A delicately infused oil/condiment with crispy and crunchy slivers of garlic, ginger and shallot. Perfect to be drizzled to your favourite recipe or dish. Note: lemons were not used in this recipe and the lemon was used in this photo purely as an awesome prop!smile
[dropcap]Garlic,[/dropcap] ginger and shallot oil is a delicately fragrant and deliciously rich condiment with a multitude of uses – made simply by gently frying and stirring the three ingredients in cooking oil of your choice on low-medium heat. The following recipe results in two fabulous products – the heavenly infused oil and the crispy/crunchy medley of moreish fried garlic, ginger and shallot chips/crisps. This divine concoction is a luscious ingredient that can be added to a variety of recipes, including salads, or to garnish/finish-off dishes, including soups, congee, steamed seafood, etc.
The recipe is super simple, but also easy to ruin if you make haste and don’t keep an eye on it. Just remember to keep the heat low-medium, and to turn the heat off when the ingredients just turns brown, otherwise you’ll risk over-cooking and burning the fried pieces. The recipe can be modified if you choose to make just garlic oil, ginger oil, or shallot oil alone. I enjoy all of these three ingredients and think that they work harmoniously naturally, and by frying them together, their combined distinctive flavours are intensified.
In this recipe, you can optionally drain the crispy fried pieces from the oil and store and use them separately. The infused oil will work just fine without them, but I personally like to store and use them together for that magical blend of delicious delicate slippery-smooth oil and sweet unctuous fried mini chip crunch.
Dried/fried garlic, onion and shallot are popular ingredients in many Asian cuisine, and they’re readily available at most Asian stores. Whilst dried garlic, et al are conveniently available – by making your own, you’re able to create both the tasty fried crisps, as well as the infused oil which is not often easily available commercially, yet so wonderful to use. By making your own infused oil, you can also experiment and customize your blend to include whatever ingredient you please.
Both infused oil and fried garlic, onion and shallot are used regularly in Lao cuisine, either in recipes or to garnish dishes. Making infused oil and its complementary chips is a quick and easy process that can be made each time when required – however, I prefer to make a large quantity so that it can be stored and used whenever it is needed. The blend in this recipe is a personal choice and you can customize it to suit your palate. I particularly enjoy the fragrance and nuttiness of the oil and the bitter and sweet taste of the fried garlic and shallot pieces together. The use of infused oil and its crispy counterpart are quite limitless. It’s a moreish and addictive combination, so use it sparingly.
You can use any type of cooking oil for this recipe. I used a combination of sunflower oil and rice bran oil, simply because I enjoy the subtle nutty taste of sunflower oil (and the fact that it’s ideal for frying), and because I’ve never used rice bran oil before and wanted to try it. The rice bran oil imparts a lovely golden liquid amber hue to the blend, and the final infused ‘gar gin sha oil’ is delicately sweet, aromatic, and simply divine! Be sure to give this recipe a try and add this wonderful condiment to your pantry. You won’t regret it. smile
Fried onion, fried garlic and fried shallot are readily available at most Asian stores, however infused oil with these ingredients are difficult to find.
Break the garlic heads into cloves, then peal and slice the cloves into thin discs (optional – you can dice the garlic instead).
Wash and peal the ginger, then slice it into thin julienne strips (optional – you can dice the ginger instead).
Peal the Asian shallots, then slice them into thin discs. With your fingers, separate the discs into rings.
In a frypan or wok, add the cooking oil and bring to low-medium heat. Add the sliced garlic, ginger and Asian shallots.
Stir gently and regularly (be careful that the hot oil does not splatter on to you). Ensure that the oil is not too hot, otherwise the ingredients will burn quickly. Maintain the heat at about low-medium, or reduce it if the oil is too hot and it bubbles too heavily. What you want is a gentle bubbly simmer.
Continue to stir regularly – don’t let it out of your sight. In this photo – the ingredients are getting there, but it’s still not yet ready to turn the heat off.
When about half of the garlic and shallot pieces start to turn light brown, turn off the heat and continue to stir gently (the ingredients will continue to cook and darken after the heat is turned off). I turned the heat off just before taking this photo.
After the heat was turned off, I continued to gently stir, and as you can see, the ingredients continued to cook and darken. They’re looking very good here.
When the infused golden oil has cooled down, carefully transfer the mixture/liquid into a large air-tight glass jar. Store in a cool safe place.
Enjoy with your favourite dishes and recipes, sparingly!smile
- 3 heads of garlic
- 1 medium-sized knob of ginger
- 4 Asian shallots
- 750 ml of cooking oil
- Break the garlic heads into cloves, then peal and slice the cloves into thin discs (optional - you can dice the garlic instead).
- Wash and peal the ginger, then slice it into thin julienne strips (optional - you can dice the ginger instead).
- Peal the Asian shallots, then slice them into thin discs. With your fingers, separate the discs into rings.
- In a frypan or wok, add the cooking oil and bring to low-medium heat. Add the sliced garlic, ginger and Asian shallots.
- Stir gently and regularly (be careful that the hot oil does not splatter on to you). Ensure that the oil is not too hot, otherwise the ingredients will burn quickly. Maintain the heat at about low-medium, or reduce it if the oil is too hot and it bubbles too heavily. What you want is a gentle bubbly simmer.
- Continue to stir regularly - don't let it out of your sight. When about half of the garlic and shallot pieces start to turn light brown, turn off the heat and continue to stir gently (the ingredients will continue to cook and darken after the heat is turned off).
- When the infused golden oil has cooled down, carefully transfer the mixture/liquid into a large air-tight glass jar. Store in a cool safe place.
- Enjoy with your favourite dishes and recipes, sparingly!smile
Fantastic! Have made garlic/ginger oil by not quite the same method but have never thought to add shallots – will be delighted to try and am certain to enjoy :) !
Hi Eha,
Thanks very much for your comment. This is an easy recipe but the result is simply delicious! The secret is to keep an eye on it, keep the heat low-medium, regularly stir the ingredients, and turn the heat off once the ingredients start to turn brown. The great thing about making your own infused oil is that you can tailor it to suit your preference and add whatever you like. Have fun with the recipe. :)
Thanks for the ‘highlights’! This will do for a beginning as we are dealing with my favourite flavours: just extending my ‘home’ cooking :) ! [But no doubt variations will ‘creep’ in!!!}
You’re welcome Eha. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Best wishes. :)
Oh yes please! I occasionally infuse oil with lemon and chilli just before I use it in a pasta dish or something but this is the real deal with the best flavours.
How long does it last do you think?
Hi Emma,
The flavours and fragrance in this concoction is pretty amazing. It’s similar to the chili oil that I made before (http://padaek.com/ginger-garlic-chili-oil-nam-mun-mark-pik/), except there’s no chili, so it’s much more versatile and user-friendly. Don’t quote me on this, but I believe that because the garlic, ginger and shallot are cooked to crispiness in hot oil, the infused oil (and crisps) can be kept for a little while, perhaps more than several weeks? To keep it better/longer, it’s probably wise to store it in the fridge. It’s a lovely condiment and I hope you give it a try. :)
Delicious! We make a similar version and top it on everything! Steamed tofu and steamed eggs are perfect for this!
Hi msihua,
Thanks very much for your visit and comment – I appreciate it! It might sound bad, but I really enjoy the taste of infused/fragrant cooking oil and also love drizzling it on all types of food. The feel and taste of the oil is simply delicious, enhanced with the lovely character of the crunchy chips. Moreish! :)
Wonderful and so aromatic! Thanks for sharing this technique.
Thank you for your comment Liz. It’s a truly wonderful and delicious condiment/oil. You’re very welcome. :)
So easy but so tasty! I will definitely try this. I usually infuse extra virgin olive oil with garlic and a few herbs from the garden. However cooking first would really intensify the flavours. By the way, I see you have some pretty fine knife skills going on there!
Hi Jem,
Yes, very easy to do besides the chopping part, which I find enjoyable. I love the natural flavour and aroma of olive oil, and for it to be infused with other delights would be just incredible. Yes, I find frying the ingredients first bring out another character of flavour and you also end up with tasty edible crisps. Thanks for the compliment on the knife skills – this knife is super sharp so it takes me some time by being careful. Not quite Marco Pierre, yet – double lol. :)
Dear Padaek,
I have stopped buying ready-made deep-fried onions from Asian grocers for many years because even the best brands seem to be less than fresh and have particles that I cannot identify. I can imagine this oil will add that wonderful toasty edge to steamed fish. I deep fry shallots which make a great garnish for many Malaysian style noodles.
http://chopinandmysaucepan.com/pork-belly-prawn-noodles
Garlic chips are a must to accompany Japanese teppanyaki style beef.
http://chopinandmysaucepan.com/seared-beef-cubes-with-garlic-chips
Hi ChopinandMysaucepan,
Thanks for your comment. I too have reduced my purchase of the commercial fried garlic, etc, although I do appreciate their convenience at times. Lol – I also have found unidentified particles in the bags, although I don’t believe it’s plastic… Yes, this oil adds a lovely fried herbal smell and taste to steamed fish, seafood, etc, and salads too. The two dishes that you’ve mentioned look wonderful and I can’t wait to try and make them. Your photos are stunning, especially of the pork belly prawn noodles and the eshallots. Thank you for sharing. :)
I’ve had these separately but not together. This is a great idea! :D
Thank you Lorraine! Garlic, ginger and Asian shallots work really well together when fried in oil. Laziness has got its benefits. :)
My closest friends from college are from Laos (but grew up in the US). Their moms are great cook and I enjoyed eating home cooked food in college. I love this and use it for many dishes!
Hi Nami,
Thanks very much for your visit and comment – I really appreciate it. I too was born in Laos, but grew up here in Australia. Laotians are few and far between, and there’s also few Lao restaurants and little info on Lao food around. Although, this is evidently changing, and for the better. I’m really happy to know that you have Lao friends and have eaten authentic Lao food. I’m biased, but the more I learn about food and Lao food specifically, the more I realise how special Lao food and culture is. Thanks again for stopping by, and have a great day! :)
Yum I can almost smell this through the screen!
Hi Helen,
Thanks very much for stopping by. This infused oil is simply delicious and versatile too. My partner used it the other night to do some light frying, and the room was filled with the most wonderful fragrance – sweet and appetizing. I love it! :)