RAVE

Here’s another great condiment from Trader Joe’s: Chili Onion Crunch. Its yet another TJ offering which gained a following on the internet, for good reason. It’s good!

Now in most good Chinese restaurants you will likely find condiments on the table including a glass jar with a metal lid with a reddish colored oily mix with lots of little bits at the bottom. That’s chili oil. This TJ product I would call a variation on this traditional Chinese crunchy chili oil. One difference is the oil used, as TJ’s uses olive oil, whereas the chili-oil recipe in an Asian restaurant would typically not use a vegetable oil like peanut, rapeseed, oil or best of all flavor-wise, mustard oil. TJ’s Chili Onion Crunch uses olive oil and has dried onions (the crunch), dried garlic, crushed chili peppers and dried red bell peppers, all of which make it nice and crunchy! It packs a nice spicy kick, so you might use it sparingly, or not, as your taste buds tell you. It has a super-satisfying crunch and flavor to most any food. How about a bowl of plain rice? Put a few dabs of Chili Onion Crunch, mix it into you boring rice, and suddenly your rice is delicious and not in the least bit boring. Its great on scrambled or fried eggs or omelets. Meats, fish, chicken, tofu…. Its terrific on so many things! Your only limit is your imagination. A 6 oz. jar goes for $3.99, not super cheap, but a jar will last awhile. Personally I think this should be spicier, so I mixed in some red pepper flakes. Try that if you want more spiciness. As the jar empties,  I find I can add in olive oil to get a flavored oil which is good for even cooking, or finishing a dish. Crushed garlic too would not be amiss, as they used dried garlic powder.

I’d say its very worth trying a jar of this stuff.

TIP- It says store in a cool place. If you refrigerate it and try to use right out of the fridge it will be congealed, so take it out at least a half hour or more before you want to use it to let it get to room temp and liquify.

https://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/chili-onion-crunch
https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahloewentheil/trader-joes-chili-onion-crunch-review