Camellia Oil

[nakji]

I've seen this oil for sale in the supermarket. It's quite expensive - at least as much as the imported olive oils. I read about it in Fuschia Dunlop's Revolutionary Cuisine, but haven't seen any mention of it elsewhere. Does anybody use this oil, and how do you use it? Is it mainly used for health reasons, or has it got a distinct flavour?

[RobertCollins]

I use it to final wipe my Japanese carbon steel slicer before putting it away after use and cleaning. I was told I should by the folks at Epicurean Edge a fine knife shop located in Kirkland ,WA.

Maybe I should taste it.

I did check in "Asian Ingredients" by Bruce Cost and in"The Asian Grocery Store Demystified" by Linda Bladholm; neither yield any listings at all.

edit: underline book titles

Edited September 27, 2009 by RobertCollins (log)

[liuzhou]

Camellia Oil (also known as Tea Seed Oil) is used both in cooking and as a beauty / skin care treatment.

It is a common cooking oil in Hunan, low in saturated fats and high in Vitamin E.

It has a mild almost neutral taste. I tend to use it in salad dressings where I don't want the stronger taste of olive oil.

For non culinary uses, I'm told it makes a good moisturiser and is good for the hair.

[Will]

Resurrecting this thread, since I'm somewhat interested in the culinary use of this oil.

The one I have (it is quite expensive, about the price of a decent olive oil) is the darker colored kind (it's kind of a golden color). The flavor and smell of the one I have isn't that neutral - there's a kind of pleasant aroma that I'd almost call "chocolatey" and maybe a little bit nutty. Mine's imported from Taiwan, and says (I believe) 茗茶油 on the front. It is made from a type of camellia plant, but not actually c. sinensis - it's c. oleifera

I have used it for stir-frying a few times, and didn't seem to react badly to high-heat, though given the price, and the fact that the bottle is designed to dispense oil slowly, I'm guessing it's intended to use mostly for flavoring. I haven't been able to find (locally, here in LA) a cheaper, more neutral one.

The article mentioned here:

http://www.fuchsiadunlop.com/chinas-artisanal-foods/ (note - once you click on the FT link once, I believe it will lock you out for quite a while) is mostly about camellia oil - definitely makes you wonder how much of the stuff on the market is genuine and expressed via mechanical means.

Curious about a couple things:

1) Am I right in thinking it will probably go rancid quickly?

2) Let's just assume that it doesn't bother me to waste money - is it bad to use this oil for high-heat applications as opposed to peanut oil? Could / should I blend it with other oils?

Edited November 11, 2010 by Will (log)

[Joe Blowe]

I use it to final wipe my Japanese carbon steel slicer before putting it away after use and cleaning.

I knew I heard about that somewhere before:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_oil

"Japanese tea seed [camellia] oil is used for setting the hair of sumo wrestlers and for tempura. Camellia oil is also used as rust protection for a variety of woodworking hand tools, such as axes."

[nakji]

For tempura? Really? I'm wondering if I should invest in a bottle now....

[Edward J]

You'll find camelia oil for sale in many woodworking catalouges, as many Asian--particularily Japanese woodworkers wipe down their tools with this to prevent rust.

I'm told the chemical makeup of camelia is very similar to olive oil. Both oils have a very nice characteristic of not going sticky/gummy when exposed to air--virtually every other vegetable oil goes gummy when exposed to air.

Never tried cooking with it yet...

[janeer]

What about its taste?

[rarerollingobject]

I use it on Asian salads..white cooked chicken, or Japanese cucumber salad, things like that. I think it has a cool, clean taste and I fancy that I can taste slight tea notes to it as well, though this could totally be my imagination, given that essentially tea=camellia.

[Will]

I think it has a cool, clean taste and I fancy that I can taste slight tea notes to it as well, though this could totally be my imagination, given that essentially tea=camellia.

Even though it's called tea oil (茶油) or tea seed oil, I believe it's typically a different camellia than the tea plant (c oleifera vs. c sinensis).

I have been using it on my carbon steel cleaver recently. Seems to work very well for that... after I wipe it off, it doesn't leave a sticky residue at all.

[rarerollingobject]

I think it has a cool, clean taste and I fancy that I can taste slight tea notes to it as well, though this could totally be my imagination, given that essentially tea=camellia.

Even though it's called tea oil (茶油) or tea seed oil, I believe it's typically a different camellia than the tea plant (c oleifera vs. c sinensis).

I have been using it on my carbon steel cleaver recently. Seems to work very well for that... after I wipe it off, it doesn't leave a sticky residue at all.

Hey, it's my delusion and I'll cling to it if I want to!

Glad you posted this though..was just pondering how to better maintain a carbon knife I've just had repaired and picked up this morning (a houseguest put it in the dishwasher!!) and will give the camellia oil a go.