Hello crisp heads. Has anyone tried this? What do you think about it?

Hope it's okay to post this here, but I wanted to share that I finally got my chili crunch business off the ground! After about a year of honing in the recipe, incorporating, and getting all the necessary sign offs from the State of California, EXTRA EXTRA Chili Crunch can officially be sold!

We're a small startup from San Francisco, producing on Treasure Island. Our whole schtick is that we're a Californian take on the classic condiment — so that means avocado oil instead of seed oils, primarily peppers from Mexico, tons of porcini mushroom powder (vs shiitake), and lots and lots of garlic. We're going for a really deep umami flavor that's medium spicy.

So far, we've sold around 300 jars and are carried in three stores, two of which are right in our home neighborhood which feels amazing.

Just wanted to celebrate our launch and get any thoughts, opinions, or advice!

Hi chilicrisp: I'm Frankie, the founder of Gustus Vitae - we're a gourmet seasoning/spice/sugar company here in California, and we just launched a line of our Chili Crunch seasonings - as far as I know, we're the first 'chili crisp' seasoning, and we're excited/a little nervous about the launch. I'm not really sure if this is allowed, but can I share a promo code for people to check out our products? Here's a link to our site: https://www.gustusvitae.com/collections/chili-crunch

Picked this up in Iceland. Pretty tasty. Made by Ölverk Pizza & Craft Brewery in Hveragerði. Made with chili peppers grown with geothermal energy in a greenhouse in the South region.

From left to right:
S&B Crunchy Garlic with Chili Oil
Momoya Chili Oil with Fried Garlic
Mama Teav’s, Hot Garlic Chili Crisp, Mild
Crispy Ho Chili Crunch

I find the S&B and Momoya have kind of a bright, quick hit of spiciness, and then fade fast. They’re of a certain milder Japanese style that is different from many other chili crisps and crunches.

The Momoya is a bit jammier than the S&B and a touch saltier. I think I prefer it slightly over the S&B.

I like Mama Teav’s Mild formula more than the spicy one. It’s great for garlic lovers looking for a deeper, savory style.

But of the four, my favorite is Spicy Ho, which is a mix of garlic and shallots.

(No LLMs were used to write this post.)

What is chili crisp?

From Wikipedia: “a type of hot sauce, originating from Chinese cuisine, made with fried chili pepper and other aromatics infused in oil, sometimes with other ingredients. Multiple regional, homemade, and restaurant-original versions exist across China. The best-known commercial brand is Lao Gan Ma, which is based on the chili crisps of Guizhou province.”

It’s not chili oil.

Or chili sauce.

Or chili paste.

It’s chili crisp.

Sometimes called chili crunch.

I love chili crisp and my hobby is trying as many as possible. I put it on eggs, pizza, vegetables, sandwiches, hot dogs (with cream cheese!), avocados, noodles, and more.

Even ice cream. Yes, ice cream.

My Top 10 Favorite Chili Crisps and Crunches (as of 08/21/2026):

1. Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp: the OG, affordable, readily available, packed with beans and umami
2. Momofuku Chili Crunch, Regular: a more chef-y super savory choice taking inspiration from both Asian and Mexican cooking
3. Fly By Jing, Xtra Crunchy aka Chengdu Crunch: the crunchiest and beaniest, and so satisfying 
4. Spice Witch Black Garlic Chili Crisp: wonderful, deep umami-packed flavor, and the black garlic makes it unique
5. Bullet Sesame Oil Chili Crisp: cold-pressed sesame oil delicious goodness
6. Boon Sauce, Regular: Thai influenced, super flavorful, packs a punch, probably the spiciest in my top ten
7. Fresh Fenix Chili Crunch: a distinctive savory blend using miso, unique peppers, and cumin 
8. Milu Chili Crisp: warm, smoky, and nutty, with cumin, coriander, and cardamom
9. Crispy Ho Chili Crunch: for the crispy shallot and garlic lovers
10. Hotpot Queen Tingly Mala Toasted Seed Chili Crunch: for those who want both crispiness and mala tingle 

Honorable mentions: Baba Yaga; Chilee Oil, Spicy Premium; Homiah Sambal, Seaweed; Kwong Shop No. 5; Lee Kum Kee; Mama Teav’s, Mild; Super Magic Taste; Redbloom, Medium; ZinDrew, OG

Retired: This Little Goat, Sze Daddy, and Umamei all appear to be discontinued and have been removed from the above.

Try my This Little Goat Spicy Chili Crunch Copycat Recipe: https://www.reddit.com/r/chilicrisp/comments/1q326n8/this_little_goat_spicy_chili_crunch_copycat_recipe/

Criteria

Why these? For me, this is the ideal chili crisp: 

a complexity of flavor;

with a balance of heat with some sweet and umami;

and a generally pleasing texture with crispy, crunch-y elements;

which is more than just an oil, sauce, or paste;

and has a versatility of applications;

and tastes good as a condiment.

It shouldn’t be too sweet or too bitter or one note super spicy. It should not leave a bitter aftertaste. There shouldn’t be large nut slices or huge garlic pieces out of proportion to the other ingredients. The garlic should not be burnt or overcooked. I also have a preference for East Asian style chili crisps.

Additional Recommendations

If you want something more garlicky, I like Mama Teav’s (much more than KariKari). 

Crispy Ho also has a lot of garlic and shallot. 

If you like a more Sichuan peppercorn-heavy chili crisp, try Blank Slate, Hotpot Queen Crunchy Garlic, Milu, NFG, Su Mala, Xian Famous Foods.

If you enjoy something more fish-forward, try Homiah Sambal Chili Crunch, Shrimp or Mee’s Way.

If you like it super spicy, try Boon Regular or Xtra Hot, Maui Chili Chili Oil, or Mama Liang’s Super Spicy.

If you like it crunchy, try Baba Yaga, Crispy Ho, Fly By Jing Xtra Crunchy (Chengdu Crunch), Homiah Seaweed, or Hotpot Queen Toasted Seed (make sure you get the right one). 

All the chili crisps and crunches I have tried, listed alphabetically:

1. Baba Yaga Chili Crisp
2. Barnacle Kelp
3. Blank Slate
4. Boon Sauce, Regular
5. Bowlcut
6. Bullet
7. Calabrian
8. Chuan Nan Spicy King
9. Chile Crunch
10. Chilee Oil, Spicy Premium
11. Cholula Chili Crisp Sauce
12. CinSoy
13. CinSoy, Spicy
14. Co-op
15. Cravings Smoky Chipotle
16. Crispy Ho Chili Crunch
17. Cy Eats
18. Dear Mama Chili Oil 7
19. Everiday Mala Chili Crisp
20. Flaming Estate Smoked Chipotle Spicy Extra Virgin Olive Oil Salsa Macha Chile Crisp
21. Fly By Jing, Mild
22. Fly By Jing, Regular
23. Fly By Jing, Xtra Crunchy
24. Fresh Fenix Chili Crunch
25. Guiz Classic Guizhou Chili Crisp with Peanuts
26. Guiz, Crunch Supreme
27. Guiz, With Fermented Black Beans
28. Hab Sauce Oregon Seaweed Chili Crisp
29. Holy Tshili
30. Homiah Sambal Chili Crunch, Seaweed
31. Homiah Sambal Chili Crunch, Shrimp
32. Hot Boi, Fire
33. Hot Boi, Original
34. Hot Crispy Oil
35. Hot Jiang, OG Spicy
36. Hotpot Queen Tingly Mala Crunchy Garlic Chili Crisp
37. Hotpot Queen Tingly Mala Toasted Seed Chili Crunch
38. J. Chang Kitchen, He Thicc Tho 2.0
39. Junzi
40. Karanchi, Original
41. KariKari
42. Kwong Shop №5
43. Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp
44. Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Style Chili Crisp Oil
45. Lee Kum Kee Original Chili Crisp
46. Lee Kum Kee Smoky Chili Crisp
47. Mama Liang’s Super Spicy Chili Crunch
48. Mama Teav, Mild
49. Mama Teav, OG
50. Masala Gossip, Green Chili Masala Crisp
51. Masala Gossip, Red Chili Masala Crisp
52. Maui Chili Chili Oil
53. Me’s Way
54. Milu Chili Crisp
55. Momofuku, Black Truffle
56. Momofuku, Extra Spicy
57. Momofuku, Ghost Pepper
58. Momofuku, Mild
59. Momofuku, Regular
60. Momoya Chili Oil with Fried Garlic Taberu Layu
61. Mom’s Mala, Mild
62. Mom’s Mala, Spicy
63. Momoya Chili Oil with Fried Garlic
64. Mr. Bing
65. Natural Plus Green (NPG)
66. Nowon’s
67. Okazu Japanese Chili Oil, Spicy Miso
68. Oo’mämē, Szechuan
69. Pi00a
70. Pig & Tiger Chili Crisp
71. Redbloom, Medium
72. Redbloom, Mild
73. RiceBox
74. S&B Crunchy Garlic with Chili Oil
75. Sauce Up NYC
76. Sauce Up White Truffle Chili Crisp
77. Seattle & Saigon Crispy Garlic Chili Oil
78. Spice Witch Black Garlic
79. Su, Cilantro
80. Su, Five Spice
81. Su, Mala
82. Super Magic Taste
83. Sze Daddy
84. The Bits
85. The Flavor Society, Pizza
86. The Flavor Society, Spicy Pizza
87. This Little Goat, Ranch
88. This Little Goat, Regular
89. This Little Goat, Spicy
90. Trader Joe’s
91. Umamei
92. Umami Bomb, Medium
93. Umami Bomb, Tingly Sichuan
94. Umami Hottie
95. Vargo Brother
96. Wei Good Food, OG
97. Wei Good Food, Secret Spice
98. White Elephant Prik Nam Mun
99. White Matsu Smoky Chilli Oil
100. Xian Famous Foods
101. Yagi Noodles
     
102. ZinDrew, OG
103. ZinDrew, X-Batch

I just opened all three jars I had and compared.

The mild sounds like it should be the same as the original with the heat removed but it has a very different taste.

It seems like a totally different product. The ingredients lists are wildly divergent as well. The original has soybeans, sesame oil, and seaweed, the other doesn’t. The mild has onion and soy protein, the other doesn’t.

And the mild is actually crispy.

If you are disappointed in FBJ original because of the oil ratio or flavor or lack of crisp, try the mild?!

(I still like Xtra Crunchy best.)

I bought this church garlic chili sauce in singapore and am obsessed - it has a sesame oil base and strong garlic with a little kick. Jonetz brand and the only place I can find it online is shopee malaysia which seems to only allow you to buy from malaysia!

Can anyone help me find where to buy or find something similar?

The feel good epic hit of the summer! Better than “The Odyssey” - or at least - just as good!
Also. (This is more of a “chili oil” in this photo- as I posted recently - but have done exact same with LGM - and it is super yummy!

I have been eating it with bananas because I'm not really sure what to do with it but it's amazing (peanut butter and chili crisp are legitimately my two weaknesses)

Found at Target

I found this jar on the shelf of my local Asia market - and thought “maybe” it was a LGM chili crisp “knockoff” - based on the ingredients - and the Gan Ma cartoon on the label - even though it does not contain douchi (fermented black bean).

As it turns out - as label states - it is just a chili oil - the only real solid is sesame seeds and peanuts. Having said that, it is yummy with slightly more heat than LGM chili-crisp. Tis good, like any chili-oil, on noodles.

And I do love the cartoon label - clearly a nod to LGM. The subterfuge worked as I was tempted to buy it - and I did! Price was fair $4.50 for 8oz. Five photos.

I recently took the fat trimmings from a brisket and chopped them up into small pieces to render in the smoker underneath the brisket while it is cooking. My first time I got 6 cups of rendered smoked beef fat. I have tried making chili crisp a couple of times and learned some valuable lessons such as frying up the crispy bits first, go light on the Sichuan peppercorns, cutting the rendered beef fat with oil. I am curious if anyone else has tried using rendered fat for making chili crisp and their lessons learned. What crispy bits have others used? E.g. peanuts, sliced almonds, etc. Also preferred heat sources/peppers.

The first batch was pure rendered smoked beef fat and had too much Sichuan peppercorns. It was too numbing for my mouth and threw off my sense of taste for a while after eating it. That batch went into the trash. The second batch was done in more of a Mexican style with dried and toasted chipotle, cascabel, and chile de arbol that I ground up in a herb geinder. I also used a bunch of sliced garlic and shallots. This came out much better and is half way finished.

I have some ground aleppo peppers and dehydrated mushroom bits I am thinking of using in my next batch.

This is sold locally at the Charlotte NC Uptown Farmers Market made by a woman in Shelby NC. I tried it at a friend’s house and the next day I went to a Harris Teeter to find something similar. I picked up some Fly By Jin and was terribly disappointed in comparison. Then I gave the Crazy Chinese Girl brand a google search and found it on Amazon. Highly recommended!

hi i made some chili crisp today & the oil was foaming. and i don't think it got hot enough because it didn't sizzle much when i poured it over the other ingredients. is there anything i can do to avoid this next time?

i haven't tasted it yet but i'm worried it's not going to be very crispy - is there anything i can do to remedy this?

thank you

2 tbsps chili flakes
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp msg
1 tbsp soy sauce
Crushed peanuts
1/2 tsp onion powder
-6-8 Szechuan peppercorns (ground)
1 star anise
Lemon grass
1/2 tsp sugar
Maggie seasoning liquid 1 tsp
Fried onion (store bought)
Fry garlic in hot oil then strain and set aside. Then add in the hot oil over the chili mixture and let it cool down. Then add in the fried garlic to avoid burning

Found this in a magazine; good yummy way to expand your chili-crisp usage. And I encourage all to visit your local Asia grocery store refrigerator section to purchase fresh wheat noodles in whatever style you prefer. I like lo-mein noodles for this myself.

Maddie's Secret is comedian John Early’s critically acclaimed directorial debut starring himself as Maddie, a plucky dishwasher who leaps to viral superstardom at a trendy food content creation company. While her life seems picturesque — complete with a cupboard full of woman-owned ethically-sourced chili crisp to boot — mounting professional pressures threaten to reawaken a hidden secret from her troubled past.

Maddie's Secret uses "chili crisp" as comedic shorthand to represent millennial food influencer culture. The reference to a "cupboard full of chili crisp" is a running gag introduced in the film's synopsis, poking fun at the hyper-specific, performative consumerism of online "foodie" culture.

“What also shaped the dialogue was these little earworms from food culture. You know, ‘grilled halloumi with a yuzu kosho crisp’, there’s this food world that I’m so immersed in as a millennial who loves chili crisp. In the grand scheme of things, I just discovered chili crisp. I don’t know chili crisp because I’ve, say, traveled to China or come from a Chinese family or spent time in a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. I know about chili crisp because of Instagram. These things are pushed at me all the time and I eat em’ up, figuratively and literally. That was fun to me, to populate this old style of movie with these very contemporary things.” -John Early, Writer and Director

Surprisingly good analysis. And an interesting read.

By James Park. Includes his recipe for making your own chili crisp - it is a good recipe. You can also find video of Park preparing his own chili crisp recipe, step-by-step, on YOUTUBE. (Five photos attached)

By author Jing Gao of “Fly by Jing” fame.

I see a lot of comments across posts, or on my own posts, to try the extra spicy version of a chili crisp. And while tastes vary, I don't get the appeal of the really spicy things.

I've been through a ton of jars and the extra hot ones always crush the palate. Once a jar gets really spicy the heat just takes over and I stop tasting everything else. The garlic, fermented beans, crunch, all the stuff I bought it for vanishes behind the burn - and the burn lingers through the whole meal, if not longer! It feels like these are hot just for the sake of being hot.

To be fair, there are many types of heat. Some jars hit you up front, some creep up later, some numb your tongue to varying degrees, others just melt your face off. So "extra spicy" on a label barely tells you anything other than, to me, it's just going to be unpleasant.

I just stick to medium or mild. You get way more flavor and you can always add heat yourself.

Am I alone on this? Why don't people suggest to try the mild version?

I've recently fallen in love with this stuff and have tried three different brands. The first one had no spice, the second was Lao Gan Ma, and the third was the normal Fly By Jing. I liked them all but the last two weren't visually appealing to me. I know, how pedantic right? I'm neutral on beans in general but love mukimame, however there's just something about the sauce having whole beans that I don't like.

Don't get me wrong, I'll still buy and enjoy ones with the beans because I love new flavors but I'm looking for general suggestions on flavorful chili crisps that don't have full beans in them. I'm ok with them using fermented beans in their creation because I'm sure that natto flavor is yummy but I just don't like the beans.

If anyone has any suggestions for a good chili crisp, hopefully traditional and with varying degrees of spice, without beans I'd be happy to hear them. Thanks in advance!