chapotraphouse

I'm gonna throw a completely different take into this struggle session: 菜籽油

If you can possibly source 菜籽油, a Sichuanese roasted rapeseed oil (not blindly exchangeable with canola, I'll explain in a bit). It's versatile enough to be used to make chili oils for hot pots, stir frying AND deep frying.

It is/was banned in the US and many western countries because a 1960's study found that if you feed rats 70% of their daily caloric intake in the form of virgin rapeseed oil, they develop heart problems. Also because it's associated with Indians and Chinese and it was the 1960's.

The Canadians found a way to cross breed turnips with rapeseed to produce a legally distinct and "healthier" product, CANadian Oil, Low Acid. This CANOLA oil is cheap but has basically no flavour. But under 2% erucic acid which makes it street legal in the US and other western countries.

菜籽油, on the other hand, is a mix between native Chinese mustard and European rapeseed. It's toasted before being pressed for oil, and is a darker, more flavourful oil than canola despite both oils being derived from rapeseed crossbreeds. But it retains high smoke points, can absorb flavours quite well (if you were making a Chinese scallion oil or chili oil, this is a good base, or if you wanted to make some homemade Laoganma, this is good). More recent studies have disproved the link between eucic acid and heart disease, so some online retailers have been able to stock it.

You don't need to worry about smoke points and olive oil pricing and whether or not you accidentally gave money to Israel because some of the olives came from a stolen Palestinian olive trees.

Some form of Brassica oil has been use in India, south east Asia, China and Japan for thousands of years. Pick up a Chinese roasted rapeseed or an Indian mustard seed oil.