Jump to content
Chapala.com Webboard

Bird chiles


Guest RevImmigrant

Recommended Posts

Guest RevImmigrant

Can we get bird chiles there? I had some in a dish in a restaurant a couple of days ago and they are really good and really hot. They're considered one of the hottest chiles in the world and have a completely different flavor from jalapenos.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Use piquin (spel?) they grow all over the place, the trick is to get them before the birds get them. I use them in all Thai and Vietnamese food I make. I would not use Jalapeño . If you cannot get them use habaneros but in smaller amount. I have also used chilei arbol or serrano also diffeernt but closer than jalapeños.

The hottest chilis in the world are habanero or scotch bonnets not bird chiles .

The heat index on habaneros is 10, the jalapeño´s 5.5

If you can find chiles machos the heat index is 9 but I have not seen them up here only in Yucatan and Oaxaca

serranos are 7

The Thai bird chiles are rated 7 / 8

Tabascos 9

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are referring to the small chiles that are red and very small they grow wild everywhere here Lakeside. Mine don't currently have any fruit. They do sell them locally, I don't remember where. I believe I saw dried ones in Soriana.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the tianguis has the dry one but I have not seen the fresh ones there for sell. As you say they are everyhere as they are propagated by the bird. The pretty birds with yellow/ green or red chests are crazy about them, eat them poop the seeds and the seeds germinates all over the place. Right now I have very small green ones but no reds yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, chilis... I was wondering if Bird Chiles was a new blues tune...

Here's an interesting quote from Wiki:

In 2007, Guinness World Records certified the Bhut Jolokia as the world's hottest chili pepper, 401.5 times hotter than Tabasco sauce.[12] Since then, the Infinity chilli, Naga Viper pepper, Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper and Trinidad Moruga Scorpion have surpassed the Bhut Jolokia's Scoville rating.

855,000–1,463,700 Scovilles: Naga Viper pepper,[8] Infinity Chilli,[9] Bhut Jolokia chili pepper,[10][11] Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper. 100,000–350,000 Scovilles: Habanero chili,[14] Scotch bonnet pepper,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes , my husband was telling me about the hottest since he drinks a bottle of habanero sauce in a day or so...he is always looking for hotter..since I hve never seen any for sale here and I am not about to order seeds we will have to stick with hot habneros.

The first time I hd some years ago in Yucatan I took the seeds out to grow some back home, I ended up with blisters on my fingers so I will stick with that mild variety...

I love to read that one of them is used to repel elephants......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest RevImmigrant

Thank you all for your response. I bought some slender red chiles (dried) to bring home with me and also some powdered red chiles in a bag to bring home (I think they are the same as the whole dried ones). I asked the girl at this store if bird chiles come in cans or dried, but I'm not sure she understood me. The ones they had in this dish, tom yum soup with shrimp, were small green chiles and tasted nothing like jalapenos and were alot hotter. I wouldn't use jalapenos in an Asian hot and spicy dish; I've used chile arbol and they're fine.

Greetings from Bangkok, Thailand, the land of good food! It's so good that I've gained weigh, which I didn't need, since I've been here a little over a week. The food in Singapore was good too. I'm looking forward to Chengdu, pandas and good Sichuan food!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While shopping in Joco today, I went into small place I'd walked by forever. About 1/2 block from market on street that runs in front of market. They have all varieties of chilis and beans. I got some Yahualica to try in beans. They have 3-5 different heat ranges. Also piquins, etc. Crushed up and added to leftover beans. I only used a couple of pods as I had no idea. Subtle but tasty, spicy addition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The ghost chili comes in at over 1,000,000 scoville units much hotter than the habanero. Would love to find those!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
Guest RevImmigrant

Spinner, what street is this place on?

After I left Thailand, I went to Chengdu in Sichuan province, China. I was actually disappointed in the food somewhat. It's not as hot as I've had elsewhere. I did bring back some dried Sichuan chiles and a jar of traditional Sichuan chile sauce, which was quite salty, but not all that hot and has a coarse texture. I also got some small dried red chiles in a grocery store in the silk and pearl market in Beijing. I haven't tried them yet. The Sichuan chiles are pretty hot; I find them to be hotter if I cut them up into smaller pieces (the Chinese tend to leave them whole).

I think the way they do the chiles here (fry them, then pure them in a blender) makes for a hotter sauce than just using the whole chiles. You can call it fusion cuisine - make a Chinese dish with the Mexican method of using the chiles and adding a few whole ones for appearance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...