Cooking With Chilies: A Guide to Fresh and Dried Chile Peppers, Heat, and Flavor
Chile peppers can be sweet, grassy, fruity, smoky, earthy or intensely hot. Heat is only one part of what they contribute to food, which is why choosing the right chile matters as much as deciding how spicy you want the dish.
Capsicum peppers originated in the Americas and spread around the world after European contact, eventually becoming essential ingredients in cuisines throughout Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
Understanding Scoville Heat Units
Scoville Heat Units, or SHU, describe chile pungency. The original Scoville test depended on sensory dilution; modern measurements can quantify capsaicinoids instrumentally and relate those results to the Scoville scale.
Heat varies within a variety because genetics and growing conditions both matter. Treat published SHU numbers as ranges, not a guarantee that every pepper will taste equally hot.
Where Is the Heat in a Chile Pepper?
Capsaicin is concentrated mainly in the pale internal tissue that holds the seeds, not inside the seeds themselves. Seeds can become coated with capsaicin because they touch that tissue.
Removing the seeds and especially the pale inner membranes can reduce heat, but it will not make every hot pepper mild. Wear gloves when handling very hot chiles if your skin is sensitive, wash tools and hands thoroughly, and keep chile residue away from your eyes.
What Helps When Chile Heat Burns?
Water does a poor job of removing capsaicin from your mouth because capsaicin does not dissolve well in water. Dairy foods can be more soothing, and fatty or starchy foods may also help. The goal is to disperse and remove the capsaicin rather than literally neutralize it.
How to Choose Fresh Chiles
Look for peppers that are firm for their variety, with sound skin and no large soft or moldy areas. A chile does not need to snap in half to be fresh; thin-walled and mature peppers naturally have different textures.
Green peppers are not automatically inferior to red peppers. Ripening changes flavor, sweetness and aroma, but many dishes intentionally depend on the grassy character of green chiles.
Bell Peppers
Bell peppers contain little to no capsaicin and are valued for sweetness, crunch and color. Green bells have a more vegetal flavor; fully ripened colors are generally sweeter.
Poblano Peppers
Poblanos are relatively mild, broad-shouldered green chiles often roasted and peeled for dishes such as chiles rellenos. Peeling is useful after charring when you want a smoother texture, but it is not mandatory for every preparation.
When dried, a ripe poblano is known as an ancho chile. Try fresh poblanos in Authentic Mexican Chile Rellenos.
Anaheim and New Mexico Chiles
Anaheim-type chiles are generally mild to moderately hot and are often roasted. They can be used green or allowed to ripen red. New Mexico chile cultivars span a broad range of heat and flavor, so the label on the particular chile matters.
Roasted Anaheim chiles
Jalapeño and Serrano Peppers
Jalapeños are widely used fresh, roasted and pickled. Serranos are usually smaller and hotter, with a bright fresh flavor that works especially well in salsa and guacamole.
Try jalapeño in Corn Salad with Queso Fresco or Molcajete Salsa. Serrano works well in Authentic Guacamole.
Fresno Chiles
Fresno chiles ripen from green to red and can resemble jalapeños, but they are a distinct cultivar. Ripe red Fresnos are useful in salsas, sauces and dishes where you want fresh chile heat with a fruity flavor.
Try them in dishes such as Thai Salmon Noodle Bowl.
Cooking With Dried Chiles
Good dried chiles should generally be aromatic and free of mold or insect damage. Many larger dried chiles remain somewhat flexible, while very small thin chiles can be naturally brittle.
Size is not a dependable heat rule. Some small chiles are extremely hot, but heat depends on variety, not simply whether the pepper is large or small.
Depending on the recipe, dried chiles may be stemmed and seeded, lightly toasted, soaked until pliable and blended into sauces. Others are ground into flakes or powders.
Chipotle Peppers
A chipotle is a ripe jalapeño that has been smoked and dried. It can be purchased whole and dried, ground into powder or canned in adobo sauce. For a complete guide, see Cooking With Chipotle Peppers.
Chile Flakes and Paprika
Crushed red pepper flakes can be made from blends of dried peppers rather than cayenne alone. Paprika is made from dried Capsicum peppers selected for different levels of sweetness, color, heat and smoke. Sweet, hot and smoked paprika are therefore not interchangeable in every dish.
Jarred and Canned Chiles
Roasted peppers, pickled jalapeños, canned green chiles and chipotles in adobo are pantry shortcuts with different flavors and moisture levels. Taste the product before adding extra salt, acid or heat because the packing liquid may already provide those elements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are red chiles always hotter than green chiles?
No. Color indicates ripeness in many varieties, but heat depends on the variety and individual pepper. Ripening often changes sweetness and fruitiness more predictably than it changes heat.
Does removing chile seeds remove all the heat?
No. Removing the seeds and especially the pale internal membranes can reduce heat, but capsaicin remains elsewhere on the interior surfaces.
Are dried chiles hotter than fresh chiles?
Not necessarily. Drying concentrates flavor because water is removed, but perceived heat depends on the chile variety, amount used and how it is prepared.
Still hungry? These recent recipes are ready when you are.
More Deliciously Yummy Recipes
- How to Build and Care for an Indoor Succulent Dish Garden
- How to Make Fruit a More Satisfying Snack
- Gluten-Free Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake French Toast with Homemade Apple Syrup
- Gluten-Free Linguine with Roasted Garlic Ricotta, Lemon and Basil
- How to Build More Flavor: Spices, Aromatics, Fat, and Finishing Techniques
