Presumably either a terrible idea or already a thing, not sure which.
I’m thinking crispy-fried-aromatics-in-oil, Mediterranean edition. Garlic, eschalots (aka scallions), thyme/rosemary/etc, vast quantity of parsley, peppercorns, lemon zest, fine-diced rye sourdough.
Jar of that in the fridge, use it like chilli crisp but for white-people food.
Is this a thing? Should it be a thing?
I have been thinking about this a lot and I’ve been wanting to try it with various types of cuisine. The base would always be peppers, shallot, and garlic, but you could go in so many directions:
- Italian: basil, oregano, parmesan, maybe some Calabrian chili oil
- Indian: sour mango, garam masala, mustard oil
- Korean: powdered kimchi
- Mexican: like a riff on salsa macha
Really endless possibilities here.
Check out Gremolata and/or Pangrattato. It’s a Mediterranean herb and bread crumb crumble with lemon zest. Sounds like what you’re looking for. You can always mold the recipe to your own taste with different herbs.
Try it! Might be good, but doesn’t ring any bells. May take some experimenting.
As long as it has all been cooked, it should keep for a while. Might lose potency since herbs tend to be pretty volatile.
Sounds like Pesto without as much smashing or grinding, and more olive oil.
well, and the frying part. The idea was to end up with texture, similar to lao gan ma.
I think imma have to try it.
A Malaysian restaurant I used to go to always served crispy deep fried parsley as a garnish. It was very good, but I don’t think it would keep well.
Check out chimichurri:
Sort of sounds like a take on the Italian salsa verde. I’d do some research on whether or not fried garlic will prevent botcolism from forming. It’s a risk when making garlic infused oil. The other thing I’d worry about is the less sturdy greens wilting.
You might want to look into he European red pepper sauces likes Mojo Pican, Hungarian ajivar, or romanesco for inspiration.
Good luck and I hope you make something delicious.
