Asian pride in a jar
Crispy Chilli Oil has always been my absolute favourite Asian condiment. It just lifts up any dish! But when I found out that my beloved store-bought chilli oil was full of chemical preservatives and unnatural ingredients, I knew I had a mission.
So what did I do? I asked my family for my grandma's crispy chilli oil recipe and spent uncountable hours in the kitchen to recreate it. As in our family they don't understand the concept of recipes. There is no communication in exact spoon measurements or let alone a recipe with the exact amount of ml. is given. We talk in ingredients, and communicate in 'a little bit of this and a little more of that" kinda recipes. Lucky enough with my determination and the help of my parents we have my grandma's recipe on paper!
Even though I love and respect our family old recipe, I couldn't resist to tweak it to my personal liking. To me, texture is almost as important as flavour. Creating a scrumptious good crunch by adding the perfect amount of toasted buckwheat kernels for giving it that satisfying crunchy texture. I also made sure to toast the chilli flakes as an extra step which gives that extra layer of nutty aroma and taste.
Resulting in my first ever food product to share with the rest of the world. "La Lia", a dream coming true. Having my own food brand.
I hope my crispy chilli oil will get you addicted to it like I am. And that it will become a staple in hour pantry too.
So what did I do? I asked my family for my grandma's crispy chilli oil recipe and spent uncountable hours in the kitchen to recreate it. As in our family they don't understand the concept of recipes. There is no communication in exact spoon measurements or let alone a recipe with the exact amount of ml. is given. We talk in ingredients, and communicate in 'a little bit of this and a little more of that" kinda recipes. Lucky enough with my determination and the help of my parents we have my grandma's recipe on paper!
Even though I love and respect our family old recipe, I couldn't resist to tweak it to my personal liking. To me, texture is almost as important as flavour. Creating a scrumptious good crunch by adding the perfect amount of toasted buckwheat kernels for giving it that satisfying crunchy texture. I also made sure to toast the chilli flakes as an extra step which gives that extra layer of nutty aroma and taste.
Resulting in my first ever food product to share with the rest of the world. "La Lia", a dream coming true. Having my own food brand.
I hope my crispy chilli oil will get you addicted to it like I am. And that it will become a staple in hour pantry too.
How I came up with the brand name "La Lia"
It was an easy task for me to come up with the brand name La Lia. With my family roots in Singapore. It is one of the strongest childhood memories I have. Shouting "LALALALALAAAAA" when my mouth was on fire from eating too much spicy food that I couldn't get enough of. La is the actual translation of spicy in Mandarin (Chinese). And combining La with my family's name Lia sounds so super smooth as if it was ment to be. But also, the name Lia is a name I'm proud of as it's a very rare and unique name that I carry with a lot of love and pride. Even my daughter's second name is Lia.
Where can you buy La Lia?
La Lia is available in stores
AMSTERDAM:
STACH
Tjins Toko
Little Plant Pantry
Olives & More
Foodware
The Maker Store
Gekaapt
Vegabond
Levain et le vin
Hong Kong Superstore
Chateau Amsterdam
Waargenoegen
HAARLEM:
La Station Service