If you’re at all present in the world of online food discourse, then you’ve seen the chatter this week about Momofuku’s “trademark bully” tactics around patenting the term “chili crunch.” Many have aired their thoughts on this — people more qualified than I — so I will simply say that there are so many great small businesses selling chili crisp and chili crunch, like Fly by Jing and Chili Cheeks, and they’ve inspired this week’s recipe: a spicy, tingly rigatoni a la vodka with a healthy dose of chili crisp.
Any kind of chili flavor always pairs well with cream; Carbone knows this, and they’ve built their spicy rigatoni empire accordingly. But the standard vodka sauce recipe can really take flight when you add in some unconventional vehicles for heat. At Carbone, it’s fermented Calabrian chilis; at home, you can get even more experimental based on what’s in your pantry.
In my case this week, that was soy-and-chili-laced Zhong sauce from the aforementioned Fly by Jing and smoked chili flakes that I had picked up from SOS Chefs in the East Village. I stirred those into the usual vodka sauce mix of minced shallots, tomato paste, and heavy cream. Then I topped the finished dish with Danny Bowien’s tingly granola mix, also sold at SOS, which is packed with crispy fried shallots, Sichuan peppercorns, peanuts, and other goodies.
The result is a deeper, spicier, and funkier pasta, with lots of tingly, mouth-numbing crunchy stuff to go with it. It’s a great way to jazz up a tired dish, and I recommend it with any chili crunch or flakes you have on hand… or perhaps just those from a friendly small business.
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