Rayu substitutes

The genuine article from three pantry items, and better than most bottles.

Best for

gyoza dipping sauce, ramen and tantanmen, cold noodles and hiyashi chuka, mapo tofu and stir-fries, drizzling over rice, eggs or tofu

Warm the oils to just hot, around 250 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, then take the pan off the heat before adding the chilli, because pouring genuinely smoking oil onto chilli powder scorches it and turns the oil bitter and brown instead of clear red. Add a smashed garlic clove and two coins of ginger to the warm oil for five minutes then fish them out for a closer match. It will taste fresher and less mellow than aged bottled rayu, and it separates rather than staying cloudy, so shake before use.

The obvious swap and the one most likely to overpower the dish if you pour it like rayu.

Best for

ramen and noodle soups, stir-fries and mapo tofu, dumplings when you want them hotter, cooked dishes rather than delicate dipping sauces

Chinese chilli oil is generally hotter, redder and built on neutral oil with a heavy load of chilli and often star anise, cassia or Sichuan pepper. If it contains Sichuan peppercorn it will bring a tingling numbness that has no place in a Japanese dipping sauce and that most people notice immediately. It also usually lacks the pronounced toasted sesame perfume that defines rayu, so add a few drops of toasted sesame oil alongside it. Diluting with plain oil fixes the heat but not the aroma.

The thirty-second version, and it covers the part of rayu people actually taste.

Best for

gyoza and dumpling dipping sauce, finishing ramen, cold tofu and salads, rice bowls

Most of what rayu contributes to a dipping sauce is nutty sesame aroma with a suggestion of heat behind it, and this delivers exactly that. The difference is that undiluted toasted sesame oil is stronger and slightly heavier than rayu, which is cut with neutral oil, so use a touch less than the recipe calls for or the sauce will taste dominated by sesame. The chilli flakes will not infuse instantly, so the heat sits in the flakes rather than in the oil, giving occasional sharp bites rather than an even warmth.

Workable in a dipping sauce, wrong anywhere the oil itself matters.

Best for

gyoza dipping sauce mixed with soy and vinegar, noodle dressings, marinades

These are water-based pastes rather than oils, so they will not float in a glossy layer on soup or coat noodles the way rayu does, and sriracha brings sugar and a strong garlic note that reads Thai rather than Japanese. In a soy-and-vinegar dipping sauce where everything gets stirred together, the difference is minor and the result is good. Floated on a bowl of ramen it looks and behaves wrong, going cloudy and sinking instead of pooling on the surface.

The right chilli in the wrong medium, and often the best thing in a Japanese pantry.

Best for

ramen and udon, rice bowls and donburi, yakitori and grilled dishes, when you want heat without adding fat

Ichimi togarashi is straight ground Japanese chilli and is exactly the pepper rayu is usually made from, so the heat character matches well. Shichimi is a seven-spice blend with sesame, nori, orange peel and sansho, which is more complex and slightly citrusy and can be lovely, though the sansho adds a faint tingle. Sprinkled dry you get the heat and none of the richness or gloss. With sesame oil added you have essentially made rayu.

A related product rather than a substitute, and worth understanding before you swap it in.

Best for

spooning over rice, eggs and tofu, dumplings, cold noodles, topping grilled meat and vegetables

Taberu rayu means eating chilli oil, and it is loaded with fried garlic, fried onion, sesame seeds and sometimes dried shrimp, which makes it crunchy, deeply savoury and much more assertive than plain rayu. As a topping it is arguably better. In a dipping sauce the solids sink to the bottom of the dish and the garlic dominates the soy and vinegar, so if a recipe wants clear rayu, tip the jar and take the oil off the top.