10 chili peppers and chillies to make your dishes more spicy: how to distinguish them, how to use them and how to rectify them

El spicy is one of those flavors that leaves no one indifferent; Or you love it, or hate it. I particularly believe that virtue lies in the middle ground and that a moderate dose of spice enhances some dishes, making them more fun and also tasty.

There will be those who cannot conceive of a world without spicy and there will be those who consider that spicy leaves their taste buds so out of play that they no longer perceive what they are tasting. Possibly both are right and it is that, about tastes, the flavors.

But if you are fond of spicy or want to implement it in your kitchen, today we are going to give you a few tricks and ingredients to know how to enhance the ‘fire’ of your recipes. We can go beyond the classic native Cayenne chillies and paprika, which are the usual forms with which we have spiced up Spanish cuisine.

Let’s think like this, for example, of some tripe Madrid style, some wild potatoes, Padrón peppers, Canarian mojos, snails and, of course, any recipe in which we end up slipping a chilli pepper, which usually goes well with garlic, such as these mushrooms or this beef stew.

The truth is that we are not a culinarily very picky nation, reason why between America, Africa and Asia we have learned to add more intensity to our dishes. So as not to be too brave, today we are going to tell you how to gradually add spice to your kitchen, either with sauces, peppers or spices.

Mexico, India, Thailand (although all of Southeast Asia matters) are three of those almost volcanic epicenters where the spicy roams freely beyond its possibilities and that, when we try it in a restaurant, always end up softening. We already know, the one who warns is not a traitor, so let’s get into the kitchen.

Fresh or dry?

Photos In Fresh Or In Dry

In Spain, beyond the chilli pepper, the cayenne pepper, some dried peppers such as choriceros and ñoras (and not all are hot) or hot paprika we do not find a universe too hot. Reason why Mexicans or Indians give us soups with a sling as far as pica pica is concerned.

In the fresh section we know above all the chillies, that we usually pickle and add mainly as a raw ingredient at the end of the dish. Thus, let us think of the chillies with which we can accompany a vegetable stew, such as stewed lentils, or the Basque tradition of accompanying Tolosa beans with the famous Ibarra chillies, also called piparras.

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Dry things change, especially where the chillies and cayenne peppers are -which are not exactly the same- and where the flavor is enhanced. The point is that peppers are hot due to the presence of capsaicin (a natural oleoresin that occurs in the Capsicum genus, which includes peppers, chili peppers and chili peppers) in them and the more it dries, the more concentrated it is.

This is why a dry pepper will always be hotter than a fresh one, so when we see recipes that include chili peppers or peppers, we must be clear about how the pepper is, because one of the two options can multiply the spiciness. This does not mean that the green ones do not bite, of course, but they will itch less and, above all, they can be lighter if you go to the next section.

Itchy?

Itchy Photo

We mammals have the bad luck -or the advantage- of have capsaicin receptors in our mouths, so we will feel the spice of what we taste. Other animals, for example birds, do not have these receptors developed, so don’t be surprised to see a chicken casually eating the seeds of a hot pepper.

With the seeds we have come across to clarify what exactly is itchy in the peppers: the part that concentrates the most capsaicin are these seeds, while the veins or nerves (the white parts of the pepper) would go later, the meat being the least spicy.

In this way, if you want to unbrave your hot peppers you just have to do without seeds and nerves, which will be the usual trick to avoid too powerful spicy.

Like almost everything that has to do with the palate, relativity is the order of the day and what for some itches to rage, for others it can be a subtle sea breeze. However, to reach a certain consensus, there is the Scoville scale, which measures the degree of spiciness of the peppers based on their capsaicin and which we have already told you about.

To simplify it a lot, we will tell you that a bell pepper has zero Scoville units (it does not itch); while hot pepper (paprika) has between 100 and 500 units; the poblano pepper has about 1.500 units; which increase with, for example, jalapeno (up to 8,000 Scoville units), the Padrón pepper (between 2.000 and 5.000 units) or very powerful degrees of heat such as the habanero (more than 30.000 units) or the tabasco pepper, which also has around 30.000 units.

Beyond there are crazy things like the Carolina Reaper or the Naga Jolokia, which exceed 100.000 Scoville units and that they are only suitable for people with a very high tolerance for spicy.

Correct excess spicy

Photo Correct

Going too slow is one of the most unpleasant things when we cook, whether it’s salt, fat or, in this case, spicy. Food should not be thrown away -as a general rule- if we go too far with the intensity of the spiciness, although for that we always remember that we must add according to our tolerance and try at each step. That said, if we find that we don’t start, we can fix the dish with a few tricks.

  • Add broth. It is the simplest solution for stews, stews, soups or creams. Add broth, bring it back to a boil -not much, because we don’t want to re-concentrate the spicy- and you will have nuanced its power.
  • Dairy to power. When we bite into a hot pepper we don’t have to drink water, but eat bread or have dairy products. The fat of these neutralizes -it does not work miracles- with the spicy, but it can help us. In the case of soups and creams, it is easy to add cream or milk – the fattier the addition, the more it will soften the dish. In the case of stews and stews we don’t want to change the texture as much either, but you can rectify it by adding grated cheese.
  • A touch of oil. Capsaicin does not dissolve in water -that is why water does not remove the itching, but multiplies it because it spreads throughout the mouth-, but it is oil-soluble, so you can add olive, sunflower or sesame oil to your dish to smooth the itch. Always trying to make sense of the rest of the dish, of course.
  • Nuts on the attack. They are also loaded with fat, which allows the capsaicin to dissolve and become less concentrated. That is why it is common in Southeast Asian cuisine to balance the spices with peanuts or cashews. If your stew goes too far, mash up a few nuts and add them to the bottom.
  • Sweet vegetables. Let’s go to the balance with sweet potatoes, potatoes, pumpkin or carrot. They absorb excess broth well and the transfer of natural sugars from these vegetables will offset the spiciness of the stew.
  • Rectify acidity. Lime, lemon, orange and even grapefruit can help revive a spicy cream or soup, and the classic touch of vinegar can help alleviate excess itching. The reason is that the high pH levels of the acids counteract the capsaicin, which is an alkaline oil.

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Frequent peppers, from smallest to largest:

Photos Mexican Chiles

We have ended up baptizing them as peppers or chillies, although the most correct thing is to call them chiles, which is what a Mexican would call them, or chili peppers. The list can really be eternal and not in our country we find all types. The usual thing is to see dried pepper, although more and more fresh options are seen.

It is worth mentioning that the word ‘chilli pepper’ does not really define a species or variety, but rather it is just a synonym for chili (in South America) or chili (in Central America), so we do not openly refer to any hot pepper as chili because it would be a mistake. With that said, let’s go to the kitchen.

  • Poblano or ancho chili. It is the friendliest of the Mexican chiles and also, among the hottest, the largest. It is common that it is used as the base of the recipe (as we would use some peppers in Spain to stuff) such as chiles en nogada. It is not very hot, we would say a little less than a Padrón pepper, so it is good to give a point of strength to a sauce that you want to stir up, such as that of a Biscayan sauce or that of a stew.
  • Photo Chile Ancho Poblano
  • Jalapeño: We often see it fresh, but if they are dried and smoked we will get chipotle peppers. It is very aromatic, with a moderate to high spiciness, not very long (about five centimeters) and they are very common in Mexican cuisine both as an appetizer and laminated. Sometimes they are stuffed and we can also find them pickled. It’s affordable, easy to find, and the best way to add heat without too much vehemence to our dishes. A good chili to start.Photo Jalapeno Shortened
  • Serrano Together with the tomatillo, it forms an indispensable part of the so-called Mexican green sauce. They are green, elongated and hotter than jalapeños -so it is good to go up the spiciness-. Raw they have a herbaceous flavor and offer a tough bite. It is common to see it dry, although I find it more useful raw because the itching is more punctual and it is not so intense that it aromatizes the rest of the dish. It is also frequently used in guacamole or to make aguachiles.Photo Chile Serrano
  • Cayena. It is named for the capital of French Guiana. It is quite spicy, very common in our kitchen, although we do not usually use more than one per dish and it goes well with all kinds of recipes, from fish to sautéed or stewed. For dressings we can use it to infuse oils, which will go well with sauces, pizzas or salads. It is very common to see it powdered or crushed in the form of flakes. In this case, the one that comes in flakes is more aromatic, while the crushed one is somewhat more disjointed in stews.
  • Cayenne
  • Tabasco chili. Although it has been popularized by the famous sauce, the reality is that Tabasco is a chili by itself of the Capsicum Frutescens variety. It is not usual to see it fresh, but it is common to find seeds of it. It is mostly used fresh because it is quite juicy, juicier than most chili peppers, which is why it is easily made into a sauce. It has an intense spiciness and it is convenient, if it is fresh, to start using only its meat until you find the desired spiciness point.Photos Chile Tabasco
  • Habañero pepper. It is one of the hottest chilies within the easy to find. It is very easy to recognize it by its convex shape and by being yellow or orange when fresh. Here we are going to a spicy for professionals, so you have to be careful with its use. It can be found dry, where we will see it very reddish, and it will be even more spicy. It’s easy to confuse it with the scotch bonnet, another slightly domed pepper that’s also very hot.Photo Habanero Peppers
  • Yellow. We are going to South America with the yellow pepper, a great protagonist of dishes such as chicken with yellow pepper, the pinnacle of Peruvian cuisine. It is a pepper that we can find fresh, but also and more commonly converted into paste or powder. The fresh one is more spicy because the usual thing in which it goes in paste or powder is that the seeds have been removed. The homemade sauce is easy to make, since you only have to crush the pepper with a little olive oil. Without seeds it is very aromatic and not very spicy; with them it gains intensity, but it is tolerable. Physically it is easy to recognize because of its color and because it is straight and elongated, about seven centimeters.Photo Yellow Aji
  • Limo. It is much hotter than yellow and belongs to the Capsicum chinense family. It is used above all fresh to flavor ceviches and tiraditos. It is elongated but slightly convex and you will find it ripe in yellow, orange and red.Foto Ajilimo Yakumanka

Several examples of chili limo.

  • Bench. Ají panca is the great Peruvian dried chili. When raw, it is quite thick and very fruity, so when dried it can be easily rehydrated. It’s mild and not overly hot by Latin standards, though it’s hotter than a jalapeño—provided we eat the seeds. As it is very aromatic, it is most common to find it in Spanish-Peruvian cuisine simply as a flavoring agent and to add color and flavor. It is common to use it in marinades, anticuchos, marinades and some dishes such as carapulcra or pachamanca.Photo Ajipanca
  • Rocoto. It belongs to the Capsicum pubescens family and of the Peruvian peppers that we see in our country it is the most powerful. It is common to see it in sauces, stews and mayonnaise, where it provides a rather nasal spicy point that is compensated by the juiciness of the pepper itself. Having enough water, it is common for it to be turned into paste, taking the opportunity to dissolve it in broths, stocks or directly in the sauce. As it has a good size, it is also often seen as a base for the stuffed rocoto.Foto Chile Rocoto
  • bird’s eye It is the great Asian chili par excellence. It is extremely spicy, both fresh and dry, although the most common is to see it in this option in our country. It is very aromatic, with a great aftertaste and has a floral character that makes it addictive for those who support it. Curries and all kinds of woks and sautéed are the usual recipes for this chili that are big words.Birdeye
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Anna Evans

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