Organization of this document
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| Typical ripe frutescens pod |
Due to the enormous culinary importance of chiles (and, as is to be confessed, my affinity for them), this document is considerably oversized. To ameliorate, the following discussion is divided into three parts:
- Cooking with Chiles
The first part explains some peculiarities of my terminology, gives a general introduction to cooking with chiles and elucidates fundamental differences in chile cooking habits of America and Asia.
- Chile cultivars and usage in Latin America
In the second, I’ll describe cultivars of those four cultivated species that still mostly grow in Latin America, and I’ll explain their traditional usage. Note that Mexican cooking, which mostly relies on mild or medium-pungent C. annuum, is excluded. This section contains many pictures of specific chile cultivars.
- Chile cultivars and usage in Asia and Europe
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The third part is mainly devoted to the usage of chiles in Asia and is organized geographically, not by botanical species. Europe, although mainly a white spot on the global chile map, is also included as far as chile traditions exist.
[ Plant part | Family | Aroma | Chemistry | Origin | Etymology | Discussion | Bottom ]
[ Cooking with Chiles | New World | Old World ]
[ Capsicum pubescens | Capsicum baccatum | Capsicum chinense | Capsicum frutescens ]
Cooking with Chiles
The story of chiles starts several millennia ago in South America, but the details are shrouded in the mists of antiquity. The oldest archaeological evidence originates from the Andes, and it might well be that the enigmatic inhabitants of Tiahuanaco already chewed chiles whilst sitting in the shade of the Gate of the Sun. In the course of the time, a large number of different chile cultivars were bred in Central and South America, but is seems that none of these ever left the American continent before the arrival of Columbus.
When chiles were first brought to Europe by one of Columbus’ expeditions, they did not meet much interest, because black pepper (at this time first available in large quantities) seemed much more promising culinarily. Chiles were, however, welcomed by the locals in Portuguese and Spanish colonies and, within a few decades, chile became a fixed part in the daily diet of nearly all peoples in South and South East Asia. This was because other pungent spices were so much more difficult to cultivate (and therefore rather expensive, even in their countries of origin). Chiles, however, grow easily in the hot and humid climate in tropical Thailand, in the glowing hot desert of Northern India and also in the extreme cold and dryness of the Himalayas in Tibet. For a comparison of different pungent spices, see negro pepper.
According to botanical research, many or even most of all hot chiles belong to the species Capsicum annuum. Following botanical fact, I therefore ought to discuss all mild and most hot chiles in the article about Capsicum annuum and treat Latin American hot chiles separately in one or more additional articles.
Culinarily, however, it does not make much sense to discuss mild and hot species together, as their applications are wildly distinct. Moreover, for most countries there is a clear-cut distinction between “mild” or “slightly hot” on one side and “medium hot” to “very hot” types on the other side (México is as exception to this, as there are also intermediate types; Hungary is another). Thus, I reserve the term paprika for the milder types, up to the level of jalapeños (ca. 4000 Scoville heat units), even if they are commonly called chiles in other literature. This group comprises only cultivars from Capsicum annuum.
The term chiles, then, will be used only for fruits of significant
pungency, above jalapeño level. This term may mean
any of the five cultivated species; outside America, it will mostly also
boil down to C. annuum. The other domesticated species
are, as explained above, still mostly confined to Latin America; they
will hardly ever produce fruits that have less than 20000 Scoville heat units.
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| Chile-flavoured chocolate is recommended only for the most determined chileheads. |
Chiles may be used fresh or dried, ripe or unripe, cooked or raw; any way (that is my personal belief), they tend to make everything better. People who do not agree on this point simply suffer lack of experience and training. Some claim that chiles’ pungency hides more subtle flavours and that the fiery hotness suppresses all other tastes. I do not doubt that novices really feel this way, and that chiles really spoil a dish for them, but the argument is not directed against chile use, but against untrained taste buds. After some experience with fiery but tasteful food, most people develop the ability to discern subtle flavours behind the chiles’ heat, and actually I feel that chiles enhance and amplify the taste of other food ingredients.
Nevertheless, to the novice, a brutal burning in the mouth is certainly discouraging, and therefore, many people never try enough chiles to pass the initial barrier. Now, if you happen to get too much chiles, what is the best remedy against the fiery pain in your mouth, which reminds more of burning gasoline than anything edible? Drinks, especially when hot, sour or carbonated, must be avoided (that’s why I prefer hot tea to spicy food: It stimulates the taste buds even more). Some suggest bread against the burn, but my experience (well, my experience with my guests :-), to be precise) is best with diary products, especially yoghurt or cream.
Chile does not equal chile! There is a big difference whether chiles are employed green or red, fresh or dried, or fried or boiled. Fresh Chiles, particularly if unripe, have a biting pungency, whereas the ripe dried chiles taste more spicy and balanced-fiery. By prolonged boiling, these differences get blurred, but they must be kept in mind for all raw or short-cooked foods. Some techniques, like the Chinese method to brown chile pods in hot fat, can be realized only with dried chiles. For the lipophilic character of the pungent principle, capsaicin, the pungency is well absorbed in any kind of fatty or oil; fat-free hot food, on the other side, often tends to taste unbalanced (which can often be corrected with sweet and sour flavours).
There is an important difference in the cooking styles of Central and South America compared to those of the rest of the world: In Latin America, each region has its own set of many local, traditionally grown chiles differing not only in hotness but also, and more importantly, in flavour. Each of those chiles is used for specific dishes, where it contributes both pungency and flavour. This usage reflects the fact that, on one hand, there are besides several herbs only few American spices available (allspice; since the conquista also coriander, cumin and pepper), but, on the other hand, genetic diversity in chiles gives rise to a wealth of flavours, which is even increased by special postprocessing methods (see paprika).
In Latin American cooking, it is also very common to remove the seed-bearing veins and thereby reduce the pungency of chiles. This procedure does make sense, because it enables the cook to get more chile flavour without imparting an excessive hotness — most American cuisines are spicy but not fiery.
In Asia, however, chiles have a more uniform and hardly characteristic flavour. They are commonly employed for their pungency alone, and subtleties in flavour are controlled by a host of additional spices, which are readily available in the Old World, partly due to ancient superregional trade. Removing the veins is unusual: If you want less heat, simply use fewer chiles. Occasionally, deveining can be useful to get more colour per “unit of heat”. Although Asian breeders have created a large number of chile locally adapted cultivars, there is not much elaborate terminology, but the different varieties are mainly distinguished by size and hotness. By using some “conversion factor”, almost each chile can be substituted by every other as long as attributes like “ripe” or “dried” are retained.
In West and Central Asia, up to North India and Central China, one occasionally finds chile varieties with characteristic flavour; these are, however, specific for the region, not for one particular recipe. Yet in tropical South or South East Asia, chiles tend to have a flat, only-hot taste. Consequently, cookbooks hardly mention a specific variety but just ask for, e.g., “fresh red chiles”, and the cook may use whatever is available. It is absolutely no sin to employ Thai chiles for Indonesian or Tamil food, whereas a Mexican mole Poblano prepared from Bolivian ají amarillo would probably terrify Mexicans and Bolivians alike.
[ Plant part | Family | Aroma | Chemistry | Origin | Etymology | Discussion | Bottom ]
[ Cooking with Chiles | New World | Old World ]
[ Capsicum pubescens | Capsicum baccatum | Capsicum chinense | Capsicum frutescens ]
Chile cultivars and usage in Latin America
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| Ripe fruit of Capsicum cardenasii (ulupica), a wild chile of Perú and Bolivia |
The genus Capsicum comprises five cultivated and about twenty wild species, all of which stem from South America. All wild species form small fruits that usually appear in upright position on the plant and separate easily from the plant when ripe. The wild chiles have an intensive, fierce heat similar to Tabasco chiles.
Of the wild species, several are used culinarily, e.g., C. praetermissum in Brazil or C. cardenasii in Bolivia. Although much collected in the wild, there is also some backyard cultivation that can be thought of as the begin of domestication. In C. praetermissum, there is already a notable increase in fruit size due to human selection.
The species known as
ulupica in Bolivia (C.
cardenasii
Fresh, green ulupicas serve as a table condiment in the Andean cuisine of Bolivia, allowing each diner to adjust the heat of soups and stews according to his personal preference. This variety is very hot; its heat develops rapidly in the mouth, and also vanishes quite quickly, similar to Tabasco heat. Moreover, the ulupica has an interesting, fruity, unique flavour akin to the flavour of unripe tomatoes or green tomato leaves which is also remotely similar to taste of the rocoto (C. pubescens).
Of the five cultivated species, Capsicum
annuum is by far most important globally, and is the one almost
exclusively grown in Northern America and Europe. This species produces
both mild and pungent fruits; its botanical characteristics, and the global
usage of mild to medium chiles are discussed on a separate page. This page
goes on to describe the remaining four cultivated species, which are still
mostly grown in Latin America. Furthermore, it will describe the global uses of
hot chiles.
Capsicum pubescens Ruiz et Pavon
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| Rocoto flower |
The hardy Capsicum pubescens from the South American Andes is geographically quite limited. It was the most abundantly available chile in the Inca empire where it was known as rocot uchu “broad chile”, and together with kellu uchu (C. baccatum) and the potent chinchi uchu (C. chinense), it was the dominant flavouring in Incan cooking; in fact, the Incas hardly used any other flavourings.
Today, the Capsicum pubescens chile is generally termed rocoto and locoto in Perú and Bolivia, respectively, and chile manzano (“apple chile”) in México; a cultivar with yellow fruits is known as chile canario. The species has been put to cultivation in the highlands of Perú and Bolivia, and even today, cultivation outside that region is rare. It has been introduced to the tropical mountains in Central America (México, Honduras), and very recently cultivation started in Jawa/Indonesia as a pilot project (cabe gondol, cabe bendot, cabe Dieng); to my knowledge, it is not cultivated anywhere else except by hobbyists.
The C. pubescens cultivars
can easily be identified by their purple flowers, hairy (pubescent)
leaves and quite large apple-, pear- or egg-shaped pods with dark, almost
black, seeds. Among the other cultivated chiles, purple flowers are
extremely rare and essentially restricted to a few ornamental breeds
of C. annuum. Black seeds
are a unique feature of C. pubescens, not shared by
any other wild or cultivated species.
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| Rocoto seeds (bell pepper seed top right for comparison) |
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| Locoto pods |
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| Fresh rocoto chile pods. |
Botanically, C. pubescens differs much from the other domesticated Capsicum species. Its small distribution, lack of different pod types and the missing wild form provide a puzzling challenge to botanists, not to speak of the enigmatic black seeds. In more recent years, a closer relation to some Bolivian wild species (C. eximium and C. cardenasii) has been confirmed. It is worth noting that there are even fertile hybrids between the wild C. cardenasii (ulupica) and the domesticated rocoto.
For the cook, the rocoto is characterized by thick-fleshed pods unsuited for drying, a specific flavour, and widely varying hotness. The rocoto is probably the hottest chile still large enough for stuffing with meat or cheese; an example is rocotos bellenos from the Peruvian Andes. By removing or retaining seeds and veins, the pungency can be controlled.
There is considerable disagreement about the actual hotness of the
rocoto.
In addition to the usual variations due to climate and soil, there are
probably also individual differences: Because of its unusual spectrum of
capsaicinoids, some humans find rocotos extremely
hot, even hotter than habaneros, while the majority
would rate them only moderately hot. In South America, the
rocoto is known by a couple of quite ridiculous
names like levanta muertos (“raising the dead”)
or gringo huanuchi (“gringo killer”).
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While there is no wild form of the rocoto, all other
domesticated chiles have closely related wild forms. The wild forms have
small fruits in erect position that separate easily from the stem when ripe;
they are often referred to as bird peppers, as the ripe fruits are
eaten by birds. These wild forms may
actually be predecessors of the domesticated forms; in some cases, however,
is seems to be more plausible that the bird peppers were closely
related, but not identical, to the population out of which the domesticated
varieties were bred.
Capsicum baccatum L.
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Of the chile species Capsicum baccatum, at least two wild forms are known (var. baccatum and var. microcarpum); the cultivated form is often referred to as var. pendulum for the pendant fruits. The var. baccatum, also named bird ají, still grows wild in the Western part of South America and produces pea-sized fruits of high pungency; it is occasionally harvested in the wild, but does not have much superregional culinary importance.
In parts of South America numerous varieties of Capsicum baccatum var. pendulum are grown and often collectively termed ají in South American Spanish. West of the Andes, the ajíes are the most frequently eaten chiles, but they are also known in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. The baccatum cultivars display a large variability of pod sizes, shapes and colours comparable to the variety in C. annuum, but there are no mild varieties. The baccatum flowers always have yellow or green spots on the petals, which is a feature not shared by any of the other cultivated capsicums.
The most common cultivar is the golden-yellow ají amarillo which is known as kellu-uchu in Quechua. In the dried form, it is referred to as cuzqueño, named after the ancient Inca town of Cuzco. The ají colorado is basically the same chile, but ripens to a bright red colour. These two ajíes are the most characteristic chiles in Peruvian and Bolivian cuisine; for example, they are used to flavour a unique Andean specialty, cuy (broiled or fried guinea pig).
Although the baccatum species is not much grown outside of
South America, there is a certain type often found in the countries of the Old
World: It has characteristically bell-shaped three-lobed (occasionally
four-lobed) fruits which turn red when mature. In Portugal
and its former East African colonies, it is known as peri
peri and is often confusingly called bell pepper or
bell chile in other regions; another name alluding to the form
is bishop’s crown.
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| Ripe bird ajíes |
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| Peruvian ají colorado |
C. baccatum is cultivated since several millennia; the
oldest archaeological evidence is 4500 years old.
Consequently, human breeding has resulted in a large number of different
cultivars, most of which have characteristically shaped pods. The most frequent
types include spherical, lantern-shaped and broad finger-shaped
ajíes. Pungency varies between medium and hot,
but does not reach extreme hotness. In addition to their heat, the
baccatum varieties have a fine flavour, which often increases
after drying and then comes close to the aroma of dried fruits.
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Capsicum chinense Jacquin
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The famed species Capsicum chinense, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Capsicum sinense, was long known for the most pungent, yet also aromatic, chiles. Wild forms are known in South America and particularly in the Caribbean, where they have probably escaped from culture. This chile species is mostly associated with the Caribbean, where today the majority of cultivars is grown. Examples include the familiar Habanero in Cuba and Yucatán, Scotch Bonnet in Jamaica, Rocotillo on the Cayman Islands, Congo Pepper on Trinidad and Bonda Man Jacques (“Madame Jeanette”) on Martinique. Many varieties are named for their origin, e.g., Red Dominica, Jamaican hot or Trinidad seasoning pepper. There are also chinense cultivars from adjacent areas, e.g., the Datil from Florida and the Adjuma from Suriname (also growing on the Dutch Antilles).
The chinense species apparently was first domesticated in Perú, although today the Andes region is characterized mainly by C. pubescens and C. baccatum cultivars; chinense cultivars are comparatively rare in today’s Perú, but there are still several varieties grown locally in the Peruvian tropics: The most renowned cultivar is the red and very hot Chinchi-uchu, and a group of similar yellow chiles is referred to as ají limo. The ají panca is particularly worth noting as has the full chinense flavour, but comparatively little heat and pungency. A very unusual fruit shape is shown by a cultivar called scarlet lantern, whose top-shaped, pointed fruits turn from a dark aubergine purple to bright orange when ripe.
Several chinense cultivars have been introduced to Africa by repatriated slaves (Fatalii in the Central African Republic, Gambia and Safi in West Africa, Ose Utoro in Nigeria). These African cultivars are pretty hot; especially the Fatalii chile is true to its name and enchants daring eaters with extreme heat and great flavour. These chiles play an important rôle in the fiery cuisines of Western tropical Africa.
The entire chinense species is not suitable for cultivation in the temperate climate of Europe, although plants can be grown successfully by hobbyists. Chiles in general have become a popular target for hobby gardeners in the last years in the USA, and the trend seems to have transgressed the Atlantic Ocean already. The chinense cultivars are most rewarding for hobbyists, both because their interesting flavour and great heat and because of their many different shapes and hues. As tropical plants, the chinense cultivars like hot, humid climate, but they can adapt to a drier environment remarkably well.
In Asia, there are only few scattered chinense cultivars, most of which appear on the Philippines, where they probably have been brought to by the Spaniards from their Central American colonies. Till the year 2000, I have not heard of a single chinense species being grown in Thailand, Indonesia or India, although the climate would certainly be suitable, and I guess the fruits would please the local tastes. The Pakistani Dundicut chile, which figures prominently in Balti cooking, is often reported to be a chinense, but it is in truth a C. annuum. Yet the recent discovery of the super-hot naga jolokia from Assam has changed this picture profoundly. Finding more chinense cultivars in tropical Asia should not come as a big surprise, although I dare to predict that no Asian cuisine will be found depending on a specific cultivar’s flavour, as is common in Latin America.
Many C. chinense species are considerably hotter than chiles
from any other species — the official world record was subsequently
ceded from the habanero (300000) to the red savina (650000) and more recently to the naga jolokia (1000000).
In contrast, no non-chinense has ever be tested hotter than 150000 Scoville heat units.
It is less known that there are also comparatively mild chinense cultivars
e.g., ají panca and the rocotillo.
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| Red Mushroom, a habanero-type ornamental |
In the last few years, many ornamental chinense cultivars have been introduced to the market, and for most of them, the heat has not yet been seriously detected, e.g., Neon Yellow, White Habanero, Chocolate or the several mushroom types. Since these varieties have been bred with emphasis on their decorative value, many of them have but poor heat and/or flavour.
Yet there is an exception: The Chocolate-types, which are a group of
closely related varieties native to the Caribbean. Some of them, e.g.,
Chocolate Brown or Bahama Chocolate, have an
excellent flavour and an aggressive heat. Very recently, some Chocolates
have been subjected to HPLC and yielded spectacular Scoville ratings (400000
to 500000 SHU), which makes the Chocolate Habaneros some of
the hottest chiles ever tested.
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| Unripe scarlet lantern fruits |
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| Adjuma (falsely Ají Umba) from Suriname |
Another habanero-related chile that has fine fruit quality despite its ornamental look is the Peruvian Scarlet Lantern, which I found not so hot but very flavourful. There is also a new chinense breed designed to please not the eye but the palate only: Habanero Francisca. The breeders describe that chile as “blisteringly hot”. I don’t have any experience with this one, though.
Also C. chinense is a long-cultivated species (archaeologists have found a 6500 years old pod in Perú); consequently, human breeding has resulted in many different fruit colours (orange, red, brown) and shapes (more or less isometric lantern and squash shapes are most common, but there are also elongated and pointed cultivars). The flowers are small, greenish or white with purple or blue anthers; a single node regularly bears several flowers and even fruits, which is rare with other chiles (except C. frutescens, which is very difficult to separate by morphologic means only). A feature suited to identify C. chinense is an annular constriction on the calyx near the base, which almost all chinense cultivars have in common, but which is rarely found with C. annuum or C. frutescens.
Of the Caribbean
varieties, several (especially the habanero from
Yucatán) are traded in the US in fresh form; in Europe, they are
much less common, although the situation has improved in recent years.
Scotch bonnet type chiles may now be bought in most major European
cities, either in Delicatessen shops or in Asian or African food stores.
Irrespective of the exact botanical identity, all such chiles are very
hot and exhibit the typical delicious, flower-like scent that makes eating
them a unique experience.
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| Gambia from West Africa |
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| Fresh habaneros |
A particular application of chinense chiles is the production of hot sauces. Chinense-based sauces benefit both from the high pungency and from the floral flavour, which make them, in the opinion of many chile connoisseurs, superior to sauces made from other chile cultivars. A typical “hot chile sauce” is prepared from ground chiles, vegetables (tomatoes, carrots), salt, sugar, acidifiers (vinegar or better lime juice) and often additional flavourings like onion or garlic. Even when using very hot chiles, the heat value of the finished sauce rarely exceeds 10000 – 15000 Scoville heat units. Much higher, almost insane, heat can be achieved using chile extracts or oleoresins instead of chile mash; such “extract sauces” may be very hot indeed, even hotter than pure chiles! The hottest products available boast of several hundred thousand Scoville heat units. Yet purists often complain that extract sauces lack much flavour and may even taste artificial when compared to the milder but more aromatic “all natural sauces”.
The extreme heat of the chinense cultivars is of importance in Caribbean cookery; it is commonly associated with the cuisine of Jamaica, where local chiles bear names like seven pot pepper — probably to indicate that one pod is enough to flavour seven pots of food. Jerk paste, a famous spice mixture from Jamaica, makes use of these powerful chiles (see allspice). In most parts of México, habanero-type chiles are not so common; but they play an important rôle in the Mayan cuisine of Yucatán. They are often slightly crushed and steeped in sauces to extract their flavour, but not their pungency. See annatto for an example of habaneros used in a Mayan spice mixture, recado.
The Latin American specialty
ceviche, raw fish marinated in
lime juice and spices, is prepared with rather
mild jalapeño chiles in México, but in
Perú, it is made either with powerful ají limo
or with milder but still potent ají amarillo
(C. baccatum) chiles.
Capsicum frutescens L.
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| Tabasco-Chiles, dried |
The last and culinarily probably least important chile species is Capsicum frutescens, whose best-known cultivar is the South Mexican Tabasco chile. Other frutescens cultivars are spread over the Americas, Eurasia, Africa and the Pacific, but these chiles mostly play a minor rôle in local cuisines. A Brazilian variety, called malagueta or melegueta, is believed to be the wild form of this species. The malagueta chile must not be confused with the so-called melegueta pepper, which is just another name for grains of paradise.
Similar to the closely related species C. chinense and C. annuum, the cultivation site for C. frutescens is probably Southern Mesoamerica. Yet, the species still shows many attributes of a wild form: Its fruits are small and not fleshy, there is no variation in pod shape, and lastly the fruits drop off easily, to allow dispersal by birds.
Common features of all frutescens cultivars are their green flowers and their steeply upwards directed pedicles; also the small and pointed fruits keep their upright position until maturity. Yet, wild chinense species may look extremely similar, and considering only the fruit shape and fruit position, the so-called piquin types of C. annuum could also easily be misidentified as frutescens varieties. All frutescens cultivars are very hot, ranging typically from 100000 to 150000 Scoville units, occasionally even more. There are published Scoville ratings for the Tabasco that come close to 190000, which is the highest value I’ve ever seen for any chile that does not belong to the chinense group.
The Tezpur chile or naga jolokia from Assam/India, which has earned much fame since August 2000, was originally claimed to be a frutescens cultivar, although it is now firmly established that it is in fact a chinense and that it is indeed hotter than any other known chile.
Interestingly, the few cultivars of C. frutescens have never played an important rôle in the kitchen, as they are pungent but have hardly any flavour. The Tabasco chile may seem an exception to this rule, but remember that the unique aroma of Tabasco sauce mainly stems from the long ripening period in wooden barrels, not from the underlying chile material. Hot sauces prepared from chinense chiles are typically more aromatic than Tabasco sauce, although they lack the typical “fermented” tones of the latter.
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[ Plant part | Family | Aroma | Chemistry | Origin | Etymology | Discussion | Bottom ]
[ Cooking with Chiles | New World | Old World ]
[ Capsicum pubescens | Capsicum baccatum | Capsicum chinense | Capsicum frutescens ]
Chile cultivars and usage in Asia and Europe
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| Fresh unripe Thai chiles (prik ki nu [พริกขี้หนู]); although fairly hot, this cultivar belongs to C. annuum botanically. |
In tropical climate, chiles are available ripe in any time of the year. Therefore, in the cuisines of tropical South East Asia, they are much preferred fresh. In Thailand, “curry pastes” (prik kaeng or prik gaeng [พริกแกง]) are ground mixtures of chiles with other fresh spices (e.g., lemon grass, galanga, fingerroot, kaffir lime leaves); see coconut for details. Many Thai recipes testify to the intense relation between Thai cuisine and chiles; yet despite its often searing heat, Thai food is also aromatic due to fresh spices and a host of fragrant herbs. Examples are gai pad krapao [ไก่ผัดกะเพรา], stir-fried chicken with chiles and basil, and laab [ลาบ], (see mint), a Northern Thai salad that owes its fiery pungency to dried red chiles.
Chile-based table condiments are almost ubiquitous in Thailand. Most tables, even in small, cheap restaurants or private households, are equipped with a set of flavourings known in Thai as kruang prung [เครึ่องปรุง], often rendered in English as “four flavours” although the number might be larger than four. The minimum set includes white crystallized sugar, prik nam pla [พริกน้ำปลา] (fish sauce with finely chopped green chiles), prik dong [พริกดอง] or prik nam som (chopped red chiles in vinegar) and prik pon [พริกป่น] (red chile powder). The idea behind this selection is that the condiments should allow individual balancing of the four basic flavours in Thai cuisine, i.e., sweet, salty, sour and hot. The surprising thing is that the salty and sour condiments are also pretty hot, at least for European standards. Often, the set of condiments is expanded by toasted peanuts, prik siyu wan [พริกซีอิ๊วหวาน] (chopped chiles in soy sauce) or a more sophisticated sauce known as nam prik pao [น้ำพริกเผา] (“fried chile sauce”). The latter can be used both as a table condiment and for cooking; it is prepared from fried onions, garlic, chiles, pungent fish flavours and palm sugar. It is fiery hot, but because of the high proportion of oil, it does not taste as biting as other Thai condiments.
In Indonesia, cooking is very heterogeneous. Only in some regions, chiles are used liberally, though much less so than in Thailand: Western Sumatra (nasi padang, see also greater galangale), Bali (see Indonesian bay leaf and lesser galangale for an example of an Indonesian spice paste containing chiles) and North Sulawesi (cooking traditions of the minahasa people) are especially worth noting; see also lemon grass for a general discussion of Indonesian spice pastes. Rujak is an Indonesian fruit salad prepared with sweet palm sugar and fiery chiles; to me, this is an unforgettable culinary impression (see mango for details).
Anywhere in Indonesia, sambal, a red hot chile sauce, is provided at the table to adjust hotness level to one’s personal taste. Sambal may consist simply of mashed, salted chiles sambal ulek (spelt sambal oelek in the old Colonial Dutch spelling), but may also be fried or enhanced with trassi, the ubiquitous shrimp paste, or nuts or other spices; a popular recipe is sambal bajak. In Western Jawa, a variety of sambal is served with paracress leaves, which results in a tickling, exotic pungency. Sambal ulek is not a pure table condiment, but may also be used for cooking (e.g., for fried rice nasi goreng), although I found such use more often mentioned in Western cookbooks than I observed it actually happen in Indonesia.
Most Chinese cooking styles, as a rule of thumb, avoid too much spiciness;
especially Southern Chinese (Cantonese) recipes, which are most frequently
found in Chinese restaurants outside China, seem to abhor chiles at all,
although they are sometimes served as a table condiment in the form of
hot sauces and dips; la jiao jiang [辣椒酱] “hot pepper sauce”
is similar to Indonesian sambal ulek, but also
contains vegetable oil.
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| Chinese tientsin chiles are an important ingredient for Sichuan cooking. |
In Central China (Sichuan [四川] and the more Eastern Hunan province [湖南]), however, chiles and garlic are very popular and used in astonishing amounts. Dried red chiles are often fried in hot oil until dark brown, the oil (usually after removal of the chiles) then being used to prepare stir-fries. A very typical example of such food is la zi ji ding [辣子鸡丁], chopped marinated chicken which is stir-fried in chile-flavoured oil. The recipe uses about 20 g of dried red chiles per 100 g of chicken meat; moreover, the browned chiles are not removed but left to serve, although not eaten. Sprinkling toasted ground Sichuan pepper over the finished stir-fry adds a different flavour to the already very spicy dish (ma la zi ji ding [麻辣子鸡丁]). See also ginger for another example of a chile-laden Chinese recipe.
The most common grade of Chinese chiles, also used in Sichuan, is mostly known as la jiao [辣椒] “hot pepper” in China, but in the USA often termed tien tsin. That name appears to relate to the North Eastern Chinese province Tianjin [天津] where chiles are both grown and shipped to Transpacific destinations. A related variety is the Yidu chile (yidu lajiao [益都辣椒]). Native Western Chinese chile cultivars are the “facing heaven chile” chao tian jiao [朝天椒], a short, slim and pretty hot chile, and “seven star chile” qi xing jiao [七星椒], a milder, very flavourful chile that grows in clusters of typically seven pods. Chiles from Yunnan province [云南, 雲南] have a hotter reputation than the Sichuan varieties.
All these Chinese chiles, even the cheap la jiao grade, are well suited for the “dark frying” described in the above; good quality chiles have an intensive colour and can be used to prepare a chile oil of deep red hue, either based on bland vegetable oil or on dark Chinese sesame oil. In either case, the crushed chile is mixed with warm, not hot, oil and macerated for a few weeks. This chile oil (hong you [红油] “red oil”) is a perfect last-minute condiment; it is applied dropwise before serving or individually at the table; an example is the popular appetizer hongyou chaoshou [红油抄手], which contains of steamed dumplings (Cantonese wonton [雲吞], Mandarin hundun [餛飩]) served with a tasty liquid made of soy sauce, stock, sugar and star anise and a thick layer of red chile oil.
Another method of applying chiles is the usage of hot bean paste known as doubanjiang [豆瓣酱], a fiery paste prepared from chiles, garlic, fava beans (broad beans) and soy beans by fermentation; it is most typical for Sichuan cookery. When fried in hot oil, it releases both a full-bodied, pungent flavour and an intense red-orange colour. Doubanjiang is a cooking ingredient and not suited for being eaten raw; thus, it must not be confused chile-based table condiments in the manner of Indonesian sambal ulek or Chinese la jiao jiang [辣椒酱].
A well-known example of Sichuan cookery is mapo doufu [麻婆豆腐], spicy minced pork with bean cheese. For this dish, the pork is stir-fried together with doubanjiang and garlic and then combined with mild, soft bean cheese. Fermented black beans (dou chi [豆豉]), toasted Sichuan pepper pods, and a hint of sesame oil provide additional flavour. Another type of Sichuan foods are yuxiang dishes. The term yu-xiang [鱼香] literally means “fish spice” or “fish flavour” (also rendered as “fish-fragrant”); it denotes a dark and pleasantly spicy sauce made from fried dried chiles or chile soybean paste (doubanjiang), soy sauce, garlic, ginger and other spices which acquires a distinctly sweet-sour taste by some sugar and rice vinegar added. See also ginger and orange for other Sichuan foods.
Chinese hotpot (huo guo [火锅] “fire-pot”, referred to as “steamboat” in Singapore and sometimes called “Chinese fondue” in the West) is a delicious way of enjoying Chinese food and is often suspected to have originated from Mongolian communal eating traditions. A large pot of boiling liquid is placed in the middle of the table, and each diner cooks selected morsels (vegetables, dumplings, sliced meats or seafood) in the broth according to personal taste. The cooking medium is usually just a mild stock prepared from meat, but the Sichuan version (si chuan huo guo [四川火锅]) alters the design by providing two different broths with complimentary flavouring: A mild one (bai tang lu [白汤鹵] “white stock”) made from various meats and flavoured with ginger, scallions and sometimes dries seagrass, and a beef-based hot broth (hong tang lu [红汤鹵] “red stock”) that has a pungent hot-and-numbing (ma la [麻辣]) flavouring due to fermented soy beans, dried chiles, doubanjiang and Sichuan pepper. This double-flavoured version of hotpot is particularly common around Chongqing [重庆] in Eastern Sichuan.
In Hunan, the food is no less spicy than in Sichuan, although the cooking style is markedly distinct. Chile is mostly used dried, also coarsely ground, or even in fresh state. Chile oil and doubanjiang are not so common, although the cuisine uses a large variety of other fermented soy products. Foods are often heavily spices with chiles and garlic; fresh herbs (coriander, perilla) are another characteristic trait. There is a marked preference for acidic flavours, but less so for sweet or sweet-sour. Smoked meats are a signature flavour of Hunan cuisine.
Although Vietnamese food is only moderately spiced, chiles are always available as optional additives at the table, either fresh or in fish sauce (nuoc mam [nước mắm]), similar to Thai custom. See, for example, lemon grass for the Vietnamese hotpot, which is eaten with spicy dips and the ubiquitous fresh herbs. This applies mostly to the South; in North Vietnam, garlic replaces chiles as condiment.
In Japan, chile (tōgarashi [唐辛子, とうがらし])
plays only a minor rôle; it is less used than in
probably any other Asian country. It is almost never employed for cooking,
but table condiments containing chiles are served to specific kinds of food.
For example, dried chiles, either alone or in mixture with other spices
(shichimi togarashi, see Sichuan
pepper), are popular for spicing up soups. Another table condiment is
momiji-oroshi [紅葉 下ろし, もみじ おろし],
a mixture of radish (daikon [大根, だいこん])
and small amounts of
red chiles, which are grated together to a fine paste. This preparation is
canonical for a few dishes, for example sashimi made from
the infamous fugu puffer fish [河豚, ふぐ], which contains a dangerous neurotoxin
named tetrodotoxin (see wasabi for other, less
exotic, types of sashimi), and for certain soups and hot-pots.
On the bottom of the line, it
appears that chile hotness is more or less incompatible with the subtle
flavours on which Japanese cuisine in general depends (see also
perilla).
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| Korean clay pots used to produce various fermented vegetable products, e.g., kim chi |
In neighbouring Korea, though, chiles are much loved. They are either used fully ripe and dried (a red powder of bright colour and full heat), or in form of a chile-flavoured hot bean paste (kochu jang or gochu jang [고추장]). Containing glutinous rice besides chiles and beans, gochu jang has a smother texture and more subtle but milder flavour than its Chinese counterpart, doubanjiang; but in the worst case, one may substitute the other for cooked foods. Kochujang is used as a flavouring for soupy stews (jjigae, tchigae [찌개]) and sometimes also as a spicy dip. Besides chiles, sesame (both in form of sesame seeds and in form of dark sesame oil), garlic and ginger are Korea’s most prominent flavours. Korean cookery is, unfortunately, not much known in Europe.
The Korean term kim chi [김치] refers to pickled vegetables, which form an important part of Korean diet. Westerners most often think of kim chi as a cabbage pickle (which, indeed, is the national dish of Korea), but there are numerous other types. Recipes vary from household to household: Most popular is fermented cabbage version baechu-kimchi [배추김치] (a spicy Eastern variation of German Sauerkraut, see juniper), but other varieties derive their acidity from vinegar or are not sour at all. Second to cabbage, radish (of the type called daikon in Japan) is a popular vegetable for kim chi. Most types of kim chi are fairly hot due to generous use of hot dried chiles, fresh garlic and fresh ginger; sugar, soy sauce and, optionally, herbs or dried fish products provide additional flavour. Kim chi is often served sprinkled with dark sesame oil. It can also be used as basis for a rich soup-like stew (gimchi jjigae, kimchi tchigae [김치찌개]).
South Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine uses fresh green chiles, which are taken in
mind-boggling amounts for stir-fries and deep-fried lentil snacks. For curries,
dried red chiles are usually preferred; three large tablespoons for one liter
of curry is not unreasonable. Traveller, be forewarned (or attracted) by the
colour! I have found no other place in Asia where tourists that constantly
refused to eat local food than in Sri Lanka.
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| Suryamukhi cluster chile from India |
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| The dundicut chile is the traditional hot chile of Northern Pakistani cooking |
In Northern India, as well as in Central Asia, chiles are nearly always used dried. They are sold whole or ground at the market and are intensively fiery, intensively coloured and intensively aromatic; for most applications, they are fried in fat (see ajwain), whereby the pungency gets extracted and distributes uniformly in the food. In India, chiles from Kashmir (in the Northwest of India) have best reputation. I have not found a similar quality in Europe. The deep red colour (not orange as the stuff available here in the West) is comparable to the best quality of Hungarian sweet paprika, as is the fragrance; but the pungency is strong and pleasant. A mixture of high-quality sweet and very hot but less aromatic products will probably do best.
Not surprisingly, chiles appear in many spice mixtures: Indian garam masala and sambar podi (see cumin), curry powder (see curry leaves), their Ethiopian pendent berbere (see long pepper) and Arabic mixtures (baharat, see paprika and zhoug, see coriander). Far Eastern examples include Japanese shichimi togarashi (see Sichuan pepper) and the former mentioned Thai curry pastes (see coconut). For Mexican mole sauces, see paprika.
Other spice preparations are made entirely or at least dominantly of chiles. Besides the formerly mentioned Far Eastern chile condiments (sambal ulek), one must mention their Srilankan counterparts, also named sambol. A common preparation is katta sambol [කට්ට සම්බෝල, கட்ட சம்பல்], a rather dry mixture of dried fish, chiles and various spices (onion, lime juice and curry leaves). Other chile-based table condiments are US American “hot pepper sauces” (more correct “hot chile sauces”), which typically contain vinegar or lemon juice,