The Hot Habanero Chile Pepper

A chile’s heat is produced in the placenta - the sack under the stem - and carried in the seeds and veins of the chile pepper.

If you want to lower the heat and up the flavor, then simply remove the seeds and veins. Additionally, adding fruit will help lower the thermostat.

Or, if you want to crank up the heat, then chop the seeds to release more of the capsaicin.

When preparing dishes with chile peppers, some cooks protect their hands with gloves when handling the chiles.

Whether you choose to use gloves or not, it is important to wash your hands, knives, and cutting boards with soap and water.

And, whatever you do, be careful to not rub your areas during or after handling chile peppers. Capsaicin spreads like wildfire.

The Sandia Chile Pepper

Hot Salsa Recipe for Canning or Serving

6 serrano or jalapeno chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced

1 large onion, either yellow or purple, minced

2 medium tomatoes, chopped very fine

2 bunches finely chopped cilantro

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup, or less to taste, red wine vinegar

Mix all of the ingredients together and let stand at room temperature for at least an hour.

Keep refrigerated after use.

Chile Serrano

The Chile Serrano is a small, smooth green chile, mostly rounded but sometimes pointed at the end, with average size of about 1 1/2 inches long and just under 1/2 inch wide. As it matures, its smooth, bright green skin turns scarlet red, then yellow. Serrano literally means from the highland or mountain — where they are believed to have originated.

When buying fresh serranos, choose firm, heavy, smooth-skinned chiles that are dry (free of moisture). Store fresh chiles wrapped in paper towel in the crisper section of the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks or more.

The seeds and membranes in chiles contain most of the capsaicin, the compound that lends them their mouth-searing qualities. Use caution when handling these chiles. Serranos are hot enough to easily irritate the skin on the hands and it can be painful if their juice comes in contact with the eyes. Wear thin disposable surgical gloves while working with hot chiles, and don’t touch your face until the gloves are removed.

Serrano chiles are often used to add considerable heat to salsas and sauces and can be used with or without their seeds. While they do not need to be peeled, these chiles should be roasted before adding to sauces.

Varieties

Fresh whole chiles

Dried Serranos (Serrano Seco)

Chiles Serrano en Escabeche Chiles Serrano en Escabeche are whole serrano chiles pickled in vinegar with onions and carrot slices.

2 red jalepeno or serrano chilies, stems and seeds removed, cut in half

2 tablespoons minced ginger

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1/2 clove garlic

Pinch of salt

2 cups water, divided

Place the chiles, ginger, vinegar, garlic, and salt in a blender or food processor along with 1/3 cup of the water and puree until smooth.

Bring the remining water to a boil, add the puree, and return the mixture to a boil.

Remove, cool, and place in a glass jar.

This sauce will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator.

It takes some time, but you can collect hundreds of unique hot sauces as shown in the images below.

A nice wall shelf for you hot sauces will make your collection really pop!!!

Since many don’t agree on the measurements for each chile, we will use a rating from 1 to 10 from now on, with 10 being the hottest.

Dried chilies, pickled chiles, chile hot sauces, and even fresh chiles can be ordered online. Or consider growing your own. Chile seeds may be available at garden shops and are available online.

Here’s a list of the major types of hot chile peppers to use when creating hot peppers sauces and spicy recipes.

(7-8) The Aji Chile is fiery hot. It is fruity yellow and is from South America. The Aji Chile measures about ¾ of an inch in diameter and 3-5 inches in length.

(2-3) The Anaheim Chile, also called “California chile pepper” and “chile verde” ranges in color from pale to bright green. It is a mildly hot chile measuring about 6 inches in length and 3 inches in diameter.

(10+) The Habanero chile pepper is about 30 times hotter than the jalapeno chile pepper. This capsaicin-rich chile pepper is the hottest chile in the world. The Habanero is lantern shaped, 2 inches long on average and range in color from deep green, yellow, orange, red, to completely ripe crimson.

(6.5) Jalapeno chile peppers originated in Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. They are the mostly widely recognized chile pepper in the U.S. Ripe jalapeño chiles measure about 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter and 3 to 3 inches in length. They have medium hot, thick flesh. Red jalapeños are the fully ripe version of the green ones and have a sweeter flavor.

(9) Malagueta chiles are fiery hot from Brazil. These are light green to medium green in color and may only be available online.

(3-5) New Mexico chiles are related to the Anaheim chile. They are a medium hot chile pepper. These chiles are green when immature and red when mature, and they measure 6 to 9 inches in length and about 2 inches in diameter. These are grown most predominantly in New Mexico so they can often be found at the supermarket as well as online.

(7-8) Peruvian chiles are green, yellow, and ripe red chiles which measure about 1.5 inches in diameter and 2.5 inches in length. These chile peppers are quite hot and have a tropical fruit flavor. This one is hard to find. The Peruvian chile can possibly be found online but not in the local supermarket.

(3) The Poblano chile is a mildly hot green-black chile with a thick flesh which measures 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter and 4 to 5 inches in length. This chili is rarely available.

(7-8) A Rocoto chile is slightly fruity and very hot. It ranges in color from pale green to golden yellow to deep red at its ripest and averages 1.5 inches in diameter and 1 inch in length. This chile is not sold in US markets but can be cultivated by gardeners in the US.

(9-10) Jamaica’s most celebrated chile, the smokey flavored Scotch bonnet, is a yellow, green, orange, or red 1 inch long chile that resembles a miniature bell pepper. The heat of this one is surpassed only by the Habanero pepper.

(9) The Jamaica Hot looks remarkably like the Scotch bonnet and the Habanero, but it is harder to find.

(7) The Serrano chile is one the hottest chiles that is widely available in the US markets. But Habanero hot chile peppers which are much hotter, can now be found at many supermarkets.

(9) A Tobasco chile is about an inch long, intensely hot and range in color from pale yellow to orange to bright red. These are made almost exclusively into Tabasco Brand Pepper Sauce and are rarely available fresh.

(8) The Tepin chile pepper is very hot. It is the size and shape of a cranberry. Tepins range in color from immature green to orange to very ripe brick red. This pepper grows wild in the southerly regions of the Southwest.

There are several varieties of the chile peppers listed above. The hotness varies just a little from the main chiles listed above. There are also variations in hotness depending in whether a chile pepper is used immature green or ripe red.

It is important to learn a little more about chiles such as how to use dried chiles (there are some chiles not listed here which are only available dried), handling chiles, selecting and buying hot chile peppers and pepper sauces and much more.

Check back often for hot sauce and hot pepper how-to, tips and more.

Use your imagination because this type of hot sauce tastes delicious when used to spice up foods like holiday stuffing, pasta salad, guacamole, and more.

You can purchase this type of hot sauce in many varieties that are carrot based.

However fresh ingredients are always better. It’s even better yet if you grow your own ingredients in your greenhouse.

This is a very hot sauce. Use caution at first.

Habanero Pepper Sauce

• 12 habanero peppers, stems removed, and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup distilled vinegar
• 1/4 cup lime juice

Saute the onion and garlic in oil until soft; add the carrots with a small amount of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until carrots are soft.

Place the mixture and raw chiles into a blender and puree until smooth.

Don’t cook the peppers, since cooking reduces flavor of the Habaneros. Combine the puree with vinegar and lime juice, then simmer for 5 minutes and seal in sterilized bottles.

McIlhenny Co. offers a Habanero version of their popular Tabasco sauce at 7,000 to 8,000 SHU, making it the spiciest Habanero sauce they offer. Other Habanero sauces of repute are Dave’s Insanity sauce (80,000+ SHU) from Dave’s Gourmet, which utilizes extracts but not the pepper itself for it’s heat, and The Source (7,100,000 SHU) from Original Juan Specialty Foods. A habanero pepper sauce is a sauce that is not going to leave you wall eyed for choices.

13X Habanero Hot Sauce is the savior of many a bland dishes. This sauce is a rare find in the sea of habanero hot sauces on the market. It’s ingredients Sake, rice vinegar and lemon juice which blended with the fresh Habenero peppers and chilli garlic sauce to make this a truly unique and wonderful experience.

Blair’s Sudden Death Habanero Sauce is a smasher of a sauce. The ingredients are Red Habanero pods, cayenne chilies, white vinegar, soybean oil, pure pepper resin, clover honey, key limejuice, siberian ginseng, and spices. The limejuice and the clover honey combination produces that special ‘whack’ that rattles your taste buds from slumber.

Idiot Boyz Habanero Hot Sauce will take you on a roller coaster ride of taste. The closest thing that can come anywhere near of describing that taste of this habanero is a bumpy ride. Imagine a bumpy ride in a beat up old truck that’s smelling grease and making a lot of noises that, in no way, can be connected with an automobile. It’s afternoon and though you are inside, you cannot make out the difference of not being under the sun. You, try to take off your shirt but find that it has become so sweaty that it is clinging to your body. That is exactly how you are going to feel with this one.

A Habanero Pepper Sauce hots up your dishes like nothing else.

Chris McCarthy owns InsaneChicken’s Hot Sauce and BBQ Sauce Catalog. InsaneChicken’s Hot Sauce and BBQ Catalog also has a large selection of BBQ Rubs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_McCarthy

Use your imagination and you might come up with an award winning hot sauce recipe.

Habanero Hot Sauce

• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup of red wine vinegar
• 1-3 fresh or dried habanero peppers, depending on how hot you like it.
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt

Chop up the bell and habanero peppers, (or grind the habaneros if using dried). Bring all of the ingredients to a boil, and then simmer for 8-10 minutes. Finally, puree the mixture in a blender.

You can try these recipes without the heat.Simply eliminate the habaneros from the sauce mixture. You will still have a delicious red bell pepper sauce.

The hottest hot pepper known to man is the habanero. With a score of 300,000 on the Scoville scale, the habanero is only for serious hot pepper aficionados

The habanero is indigenous to South America the Yucatan and the Caribbean, but is grown all over the world for its fiery flavor.

For people who love spice a habanero can add zest to a recipe.

Habaneros can be used to flavor or “spice up” a wide variety of foods.

The Habanero hot sauce is an icon amongst all the various types of hot sauces that are available in the market.

Chili peppers are fruits of plants hailing from the Capsicum genre and Habanero happens to be the most spicy and hot pepper in this lineage.

The habanero pepper is a small lantern, round or oblong shaped pepper with small creases and the colors range from green to bright orange when ripe.

The habanero’s size can vary from 1″ - 2.5″ in length and 1″ - 2″ in diameter and it is the hottest chile on the Scoville scale, with an intense flaming, flowery flavor.