Ma-La Oil

Whereas many Chinese cooks will combine peanut and toasted sesame oils in a pan and then bring them to heat with a bit of ginger, chili, and Szechwan peppercorn before stir-frying a dish, I have long practiced the northern Chinese method of infusing oil with these flavors, and using it then as a seasoning as opposed to a cooking oil. In northern China with its colder climates, such oils are kept easily. In my Western kitchen, not only do they keep but they lend a dimension of flavor to a di