Night Elf Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 How hot is it? Super hot? or Mild hot? I'm getting a penne pasta dish in my Hello Fresh box in a couple of weeks that includes that pepper. I don't know how hot I want that pasta! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 (edited) Totally depends on your tolerance of heat. It is not super hot- not even as hot as a habanero. More like to a jalapeno or serrano, but with a brighter, less grassy flavor. ETA: I went and looked at the Hello Fresh website to see if I could find the recipe- I'm pretty sure I found it- something like Penne with a Kick? Anyway, looking at the recipe, it reminds me of red sauce recipes that call for a couple of pinches of crushed red pepper flake. You can make it more or less spicy by adjusting how you use the pepper. Don't like spice at all? Just leave it out. Like some spice, but not a lot? Take the time to remove the seeds and the membranes from the pepper and discard before using. This should give the dish a pleasant, tongue-warming heat, but not enough to make you feel like you're eating something that's spicy. You could also start with just using half of the pepper, tasting, and then adding the rest after tasting. Wanna go for it? Chop the whole thing up as recommended in the recipe and enjoy. Not hot enough? Add a healthy pinch of crushed red pepper flake on top of it. If you have only one or two people who appreciate the spice, you could always divide the dish in half and spice up half of it too. Edited August 31, 2017 by Lady Marmalade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted August 31, 2017 Author Share Posted August 31, 2017 Totally depends on your tolerance of heat. It is not super hot- not even as hot as a habanero. More like to a jalapeno or serrano, but with a bright, fruity flavor that will definitely contribute to the dish. Then perhaps the dish would work best with it. Okay, I'll give it a try. The only spicy food we eat is black bean soup with cajun seasoning, so this will be an interesting experiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 (edited) I edited because I went to find the recipe and see what I thought. Changed my thoughts a little. :) PS. Wear GLOVES when handling this pepper. Edited August 31, 2017 by Lady Marmalade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted August 31, 2017 Author Share Posted August 31, 2017 Did you see the Hello Fresh recipe? What did you change your mind about? I'm not too sure about a pepper that I can't handle without gloves on. That sounds out of my league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Did you see the Hello Fresh recipe? What did you change your mind about? I'm not too sure about a pepper that I can't handle without gloves on. That sounds out of my league. You want to wear gloves because if you touch your eyes or lips after handling the peppers, it can burn. I do this even with more mild peppers like jalapeños. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meena Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 This chart shows the level of heat of different peppers: http://www.thaipepperproducts.com/scoville.htm The Thai chili looks significantly hotter than a jalapeño. For my family I would probably make the recipe without the pepper and add some to my own dish after serving. But I *love* spicy foods while everyone else has more sensitive tastebuds. If you aren't used to eating spicy foods, it might ruin the entire dish for you so I'd err on the side of caution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Totally depends on your tolerance of heat. It is not super hot- not even as hot as a habanero. More like to a jalapeno or serrano, but with a brighter, less grassy flavor. Really? That's not my experience. I agree they aren't as hot as habanero, but I think they are usually way spicier than a jalapeno. I would not use them in cooking for folks who don't like spicy food, like my MIL. This link says 50,000-100,000 scoville units. Of course it can vary a lot depending on the growing conditions. Thai peppers are some of our favorites for Thai and Indonesian dishes. We are growing our own this year, because the grocery stores here don't tend to carry them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted August 31, 2017 Author Share Posted August 31, 2017 Gosh, that's some chart! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstharr Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 This chart shows the level of heat of different peppers: http://www.thaipepperproducts.com/scoville.htm The Thai chili looks significantly hotter than a jalapeño. For my family I would probably make the recipe without the pepper and add some to my own dish after serving. But I *love* spicy foods while everyone else has more sensitive tastebuds. If you aren't used to eating spicy foods, it might ruin the entire dish for you so I'd err on the side of caution. That chart is a little dated. Does not include Ghost Peppers, Trinidad Scorpion or Carolina Reaper. 1.5 million to 2.0 miliion SHU! The hottest that I use is the Caribbean Red--similar to a Scotch Bonnet. . https://pepperhead.com/top-10-worlds-hottest-peppers/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Did you see the Hello Fresh recipe? What did you change your mind about? I'm not too sure about a pepper that I can't handle without gloves on. That sounds out of my league. What made me change my mind was the picture of the pepper. Thai Chili can be SO many different kinds. It's a small pepper that is pictured, and I expect it's more for heat than flavor, which tells me it doesn't have as fruity and bright of a flavor as other chilies that could have been used. You want to wear gloves because if you touch your eyes or lips after handling the peppers, it can burn. I do this even with more mild peppers like jalapeños. Yes, this. Seriously, anything hotter than a bell pepper can cause me such issues! Even after doing dishes by hand, I'll go to touch my eyes hours later and totally regret it. It has nothing to do with how hot the pepper is. Any heat has me reaching for gloves to handle. I grow super hot peppers for seed saving/sharing purposes and for tasting- I always use gloves now even for just one milder little guy. Unless I can just drop it in a food processor, of course. ;) Really? That's not my experience. I agree they aren't as hot as habanero, but I think they are usually way spicier than a jalapeno. I would not use them in cooking for folks who don't like spicy food, like my MIL. This link says 50,000-100,000 scoville units. Of course it can vary a lot depending on the growing conditions. Thai peppers are some of our favorites for Thai and Indonesian dishes. We are growing our own this year, because the grocery stores here don't tend to carry them. In my experience, most peppers sold in grocery stores these days are not as hot as something that is cultivated "in the wild". So a habanero or a jalapeno grown in my garden is significantly hotter than a standard grocery store variety. They do this on purpose- and it has it's place for sure. There are definitely Thai chilies on the mild end of the heat spectrum and I guess I just would expect that a service like this would err on the side of using a milder (but still hot for sure) pepper. It does strike me as a little strange that they include a fresh chili when a few pinches of dried chili flake could serve the same purpose. In the end, I'm sure the chili is used here for the "spicy" effect as opposed to adding both spice and flavor. I don't think the dish will suffer if it was left out completely, but then it won't really be the same dish either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solascriptura Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 It's pretty hot. Probably too hot for the average American palate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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