anything else? If you cook the fish, it's not going to "go bad" as quickly as if it were raw. If you cook anything to a particular temperature and time, it should kill most bacteria in it. Then the acidity of the tomato should help resist bacterial growth a wee bit longer than something pH-neutral. On top of all this, "obvious death" from bacteria in food is some serious hyperbole…

> it's quite rare to die of food poisoning. I’d go so far as to say it’s virtually unheard of for healthy adults to die of food poisoning from cooked food going bad*. It’s mostly children, the elderly, and the immunocompromised that are at risk. The fast majority of microbes that cause food born illness are really common in our environments and we’ve built up plenty of immunity. * fecal contamination and other toxins…

Death would be unlikely, but food poisoning from cooked food is pretty common. You'll just vomit for half the day. Which while being a long way from death, is still very unpleasant.

Re: Chili Oil Notes

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having hobbies is not only infantile but "hollow and sad"? Very strange take. If it bothers you so much, don't engage with it. Taking time on a Sunday to write really nasty things about people sharing their hobbies on the internet doesn't seem especially full or joyful.

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