Low-calorie alternative to Lao Gan Ma spicy chili crisp?
I've become obsessed with Lao Gan Ma brand chili sauces. This "Old Godmother" brand sauce is apparently a phenomenon in China and feels like it's about to break out in the export market similar to the rise of Sriracha.
With its signature red label featuring an image of its unsmiling founder, each jar of Lao Gan Ma contains a mix of chili flakes and onions soaked in soybean oil and some combo of garlic, fermented cabbage, mushrooms and black beans, depending on the varietal.
Lao Gan Ma is less of a hot sauce, more of a slightly tingly umami flavor. Salty and savory. The large crisp chili flakes also provide a satisfying crunch.
I would put it on everything I eat. The only problem is that the first ingredient is Soybean Oil. A typical serving, in the way I want to eat it, will be hundreds of calories and many grams of fat.
By contrast, the Nutrition Facts of many other chili/hot sauces such Huy Fong Foods Sriracha and Chili Garlic Sauce are 0 calories, 0 fat.
Are there any condiments that give the tingly/salty/fermented/umami flavor of Lau Gan Ma but without the oil?
Best Answer
Fermented chopped chili (duojiao) or pickled pepper (pao jiao) would be a good alternative in terms of flavor: spicy, tingly, salty, umami. The two are prepared using a very similar recipe, with the former the Hunanese variant and the later the Szechuanese varient. The usage, however, is very different from that of Lao Gan Ma: Lao Gan Ma is usually added to stir fries, but pao jiao/duojiao require a longer cooking process (e.g., steaming, braising, stewing) for the flavor to be fully released.
Fermented chili/pickled pepper is extremely easy to make: the main ingredients are red chili peppers (perhaps chopped), some sugar, salt, garlic and ginger (and Szechuan peppercorns, if you are making the Szechuanese variant) to taste, and (imporatantly) rice wine. The umami flavor comes from the fermentation process, while the wine contributes to an esterification process that adds more flavor to the completed dish.
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What can I substitute for chili crisp?
Here's how to make my chili crisp: If you don't have whole chiles, substitute about \u2153 cup crushed red pepper flakes.)Is Lao Gan fattening?
Since Lao Gan Ma is high in fat, this means that the sauce is very high in calories and can make it difficult for you to reach your weight loss goals if consumed in abundance.Is crispy chilli oil healthy?
Is Chilli Oil healthy? No this is not healthy as the recipe is mostly oil used with very little chillies.What is the difference between chili oil and chili crisp?
Quick tip: Chili crisp and chili oil have slight differences. Whereas chili oil is a spicy, smoky sauce made from oil, dried peppers, and aromatics, chili crisp boasts an additional crunchy texture and umami wok char that's captured with its fried bits.Every Lao Gan Ma, explained.
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Images: ROMAN ODINTSOV, ROMAN ODINTSOV, Mareefe, Karolina Grabowska