Roasted Rapeseed Oil (Caiziyou)

Mala Market Exclusive PLEASE NOTE that this company stamps the PRODUCTION DATE on the front of the bottle. This is NOT the expiration date. The best by date of November 2026 is on the English label. If you've ever been in or near a restaurant kitchen in Sichuan, then you know the distinct and delicious smell of caiziyou, the cooking oil of choice in southwest China. Made from roasted oil seeds, minimally processed, it has a natural dark-amber color and unique, vegetal smell. As Fuchsia Dunlop puts it in The Food of Sichuan, "It has a glorious, toasty aroma that adds an extra dimension to chili oil and all kinds of dishes."   "Caiziyou," roughly pronounced "sigh-zuh yo," simply means vegetable oil, and in Sichuan vegetable oil has traditionally meant rapeseed oil. Rapeseed is the unfortunate English name for Brassica napus, which is known as you cai in Mandarin and yu choy in Cantonese. Yu choy is one of the tastiest Chinese greens and also produces bright yellow flowers and an oil-ric