The real name of this spicy peanut dish is Huang Fei Hong spicy peanuts (黄飞鸿花生), a famous Chinese snack that combines the numbing spicy Szechuan seasoning with fried peanuts. I wasn’t surprised when I saw it recommended by Saveur as “pure dynamite”. Creating the perfect Huang Fei Hong Spicy Peanuts requires quite a bit of effort. The most time consuming part is peeling the peanuts. In this recipe, I used the old-fashioned method – soaking the peanuts in warm water and peeling them one by one. Not that it’s the fastest or the easiest way to do it. It’s what my mom does. I’m sentimentally attached to this method because it reminds me of the good ol’ homemade food at my parents’ place. If you’re going to use the same method, make sure you turn on the TV while peeling the peanuts. It makes the process less tedious.
The second step is frying the peanuts. To make proper crispy and crunchy peanuts, you need to roast them very slowly without burning them. You could (1) cook them with a little oil and constantly stir them; or (2) fry them. I tried both and the latter was the winner. The peanuts cooked more evenly. Plus, it saved a lot of stirring. I suggest you use a wok, so you can use the minimum amount of oil to cover all the peanuts. The peanuts will barely absorb any oil and you can save the oil for later use.
The third step is to season the peanuts. To do this step properly, you have to remove the extra oil from the wok. Otherwise you’ll end up with oil-soaked peanuts that are bland and flavorless. The other key to seasoning is to use ground spices instead of whole chili peppers and Szechuan peppercorns. Yes, the real-deal Huang Fei Hong peanuts contain whole chili peppers in the bag. They are just there as garnish. The peanuts won’t absorb enough flavor during the short cooking time. So always use plenty of ground spices to properly season the peanuts. It might seem like a ton of flavoring for such a small batch of peanuts. But trust me, it is not too much. This won’t be the healthiest thing in the world, but using less spices will definitely kill the joy. You will spend an entire hour (or two, if including the soaking time) to make this small appetizer. But once you pop a peanut into your mouth, you’ll know it was worth every single minute.
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it #omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with. Cheers, friends!
