This is a story I’m not proud of; can’t think of a parent who would be.
My younger son had trouble handling intense spices when he was a kid. To make family dinners simpler, I added whole Thai green chili peppers to our meals which I discarded before serving. This way we got the flavor but not the heat of chopped, fresh chilis.
Well, one evening, I forgot to toss the chili pepper. The tiny spice bomb made its way straight to my son’s plate. What happened next was like a scene right out of a slapstick comedy: my son’s face turns red, everyone runs around aimlessly, lots of glasses of water appear, someone feverishly screams “spit it out!” Basically, chaos ensues.
This incident always stayed with me as a cautionary tale about cooking with chili peppers. And a reminder to never underestimate their raw power, literally and figuratively. The biggest take-away is that raw peppers pack a lot more heat than cooked.
Know Thy Chili Pepper
We focus mainly on the spicy element of chilis and disregard their many other benefits, though there are many reasons to cook with peppers more at home.
Here’s what you need to know about chili peppers and why you should cook with them more:
- Bell peppers and piquillo peppers offer almost no heat. In many countries, like the United Kingdom, Turkey and India, bell peppers are referred to as capsicum.
- Capsaicin is actually the chemical that gives a chili peppers their spice.
- The level of spiciness is measured on a Scoville scale in SHU (Scoville Heat Units). The higher the number, the spicier the pepper. For example, a bell pepper would stand at zero and a habanero pepper would come in between 100,000 – 350,000 SHU.
- Chili peppers offer medicinal uses as natural pain relievers and antimicrobials.
- Nutritionally, chili peppers are known to boost immunity, offer cardiovascular benefits, and help fight certain cancers and type 2 diabetes. Most importantly, they are rich in a range of vitamins and minerals that are crucial to our diets.
- Chili peppers originated in Central and South America. They made their way to Asia and Europe via traders and explorers who saw their immense value. Today, they are just as widely used in Asian and European cuisines as they are in Central and South American.
With so much on the table (pun intended), you’re probably wondering how to add chili peppers to your healthy dinner recipes.
Fresh vs. Dried vs. Chili Powder
Fresh Chilis
Fresh chilis are abundantly available in the produce section of your market. Various colors of bell pepper and fresh, spicy green peppers (which turn red as they mature) are most common. Some specialty produce sections also carry orange habanero and a few other varieties of South American chili peppers.
Dried Peppers 
Dried pepper is a great way to expand the shelf-life and versatility peppers. They can be used whole or cut up for cooking. Dried peppers generally have a tough texture that’s not that edible as-is. It is best to use these peppers to add bold flavor to dishes like soups and braises.
Chili Powder
Any dried red chili pepper can be ground to a fine powder. Often the dry chili is roasted before grinding to bring out more flavor. In our part of the world, most stores carry bottled ground cayenne pepper and paprika, both made from spicy red chili peppers of the same name.
At a minimum, keep both of these spices on hand for delicious dinners like Carolina BBQ Pork Sandwich. Specialty stores often carry more unique ground chili powder for different regional cuisines.
Chili Paste
Many cultures use chili pepper in a paste form. Mexican kitchens keep Ancho-Guajillo chili paste on hand. Asian chefs will almost certainly use chili garlic paste and crushed chili paste for stir-fries and noodle dishes. Caribbean food calls for their famous hot chili sauce, whereas many American households keep a bottle of harissa in the fridge, the well-known North African chili paste.
Which brings me to my native cuisine, Parsi. Each region of India has its own version of chili paste, a bottle of which is always available to the home cook.
Here’s how I make my own Indian chili paste: if I can find them, I prefer to use dried Kashmiri chilis for their balance of color and spice levels. I soak roasted dried chili peppers, a few cloves of fresh garlic, and cumin seeds in cider vinegar for a day or so. I then grind this mixture into a paste. It keeps well for six to eight months. That’s instant flavor, always on hand.
The Best Chili Pepper Varieties for Home Cooks
It’s worth running through some of the best chili peppers you can find in stores, and how to bring them into your kitchen.
- Jalapeño: Perhaps the most versatile chili pepper in the fresh produce section, Jalapeños are mildly spiced and easily available. Chop them up finely to add to your favorite stew or curry.
- Serrano: Take the heat up a notch with this variety of fresh chili pepper, best added chopped to a dish at the end of cooking. I often use serranos as a substitute for Thai chili in Asian recipes.
- Thai Chili: These small fresh green chili peppers pack a punch. The unnerving part of using Thai pepper is that most of the time, you won’t be able to judge exact levels of spiciness until it’s too late. As the name suggests, they are found often in Asian cooking and available in most produce sections.
- Habanero: You can depend on this Central American chili pepper to be very spicy. Use it judiciously for salsa and sauces in delightful dishes like Jerk Chicken with Pineapple Slaw.
- Cayenne: As mentioned earlier, you’ll probably want to keep cayenne powder in your pantry as an all-purpose tool for a bit of spice in your dishes. If a recipe calls for chili powder without a specific name, it’s safe to reach for the cayenne.
- Paprika: This is a milder chili pepper from Central America and Europe, especially Spain. Use both smoked and sweet paprika to bring subtle spice to rubs, marinades and salad dressings.
- Poblano, Shishito, Hatch: Dab these varieties of pepper with oil and grill them until they have a light char. They are best served as a side with a sprinkling of fleur de sel.
Should I Remove the Seeds?
The real question is how much heat do you want from your chili pepper?
Most of the heat in these peppers comes from the seeds, which includes the pith, the white ribs, and the flesh closest to the seeds.
A simple way to lower the level of spice and retain flavor is to remove the seeds.
To deseed any pepper, cut it in half lengthwise. Hold the stalk end in one hand and use a paring knife to scrape off the seeds along with the white rib and pith. This brings down the heat and makes your pepper more versatile for cooking.
Wash Your Hands
It’s best to use kitchen gloves when handling spicy chili peppers. If you don’t have gloves, just make sure to wash your hands, twice for good measure, with soap and water.
If you accidentally touch your eyes, rinse them with water right away.
If chili peppers were not part of your home kitchen growing up, it’s natural to stay away from them. But think of cooking with peppers as riding a roller coaster; there’s always trepidation before you step out of your comfort zone. But the wild ride of challenging your palate with new flavors and diverse cuisines will make the journey totally worthwhile.
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Source: Munchery
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