aceite de achiote or annatto oil.

i have probably mentioned aceite de achiote in a few of my recipes by now.  so i've finally gotten around to actually explaining what that means!  i'd never heard of it until i went to ecuador.  but perhaps you have heard of annatto seed?  so, what i have been calling "achiote oil" is spanglish.  it would be aceite de achiote in spanish, or annatto oil in english.  i also see how this might be confusing...i'm not talking about oil from the annatto seed, but rather vegetable oil that has been infused with the annatto color and flavor.

in ecuador i was surprised to see that a lot of the cooking oil in peoples homes was bright red.  after some research (read the label and translated it) i discovered that people were using annatto oil.  interestingly enough, annatto seed doesn't have a very strong flavor (it definitely has its own smell that i can recognize by now though) but does give a glorious bright red color to everything.  also, my host mom told me it helps counteract the unmentionable intestinal side effects of eating beans.  yay!  but yes, why are llapingachos bright orange?  the answer would be this oil!

when i got back to boston i was dismayed to discover that aceite de achiote is basically impossible to buy even though annatto seed isn't ("ethnic" aisle).  after communicating this to my mother she made me my first batch!  its actually really easy and now i will teach you how to do it!


aceite de achiote.


ingredients.
2 c vegetable oil
1 c annatto seeds
(want to make more?  want to make less?  thats a 2:1 ratio kids!)

directions.
1.  place oil in a heavy saucepan and heat to about 350F.
2.  add annatto seeds and remove pan from heat.
3.  allow to cool and strain oil into a glass jar.
4.  store in the fridge.


i would show you guys a photo but my jar is pretty gross looking at the moment (had some renegade oil cover the outside forever).  next time i make it i'll try to remember to put a photo on here!