It’s only been a few years since commercially made chile crisp entered the mainstream American supermarket, but since then, its popularity has spread like hot chile wildfire. In case you’re unfamiliar: there’s no vinegar in chile crisp like you’d find in a hot sauce. Chile oil and chile crisp are similar, but chile crisp has a higher ratio of particles to oil, including not just chiles but ingredients like onions and garlic, which remain crispy even after they’re drenched in hot oil during the cooking process. Worldwide megabrand Lao Gan Ma launched in China in 1997, while Fly By Jing, an Instagram-viral brand, launched via Kickstarter in 2018. It’s hard to imagine life before chile crisp. What other condiment works just as well on eggs, rice, and avocado toast as it does on dumplings or even soft-serve ice cream, delivering not just on flavor, but also texture?

We tried several small brands from Portland and the Bay Area alongside Lao Gan Ma, Fly By Jing, and Trader Joe’s, all served on white rice with fluffy scrambled eggs. Read on to find our favorite.

Best Chile Crisp

Mama Teav’s Hot Garlic

This Cambodian-style chile crisp is made in Oakland, California, using a recipe from Mama Teav herself, a Cambodian refugee whose son and daughter founded the business after years of working in restaurants. Testers loved the big, audibly crunchy pieces of garlic and the assertive heat. It was the unanimous favorite. It’s the second-most expensive we tried, at $16 for six ounces, and we think it’s well worth the splurge.

Very Good Chile Crisp

The Flavor Society Pizza Chili Crunch

We were curious how this Portland-made chile crisp could taste like pizza, absent any tomato sauce or dough. Yet it came surprisingly close. “Is that pepperoni?” one tester asked. A glance at the ingredients reveals herbs, garlic, onion, and paprika, plus yeast extract for a wallop of umami. All testers loved its unique flavor and would happily put it on rice, eggs, or avocado toast, though it might overpower more delicate flavors. If you’re looking for spice, though, you won’t find it in this one. It’s also on the pricey side at $15 for six ounces.

Sao Noi Ginger Chili Oil

While not technically a chile crisp, this Portland-made Good Food Award winner packs a concentrated, spicy punch, with intriguing depth of flavor. We tasted lots of sweet, caramelized onion, plus a hit of ginger. All our testers reached for more water to cool the spice. “That’s quite good,” remarked a tester.

Lao Gan Ma Chili Oil with Black Bean

Our food editor keeps this stocked in her fridge for its all-purpose, hot-but-not-too-hot flavor and low price. (We spotted it at $3.29 for a 9.88-ounce jar.) The black beans give it a hit of salty, funky umami, while the spice is present but not overwhelming. Try it on eggs, meat, rice, noodles, or—as the viral Internet suggests—vanilla ice cream.

Hot Mama Salsa Smoky Coffee Chili Oil

We loved the smoky, toasty notes of this Portland-made version. It’s moderately spicy, and it also has a hint of nuttiness thanks to sesame seeds. The coffee makes it especially appropriate for breakfast; we’d happily put it on eggs and bacon.

Okay Chile Crisp

Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp

You’ve undoubtedly seen ads for Fly By Jing all over Instagram—yet our testers were unimpressed, finding it both too salty and not particularly crispy. Some testers also weren’t fans of the pronounced spices, which included coriander and mushroom powder. What makes this chile oil stand out: it’s the only one we tried that had Sichuan peppercorn in it, giving it a pleasant tingliness. At $17 for six ounces, it was the priciest chile crisp we tried.

Chili Crisp to Avoid

Trader Joe’s Crunchy Chili Onion

While we appreciated the crunchy texture, we found the chile taste barely present, while the onion and garlic overwhelmed the flavor profile. The result is bland, boring, and almost gritty. We were also a little thrown off by the choice to use olive oil as the base (others use neutral oils like grapeseed oil, soybean oil, or peanut oil).