Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Chilli Oil

Unlock the perfect flavour pairings for chilli oil according to data science. Explore unique recipes and discover the hidden mathematics of flavour.

Fiery sensation and capsicum notes are at the forefront of chilli oil's flavour profile, but identifying its perfect partner requires exploring its subtle nuances. We must examine the complex interplay of notes within its bouquet, like smoke, char, and hints of black pepper. We need to understand how these notes affect each other and which complementary flavors they harmonise with.

To illuminate these harmonies, we embarked on an ambitious journey, analysing thousands of ingredients. Each was meticulously deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, allowing us to pinpoint precisely which notes complement in both classic and unexpected ways. Our exploration reveals, for instance, how the meaty, roasted 2-methyl-3-furanthiol in chicken fat can enrich chilli oil, and how black cardamom's camphoraceous notes forge a beautiful synergy with its mild pepper aroma.

An ingredient's flavour stems from its core characteristics, such as spice, maillard, or herbal, combined with layers of subtle flavour notes (outer bars). For a balanced dish, pair ingredients with a variety of core flavours, and choose complementary aroma notes for harmony.

The Flavour Code

To understand how flavour notes harmonise, we analysed more than 50,000 popular ingredient combinations. By exploring these pairings, we identified specific flavour notes that frequently occur together, indicating they share a harmonious relationship.

The Flavours That Harmonise With Capsicum Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of bell pepper is strongly associated with the flavour of camphor. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a camphor flavour, such as black cardamom, when pairing with the capsicum aroma notes of chilli oil.

The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing chilli oil with black cardamom.

Harmonious Flavours Of Chilli Oil

Just as our analysis highlighted that bell pepper and fenugreek flavour notes tend to pair together, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour notes present in chilli oil. For instance, the peppery notes of chilli oil are strongly associated with fatty and chickeny notes.

The aroma accents complementing the various aromas of chilli oil can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of chicken fat offers many of the notes complementary to chilli oil, including poultry and glutamic aromas. Because the flavour profile of chicken fat has many of the of the features that are complementary to chilli oil, they are likely to pair very well together.

The chart above shows the unique profile of chicken fat across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with chilli oil.

Recipes That Pair Chilli Oil With Chicken Fat

Linked Flavour Notes

Looking at the notes that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of chilli oil, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of chilli oil, along with the complementary aromas associated with each note. While the right side shows some of the ingredients that share many of the aroma notes complementary to chilli oil.

What To Drink With Chilli Oil

The rice notes in sake make it a perfect pairing with chilli oil. Likewise, the rice flavours in rice wine create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of chilli oil below.

How Flavonomics Works

We've pioneered a unique, data-driven approach to decode the intricate art of flavour pairing. Our goal is to move beyond intuition and uncover the science of why certain ingredients harmonise beautifully. This rigorous methodology allows us to provide you with insightful and reliable pairing recommendations.

Our analysis begins with over 50,000 carefully selected recipes from acclaimed chefs like Galton Blackiston, Marcello Tully, and Pierre Lambinon. This premium dataset ensures our model distils genuine culinary excellence and creativity.

Each ingredient from these recipes is deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, creating a unique numerical "flavour fingerprint." This quantification allows us to apply advanced analytical methods to identify complex patterns between flavour notes.

We identify popular ingredient combinations that frequently appear in our recipe database. Regression analysis is then performed on these pairings to statistically validate and pinpoint truly harmonious flavours.

These insights drive our predictive model, which allows us to take any ingredient (e.g., Chilli oil), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.