Quick Shrimp Hot Chili Oil

In Malaysia, there is a wonderful condiment called "Sambal". It usually involves a paste of onions, garlic, chilies and if you were lucky, dried shrimp. While I love the flavors of onions and garlic, making pastes (rempah) is too time-consuming right now for my schedule. So upon learning how to make Sichuan Chili Oil, I thought that it would taste great with some dried shrimp in it. So this my quick and dirty version of my beloved Sambal. Feel free to reduce the amount of oil to 3/4 the amount that it is called for, but I find the extra oil useful when frying something starchy (such as noodles or rice) when more oil is needed. The flavored oil adds color and flavor to any dish that it is used in.

Ingredients

1 cup oil
1 cup crushed pepper
2-3 tsp dried shrimp
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Heat oil in a small pot, about double the size of the oil volume.
Add salt to oil.
Add dried shrimp to heated oil; allow to fry a little, but not so long to burn the dried shrimp.
Turn heat off.
Add crushed chili peppers. Stir.
Allow to cool.
Place into clean jars and refrigerate.
Serve as condiment at the table, or to add heat/color to any dish.