The first thing to do is to get the skins off. You could keep them on if you prefer but we like ours without the skin. It lets the peanuts absorb the spices better, I think.
To get the skins off you gotta soak em overnight in cool water. The next day the skins should just slide right off. It takes a bit of time to get all the skins off, so it’s good to get someone to help out here.
The chilies and peppers are stir fried over a low heat to bring out their aromatics. Careful with the heat, as the chilies burn quite easily.
Time to deep fry the peanuts. You might be saying at this point: wait a minute, can these peanuts be baked or dry fried in a wok? The answer is no, not for this snack. The particular crispy crunch of the Spicy Mala Peanut is only achieved by deep frying. Also the fragrant residual oil on the peanuts allows the spice mix to completely coat the peanuts, thus achieving maximum yumminess.
The secret to the perfect frying is to start with the oil at room temperature and let the oil and the peanuts heat up together over low heat. This will give you beautifully golden, crisp and crunchy nuts.
When the peanuts turn golden they’re ready. I think that we cooked our peanuts a wee bit too long this time. Tiny bit on the brown side. Next time we gonna scoop the peanuts out right when they’re nice and golden.
When the peanuts cool down they become crispy crunchy.
Now…drumrolls please…the ancient Chinese secret to finish off the perfect Spicy Mala Peanuts. You’ll find that the spice mix makes these spiced peanuts pretty good already. But we discovered that even with the spice mix our peanuts didn’t taste as good as the store bought mala peanuts. What was missing?
A good drizzle of this sichuan pepper oil over our Spicy Mala Peanuts did the trick! Just like store bought, our peanuts were crisp crunchy, deliciously flavored with spice and heat, and tinged all over with the deliciously tongue numbing hint of citrusy fragrant sichuan pepper.
Spicy Mala Peanuts Recipe 麻辣花生
(makes 4 cups) Soak time: overnight Prep time:10 mins Cook Time: 30 mins
Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
2 cups oil, 436g
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
Directions:
Let peanuts soak in water overnight. Remove skins and let the peanuts air dry until dry.
Slice half of the dried chilies in half lengthwise. In a small pot add 1-2 tsp of oil and stir fry the all the chilies (both sliced and whole) and two types of Szechuan peppercorns until fragrant. Remove from pot and set aside.
Add peanuts to a small pot. Add in oil to just cover. Let the oil heat up from cold until it is bubbling. Turn down heat to a simmer and let cook for. mins or until the peanuts are golden brown. Remove peanuts from oil into a mixing bowl, saving the cooked oil for other uses. Note that the peanuts will harden as they cool.
Add the chilies and peppercorns to the peanuts. Add the five spice, Szechuan pepper powder, salt and sugar to the peanuts while they are hot, stirring gently as you do so. Taste and adjust salt and sugar as needed.
Once spices are mixed to your liking add the Szechuan pepper oil and stir to incorporate. Enjoy the nuttiness!
Nothing like Nuttiness at The Hong Kong Cookery:
