But what is chile oil? What does it have to do with “chile crisp”? And why is everyone seemingly crazy for spicy, chunky, oily hot sauce in the first place? Now, as the timeline for reopening remains blurry, retail items from restaurants have become a hot ticket, and shelf-stable chile oils have been anointed a pandemic pantry must-have for those longing to give their home-cooked creations a whiff of spicy-restaurant nostalgia. According to Sze, who estimates that 886 sold about 60 jars per week when it was open, “A lot of people finish their meal and are like, ‘I’ll take a jar.’” They were intended to leave visitors with a lingering aftertaste and remind them to come back soon. None of these business owners could have predicted that their chile oils would become vestiges of an experience that’s no longer available - dining at their establishment - for the lucky customers who bought them. “People were saying, ‘I’m going to send this to my friend across the country.’” All locations of Xi’an Famous Foods are currently closed due to the coronavirus, but the chile oil can still be purchased online. “I saw someone drinking it once,” says Wang, of his chile oil, before he made the decision to sell the packets separately. Jason Wang, owner of the New York City chain Xi’an Famous Foods, which specializes in the cuisine of the western Chinese province of Shaanxi, also recently began to sell signature chile oil packets, by popular demand. Jiu’s has its own Chile Crisp Sauce, part of a lineup of sauces in partnership with Williams-Sonoma. ( Sze Daddy, the chile oil from 886, was available online but has sold out Junzi’s chile oil can still be purchased online.) San Francisco’s acclaimed Chinese restaurant Mr. Tang says he was even inspired by fellow young, New York-based entrepreneurs, including Eric Sze of 886 and Lucas Sin of Junzi Kitchen, who each offer branded chile oil that was for sale in their restaurants’ physical locations before they closed to in-house diners due to the coronavirus. Today, he finds himself in the company of other restaurants and small businesses selling a signature bright vermilion, sediment-thick chile oil. Once operations are back up and running, Tang hopes to sell the product again, in Nom Wah restaurants and online. He released Nom Wah’s first batch of chile oil on the restaurant’s webstore, and it sold out within hours. ![]() “We had everything ready to launch right before we closed up operations for COVID-19,” says Tang. Nearly 10 years later, Tang came back around to the idea. But his first batch did not meet the labeling requirements for bottled products according to the Department of Health, and he shelved the idea in order to focus on the restaurant’s bread and butter: in-house diners. ![]() Back in 2011, shortly after taking ownership of the 100-year-old Nom Wah Tea Parlor, Wilson Tang wanted to sell jars of branded chile oil.
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