Chilli oil

Ground chilli bloomed in hot oil, in the Sichuan register usually with whole spices infused first and the oil poured over the chilli at a controlled temperature rather than the chilli fried in it. Too hot and the flakes scorch; too cool and neither the capsaicinoids nor the carotenoids extract. The sediment carries most of the flavour and a fair amount of the heat, so a spoonful taken from the clear top is a different ingredient from one taken from the bottom. Recipes calling for it with its sediment mean that literally.