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Comment by s_dev | Hacker News Reader

If anyone is looking for a chilli oil you can buy that's both delicous and available check this out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_Gan_Ma

It goes great with, eggs, rice and any yogurt dishes.

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Yup. It basically becomes a household emergency when we run low. We were out of this and sriracha for a couple weeks. That was a sad, tasteless, time. (Also, it's mentioned in the article)

This stuff is as addictive as sugar! I love it. Watch out for how much you’re putting on your food :)

Coincidentally I had the black bean version of this a few days ago. Delicious, but less spicy than expected. :-)

It used to be spicier and even better before her son took over and changed it to a cheaper chili from another province a few years ago (which wasn't great).

I ended up trying something like 20 different brands looking for an alternative, and my favourites from least to most spicy were: Chuan Lao Hui, Lee Kum Kee, and Wa!, which I actually found even better.

I tried Lao Gan Ma again now that they're back to chilies from the original province, but it still doesn't taste quite the same, I wonder if the sourcing changes caused them to lose their specific cultivar?

Wa! is my absolute favorite chili oil. I put it in and on everything. A simple bowl of rice, with some Wa! (and perhaps an egg), becomes an entire meal.

So I wasn’t imagining the change in pungency of the chili crisp at all.

The little soybeans are the best part of Lao Gan Ma. I would kill for a version that was half soybean.

If you're getting the "fried chili in oil" product, you could look out for the "chili oil with black bean" product they make.

Another option is Fly By Jing's original "sichuan chili crisp" which has a different flavour profile than LGM but is very forward with the douchi / black beans / black soybeans.

I have the black bean version in my fridge. That's good, but a soybean version would be better.

Those are soybeans. Did you think they're black turtle beans, like you'd find in latin america?

They're black soybeans. The kind used to make douchi. Read the ingredients list on your bottle.

Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soybean#/media/File:Soya_Bean....

Hah well they're not crunchy like the ones in the regular Lao Gan Ma regardless

I highly recommend Fly By Jing. Those ones are crunchy.

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