Má Châu’s Chilli Oil is a versatile Vietnamese ớt sa tế, bringing bold heat, deep savoury flavour and fragrant aroma to dishes.

Carefully cooked in small homemade batches in Walthamstow (London), Má Châu packs generations of tradition into this ớt sa tế that’s loved by our whole family. Now yours can too!

Use it generously to add warmth and real Saigonese flavour to everything from quick daily snacks and meals to traditional dishes — baked beans or eggs on toast, stir-fries, fried rice, noodle broths, stews, pasta, and whatever else you’d like to change from boring to bold!

Mixed with soy sauce, it also makes a vibrant, delicious dipping sauce — try it with some boiled chicken or tofu.

You can also use it as a marinade.

We wouldn’t traditionally tend to use Vietnamese ớt sa tế in phở or dishes that use nước chấm but feel free to give it a go!

Mix well before each use to ensure a good blend of flavours and use a clean spoon to avoid contamination so it lasts longer.

Store in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. Unopened, it should last until at least the best before date. If it's left in a warm place or in sunlight, it'll go off a lot quicker.

Once opened, refrigerate and use within a month.

Mix well before each use (tasty seasoning settles at the bottom). Use a clean spoon. Unclean spoons will contaminate your jar and result in spoilage.

Walthamstow, London, where we can carefully craft Má Châu’s family recipe.

It delivers a bold, warming heat, but not overwhelmingly hot (think fairly hot madras or balti rather than korma or vindaloo). It’s perfect for adding flavour and a kick to your meals.

Of course, it also depends on how much you use. We tend to only use a small amount but each to their own! The more you use, the hotter it'll be.

Má Châu's recipe uses traditional Vietnamese ingredients for an ớt sa tế, including vegetable oil, chilli, onion, shallots, garlic and a blend of seasonings (sugar, salt and MSG).

Châu prefers to omit Annatto seeds, which are often used in Vietnam for their red colouring. Some other authentic recipes traditionally include seafood flavouring by introducing fish sauce or dried shrimp. Châu occasionally uses those for small family batches but Má Châu's Chilli Oil is her classic recipe that's the family favourite!

Authentic Vietnamese ớt sa tế tends to be more like a paste in oil rather than crispy bits suspended in oil like some Chinese, Thai or Malaysian chilli oils.

Vietnamese ớt sa tế like Má Châu's Chilli Oil usually starts off slightly crispy with all the aromatics suspended in the oil but, over time, it infuses and melds into more of a chewy paste.

If it becomes too thick, you can add a little more vegetable oil and mix it in.

Yes. That's the beauty of artisanal small-batch chilli oil.

Má Châu's Chilli Oil is made following the same special recipe and method but there may be minor variations in colour, flavour or appearance between batches.

Variations can happen due to the natural flavours of the ingredients, the production process or storage and time. The amount of flavour ingredients have can vary. The cook time of aromatics might be a tiny bit longer or shorter resulting in a slightly more or less smokey/charred flavour or slightly more or less crispy, chewy or pasty texture. We try to ensure an even blend for each jar but, as we do everything by hand, some jars might have a little more or less of the seasoning and be slightly sweeter or saltier. If you leave the jar in sunlight, the oil might oxidise which can result in it going rancid and tasting waxy, crayon-like or stale (keep it away from sunlight!). Also, a good ớt sa tế will also naturally evolve over time.

Yes. Má Châu’s Chilli Oil is made from plant-based ingredients, so it’s suitable for vegetarians and vegans, and is also gluten free.

There’s a LOT of misinformation out there about MSG, so some fundamentals first:

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is simply the salt form of a naturally occurring amino acid, which your body already produces itself. Glutamate — the core component of MSG (monosodium glutamate) — is naturally present and produced in the human body, and it is also found in high concentrations in human breast milk.

Significant amounts are also present in a wide variety of foods.

The MSG that’s added to foods is produced by natural bacterial fermentation in a process similar to making vinegar or yoghurt, and is added to foods to augment the umami flavours in a way that table salt can’t. 

Many traditional Vietnamese recipes add MSG for that reason. It’s like adding common table salt but you get more flavour for less sodium intake.

So, yes, Má Châu’s Chilli Oil has a very small amount of MSG in it (and a small amount of Sodium Chloride - common table salt - too). Yum.

Má Châu's Chilli Oil does not contain any of the 14 major allergens recognised under UK food law. However, while we follow strict food safety processes, we cannot guarantee the complete absence of allergens due to potential cross-contamination in ingredient supply chains.

Typical nutrition per 100g:

• Energy 3044 Kj / 739 Kcal
• Fat 75.7 g (of which saturates 5.6 g)
• Carbohydrate 15.3 g (of which sugars 2.9 g)
• Protein 2.8 g
• Salt 0.4 g

You get about 160g of delicious aroma and deep savoury flavour in each of the 190ml glass jars.