Easy Spicy Popcorn Recipe (3-ingredients)
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5
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Excellent
Easy Spicy Popcorn Recipe (3-ingredients)
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This Easy Spicy Popcorn recipe uses corn kernels popped in chili oil and lightly salted, creating a bold and spicy snack with a crisp texture. The use of chili-infused oil imparts a distinctive heat and aroma to each popped kernel. It’s a flavorful alternative to traditional buttered popcorn and works well for snack time or casual gatherings.
Description
The Easy Spicy Popcorn involves heating chili oil in a pot and testing the oil's temperature with a few kernels before adding the rest. The oil provides a spicy base that coats the popcorn as it pops. Salt is finely ground and added to enhance flavor. Popping corn on the stovetop allows control over the oil temperature and produces crispy, fully popped kernels with chili heat evenly distributed.
This popcorn is intended as a snack with a spicy profile. The recipe suggests sieving the chili oil to separate out solid chili pieces to avoid burning and to keep the flavor smooth. Using neutral oil to supplement chili oil is mentioned if the latter is insufficient in quantity.
Home-made chili oil preparation is described in the notes, involving infusing oil with spices at low heat for 5-10 minutes to develop flavor before straining. This allows customization of heat level and flavor complexity.
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Ingredients
- ¼ C corn kernels
- 1 Tablespoon Chilli oil To make sure it's purely oil, you can pour it through a sieve (and save the chilli crisp to toss with the popped corn), but I usually skip this step. Substitute: you can use any chilli-infused oil (but avoid olive oil infusions as the smoke point is low) See notes on how to make your own chilli oil, or LaoGanMa or Lee Kum Kee brand; liquid oil only without the chilli crisp bits (as they will burn in the pot
- ¼ teaspoon salt Give your salt a blitz in the spice grinder, finely milled, or to taste
Instructions
- Scoop out 1 Tablespoon of chilli oil, minus the chilli crisp bits as those will burn easily. Note: To get a cleaner oil, you can sieve out the chilli crisps and keep it in a bowl to toss the popcorn with later. If you don't have enough to make 1 Tablespoon, supplement with neutral vegetable oil, lard, bacon grease or even clarified butter/ ghee.
- Place a deep pot on the stove and turn on the fire to medium-high heat (I use 7 on a Bosch induction cooker with a maximum of 9.) Note: if you're worried about burning, you can use medium heat too. It'll just take longer to heat up the oil.
- Add the oil and let it heat up- it will take a few minutes. Either use a thermometer to check that the oil is 190C (380F) or toss 2-3 kernels in to check that they pop. (If they burn the oil is obviously too hot.)
- If they pop, the oil is hot enough- switch off the heat and remove the popped corn.
- Pour the rest of the kernels in and CLOSE THE POT, placing it back on the stove (so you don't get hit in the face by a flying kernel or oil). Turn the heat back to medium, and shake the pot continuously. Leave the lid a little ajar so the steam can escape, if not you get soggy popcorn. I like to have the hole in the lid further away from me to minimise the risk of getting spattered by oil. Keep moving the pot gently to make sure the kernels are well-didstributed and coated with oil.
- You'll hear the kernels start popping- if you use a clear lid, you can see them whizz around too, which is great fun. With a hand on the lid, keep shaking the pot gently. Once the popping slows to 1 pop every 2-3 seconds, remove the pot from the fire and open the cover.
- Pour the popcorn into a heat-proof bowl, sprinkle with the salt and stir with the spatula to make sure all the popcorn is salted evenly. (Don't season in the hot pot or you'll season the hot pot and not the popcorn) Add any chilli crisp that you may have sieved out before back to the popcorn, stirring well.
- Optional: I find the taste as is addictive enough but if you like the flavour even stronger, stir another tablespoon (or to taste) of chilli oil and crisp into the popcorn.
- Other flavour suggestions: You can even also play around with the taste by adding some garlic powder, onion powder, sugar etc to the popcorn. (I find a teeny bit of sugar makes it even more delicious!)
- Best eaten right away but I've kept it overnight in an air-tight container.
Notes
- Prepare chili oil by gently heating oil with spices for 5-10 minutes without smoking, then strain before use.
- Sieving the chili oil to remove chili flakes prevents burning during popcorn popping.
- If you don't have enough chili oil, supplement with neutral oil or other fats like lard or clarified butter.
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5
72 reviews
Excellent
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