Most people use chili oil and chili crisp interchangeably. They're not the same thing, and once you know the difference you'll use both more intentionally.
Chili oil is the base. It's made by infusing a neutral oil — usually canola, vegetable, or sesame — with dried chilies and aromatics. The result is a smooth, pourable oil with heat and flavor suspended throughout. No crunch, no texture. Just oil that tastes like something.
Chili crisp is chili oil that went further. Same infused oil base, but with the addition of fried solids — shallots, garlic, sometimes fermented black beans or peanuts — that stay in the jar and give you crunchy bits alongside the oil. The texture is what separates it from a straight chili oil.
So which is Boon Sauce? It sits between both. The base is a slow-cooked chili oil, but the shallots, garlic, and anchovies give it body and texture closer to a crisp. It's not purely smooth and it's not loaded with crunchy bits. It's somewhere in the middle, which is what makes it work on almost everything.
When to use chili oil: Use it when you want heat and flavor without texture — drizzled over soup, mixed into a dressing, used as a cooking oil. It incorporates smoothly and doesn't change the mouthfeel of what you're making.
When to use chili crisp: Use it when you want the crunch to be part of the dish. On top of eggs, over rice, on pizza, on avocado toast. The bits add a textural contrast that a smooth oil won't give you.
The short version: All chili crisps are chili oils. Not all chili oils are chili crisps. Both belong in your kitchen.
If you're looking for somewhere to start, Boon Sauce Original sits comfortably in both categories — smooth enough to cook with, textured enough to use as a finishing condiment. Spice level 6/10, made in small batches in Los Angeles.
