The Beginning
The story of the chilli oil really starts in the 1980's, when Yok Chan and her family were living in Leyton, East London. Yok Chan's husband would buy Chinese chilli oil from the local Asian supermarket in Hackney. This was the beginning of the chilli oil fixation, as he would go through a jar every three to four days, eventually buying twelve jars at a time.
This routine went into the mid to late 1990's until one day, when looking to save money, Yok Chan looked at the ingredients and decided to have a go at making it herself. She used similar ingredients to the shop bought version at first, but after a while started substituting ingredients with her own. Combining and utilising her influences from Chinese, Malay and Sri Lankan food, elevating it to her taste.. and thus the first Yok Chan's Chilli Oil was born!