I Tried Chili Oil On Ice Cream — Here's What I Thought

Don’t get me wrong, I *love* spicy food, but this combo seemed outlandish AF, sort of like the olive oil-infused Starbucks Oleato, and even more like Mustard Skittles. I want my ice cream scoops to be sweeter than sweet, and in my mind, there was no way that adding a spoonful of chili oil would make the dessert better. It’s already perfect!

Chili oil ice cream went viral a while back, but it was the team at Fly by Jing that put it right on my radar. Their promise that got me hooked? “The heat of the chilis is tamed by the cooling sensation of dairy leaving you buzzing for more (and more... and more).” To try out the food trend, I chose to drizzle their Sichuan Chili Crisp ($34 / 2-pack) over a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Fly by Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp ($34 / 2-pack)

Taking a rather hesitant first bite full of chili flakes, the first thing I noticed was how deep the flavor was. Fly by Jing prides its Sichuan Chili Crisp for its 鲜 xian, AKA its umami notes, which is likely what my taste buds detected first. After that, the flavor experience made a brief stop at the sweetness I normally associate with ice cream, but made a quick turn towards that expected chili oil spice. After the burn lingered for a while, I found that I wasn’t really a fan of chili oil on ice cream. Like I said before, I’m an ice cream girl through and through, and nothing can get in the way of that.

I *did* think the pairing was quite interesting, though. It made for a true tasting journey as I tried to identify what the heck was going on in my mouth. I thought the crunch from the Sichuan Chili Crisp (which I normally put on foods that *aren’t* ice cream) made for a delightful detail, too. Perhaps this trend was made for someone with a much more elevated palette. That could be you!

Let us know – would you try chili oil on ice cream?