Hi Veronica, you could add some oil to use it up, but it won't be quite as flavorful. I usually just scoop the dregs into noodle soups and such with a spoon.

Hi Carrie, I would not recommend it. The dried scallops are included to add amino acids to the oil, which creates the taste of umami. Fish oil probably won't have much if any amino acid content so you won't get the desired effect. If you can get dried shrimp that could work as a substitute, or if you're not opposed to using it MSG will work too.

Hi Oksana, I don't have a recipe for it, but fresh chilies are good for making Sambal Oelek (Indonesian chili paste) or Shatta (Syrian Chili paste). Thai chilies tend to be extremely spicy so while you could make a chili paste with them, it might be too spicy (depending on your heat tolerance). I usually like to chop Thai chilies up and soak them in vinegar with just a little salt and sugar. They if you store them in the refrigerator, they will keep indefinitely like this and as time passes, more of the capsaicin will leach into the vinegar. In Okinawa, they make a hot sauce by soaking whole chilies in high proof liquor. Ethanol is a solvent, and it extracts the capsaicin in the chilies very quickly. The traditional liquor to use is Awamori, but you could do this with vodka.

Hi Tammy, the scallops are there for umami, so you can sub in any plant-based alternative with a lot of glutamate or guanosine monophosphate (GMP). Some ideas include dried porcini powder or dried shiitake powder (both of these are potent so you won't need as much). You could also go with something fermented such as miso (though it will make the oil saltier).

Hi Patricia, I'm glad to hear you're enjoying this! Thanks for dropping by to let me know. Sounds like you need to get security lock for your chili oil😉

This oil is fabulous! I don't like hot, this is just on the verge of hot for me - I describe it to my friends and nice and warm. I use it all the time, but every time I serve it to friends, my jar disappears from my table.