Spicy and extremely chunky peanuts combined with Szechuan peppercorn and dried chili. It is not only one of the most famous snack in China, but also considered as a great partner for a drink among meals.
This snack has a lovely Chinese name “酒鬼花生”, literally means drunkard’s peanuts because it is extremely popular among drunkards. It is very common in China but I received a recipe request several days ago. Since it is really a great snack for summer, so I started making a small batch after that.
We soak the peanuts with water overnight and then message them to remove the skins. To simplify the process, you can use store-bought peeled peanuts.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups raw peanuts
- oil for frying the peanuts
- 5-7 dried chili pepper, sliced and remove the seeds
- 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn, whole seed
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
- 1 teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorn powder (ground after toasting)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- Salt to taste (recommend 1.5 teaspoon)
Steps:
Soak the peanuts with water overnight until you can easily remove the skins.
Then drain the peanuts slightly and rub the peanuts with both hands forcefully. The skins will be separated. Then peal the remaining skins.
Transfer the peanuts into an air-tight bag and freeze for 3-4 hours. This step is the key secret for extra chunky texture.
Place peanuts into a pan and add enough oil to cover. Heat over medium fire until the peanuts start to sizzle and floating on the surface. Transfer out and drain off the oil.
Re-add around 1/2 tablespoon of oil and fry Sichuan peppercorn and chili pepper shreds until aromatic. Place the peanuts in. Mix with salt, five spice powder, Sichuan pepper, sugar, salt and white pepper.
Transfer them to an air-tight container, covered and store for 2-3 days until the mala flavor is well absorbed.
- 2 cups raw peanuts
- oil for frying the peanuts
- 5-7 dried chili pepper ,sliced and remove the seeds
- 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn ,whole seed
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
- 1 teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorn powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- Salt to taste ,recommend 1.5 teaspoon
-
Soak the peanuts with water overnight until you can easily remove the skins.
-
Then drain the peanuts slightly and rub the peanuts with both hands forcefully. The skins will be separated. Then peal the remaining skins.
-
Transfer the peanuts into an air-tight bag and freeze for 3-4 hours or overnight.
-
Place peanuts into a pan and add enough oil to cover. Heat over medium fire until the peanuts start to sizzle and floating on the surface. Transfer out and drain off the oil.
-
Re-add around 1/2 tablespoon of oil and fry Sichuan peppercorn and chili pepper shreds until aromatic. Place the peanuts in. Mix with salt, sugar, five spice powder, Sichuan pepper, salt and white pepper.
-
Transfer them to an air-tight container, covered and store for 2-3 days until the mala flavor is well absorbed.
When I was in China I would always get the Huang Fei Hong brand peanuts. Now that I have the recipe, I’m definitely making them myself.
Yes, that’s the most famous brand.
My local Asian market is having trouble getting these for me. I’ll have to try this recipe and will report back. I see sugar in the ingredients list, but nothing in the instructions as to when to add it. I assume with the spices??
Yes, along with the spices.
Hi Elaine, I love these style peanuts! Was just wondering if it’ll work with dry-frying instead of frying the peanuts in so much oil? Thanks!
Hi there,
If you want to reduce the amount of oil, then the frying process may take longer time because we need to remove almost all of the water content inside.
Thanks Elaine for having answered my request so quickly. I’ll try tomorrow for sure!
You are the most welcome, Sabrina. I check my comments and E mail almost everyday on the working days. Hope you like it. We have just eaten up our first batch and I am going to another batch soon.
I made these on last week. A couple of comments… 1) keep a close eye on the peanuts as they fry. They go from pale to golden very quickly. Mine went a little past where I would like them, 2) I cut back on the salt a bit and should have cut back further, they are quite salty, 3) the sugar is an interesting addition to the store bought ones I buy. It hits the salt/sweet combo nicely.
Overall, I will make this again… learning as I go : )
Thanks Elaine.
Where can I purchase raw peanuts. I do have an Asian market nearby, but they don’t carry them. Please give me a name of a brand that maybe they can order for me. Thank you so much.
Sorry Fifi,
I am based in China so you need to figure that out. Sorry I really would love to help.
Raw peanuts are not an asian thing. You should be able to find them in any large supermarket or neighborhood health food store. Amazon also carries a large selection.
Thanks Steve!
Do I wait until the peanuts are brought to room temperature before frying or fry them immediately when you take it out of the freezer. Thanks.
No. It is absolutely to deep fry directly.
spicy peanuts is super tasty,it is famous chinese specialty,most of people like it.
XSD spicy peanuts also is good choice.
Thank you
Omg these peanuts are like crack ! We can’t stop eating these, they are so addictive ! I’m on my third batch and I’m out of peanuts, I’m headed to the market in the morning for more ingredients. You should post a warning on the addictive properties of these peanuts !!!
Thanks for the feedback. I love this version very much too. We love to have a small drink with those peanuts. Just enjoy!
I just made this and my peanuts did get a little more browned than visually appealing. I wanted to say that it’s a good idea to stir the peanuts while frying and pull sooner than later. These nuts are delicious and will make more soon in an effort to perfect them.
Thank you for your lovely information. Kristina. I believe you can make it much better next time.