KennethT

Well, I just wound up having to harvest 3 chillies by default. I was repotting and, being top heavy, the whole plant fell over and leapt from the countertop to the floor, breaking a few branches, while my back was turned for a second... One of the few disadvantages of growing hydroponically is that I don't need as much substrate to hold the roots like I would in soil since I'm basically intravenously feeding the roots with nutrient - so as the plants grow larger, they get top heavy. Maybe growing two plants in one grow bag wasn't such a good idea after all!!!

I don't know yet. Right now, they're all green and while there are lots of recipes that use them green, I haven't harvested any to try them. Yet! I'm excited for them to ripen though!

My keriting plant is laden!! So much so that the plant fell over some time overnight.... I should probably report this weekend....

Also, a bit of blush usually means more ripe.

Yes, that's it. With these, you need to go more by feel. At this point, even the ones that feel hard will be slightly ripe inside. The ones that feel a little softer are in the awkward in-between stage that isn't so great and the ones softer still are pretty ripe by now. Also, make sure the stem is still green - not dead.

Chicken kapitan curry with the last of my Homemade roti canai.

Since you're in NYC, if you can make your way to Kalustyan's - they have a selection of tons of different peppercorns - maybe 20-30 different varieties. Myself, I'm partial to the Vietnamese for most everyday usage - it's sharp, spicy, all around good. For other purposes, I love the one from Sarawak, Malaysia, which is known for it's peppercorn - that's what I use for my Singapore style bak kut teh, which is a pork soup flavored only with garlic and peppercorn. This one gives a more rounded warmth in the back of the throat which is perfect for this dish.

A common dish in Singapore is fish head curry. Scroll down to below the baggage claim photos. I can't get good fish heads (for the purpose of eating) easily here, so this is the recreation of the curry but made with mahi mahi fillets.

Singapore style head-less fish head curry.

Thanks. I can definitely use the green ones - they're common in a sambal ijo (green sambal) in Padang food. Also used a lot in Indian food.

To anyone with chilli growing experience, I had read that harvesting the chillies while still green stimulates the plant to put out even more flowers. Is there any validity to this? Not that I need any more at the moment - I've probably got a good 20 chillies growing and again as many flowers still blooming but I'm always looking to learn how to increase yield.

lots of places in Chinatown have Ataulfo mangoes for $1 each, sometimes less. We've been addicted to the large Vietnamese mangoes right now, but they're not really a bargain per se.... but they're fantastic. Some are still green (which my wife prefers), some are just about fully ripe and some are in that in-between time that I prefer.

I also smoke first - I find it makes a rounder smoke flavor as some of the smoke winds up in the bath water.

Singapore Nyonya ayam buah keluak - chicken curry made with the buah keluak black nut (meat at the top of the plate) Served with Stir fried bok choy with garlic and white rice.

Teowchew bak kut teh with homemade pork broth, garlic, black pepper from Sarawak and Argentinian red shrimp Cucumber pickle