To extract chili flavor without unnecessarily increasing heat, the oil uses an age-old method. Chilis exude less heat when fewer cuts are made in them. Therefore, it is sometimes used to add these very hot chilies whole to a dish to extract all their flavor while retaining less heat. Chilis are halved before steeping and strained out at the end of the process since we strongly desire a well-spiced chili oil in this dish.
