White Bean Dip With Chili Oil

Nisha’s Lemony White Bean Dip recipe leans on lemon and garlic flavors. I decided to flavor the bean dip with my chili oil and some red Sichuan peppercorns for a bit of tongue-tingling spice. My chili oil contains garlic, ginger, and gochugaru (Korean pepper flakes). It’s very fragrant and has bright flavors that complement the rest of the bean dip very well. This white bean dip with chili oil is fantastic with vegetables, crackers, and pita, or it can be used as a spread for sandwiches. For a light lunch, I sometimes spread the dip over Wasa gluten-free crispbread and top that with hard boiled eggs and a bit of freshly cracked black pepper. Even my husband, who usually isn’t too fussed about bean dips, enjoyed it!

COOKING NOTES FOR WHITE BEAN DIP

USING SOY SAUCE

Nisha’s original recipe used white miso to give the dip umami flavor. I decided to go with soy sauce instead. The soy sauce adds a layer of depth and savory flavor to the bean dip and complements the chili oil topping a lot better. If you are gluten free, you can use tamari (I usually use San-J). Lee Kum Kee also makes a gluten-free soy sauce.

SICHUAN PEPPERCORNS

I usually take whole Sichuan peppercorns and grind them in my mortar and pestle. Before grinding the peppercorns, sift through them and discard any large twigs or tiny black seeds. The black seeds are bitter and not edible, so toss those out. Grind the Sichuan peppercorns until they turn into powder and you can no longer grind the husks any further. Then, sift out the husks because they have a tough texture. For this white bean dip recipe, I ground 1 1/2 tablespoons of peppercorns, which yielded about 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground peppercorn powder (after sifting out the husks). There will be a noticeable amount of tongue-tingly spice in the dip, but it’s not extreme. If you are not spice tolerant, you can reduce the amount of peppercorn powder or omit that ingredient completely. You can also find pre-ground peppercorn powder, which is sometimes called prickly ash powder. The powder is usually a finer grind, so I recommend adding 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of the powder to the dip first. Then, taste and add more if necessary.

CAN I USE ANOTHER TYPE OF BEAN?

Although I haven’t tried this recipe with other types of beans, I can imagine it tasting great with chickpeas or butter beans.

CAN I USE SOMETHING ELSE BESIDES PINE NUTS?

Pine nuts are not cheap, so I understand if you want to use something less pricey. While I haven’t tried this, I think this dip will be very nice with toasted sunflower seeds.