Chili Pepper Identification

[djyee100]

I bought these chiles at the farmers mkt. My conversation with the seller went like this:

"What kind of chiles are these?"

"Medium sweet chiles."

"They're not hot?"

"They're hot."

"Are they Thai chiles?"

"No, but you can use them like Thai chiles."

"How hot are they compared to Thai chiles?"

"They're hotter than jalapenos."

The chiles are yellow, orange, and red, about 1" to 1 1/2" long at most. I always thought any chiles this small were Thai chiles, but I guess not. Can you identify these chiles?

[Jon Savage]

They certainly look like Thai Peppers to me.

Bird's Eye Chiles

Maybe Thai ornamental further down the page linked to above since those in your pic appear to be growing upward.

Edited July 28, 2008 by 6ppc (log)

[Lilija]

I'm growing them in my garden as we speak, and the little tag says "Thai Dragon".

I grow em every year, they're one of my favorite kinds, they're hardy, hot, flavorful, they dry very well, and the plants are just gorgeous.

[John S.]

The chiles are yellow, orange, and red, about 1" to 1 1/2" long at most. I always thought any chiles this small were Thai chiles, but I guess not. Can you identify these chiles?

←

They are not Thai chiles -- too wide and not a bit curly. They are c. annuum but it's hard to tell exactly which variey. There are hundreds of varieties in all 5 species. They look like serrano, but it appears from the photo that these pods grow upright rather than pendant. Serranos are pendant.

I would ask Jeannie at chileplants.com or Jim at wildpepper.com.

John S.

[snowangel]

There are so many varieties of peppers! I think trying to identify without more knowledge -- how tall were the plants; what did the flowers look like, etc. make it so difficult.

And, to classify one type of pepper -- be they "Thai" or "Jalapeño" peppers does not do them justice as there are many, many types of both of these peppers.

In any case, use them as appropriate. Be it in a nam prik, on larb, in a salsa, or on nachos, be glad that you have them! Things here in MN are ripening so slowly we're hoping for a ripe tomoto before the first frost. My bachelor buttons have just begun to bloom!

[Talat_kas]

These looks like traditional south asian chilies which are varying in color like red and green are the most common. I also planted the green chilies (large and small), these are very hot and spicy and frequently used in various dishes and salads.

Edited July 28, 2008 by Talat_kas (log)

[Shelby]

My Thai chilies are thinner, longer and have more of a curl to them.....

[Lilija]

I was out picking stuff out of my garden earlier, and staring hard at my Thai Dragon plants. My peppers are a little longer, and more slender, but they are *so* close.

[rancho_gordo]

I wonder if they aren't De Arbol chiles from the way the chile is growing upwards, like a tree. They normally are longer and thinner and used dried.

Do they taste good?

[djyee100]

I took John S.'s suggestion, and emailed Jim at http://www.wildpepper.com/ and Janie at http://www.chileplants.com/. Both people graciously answered my emails.

Jim at http://www.wildpepper.com/ said:

"I have at least a couple of guesses, but none are likely to be definitive. Part of the problem with chiles is that there are several thousand kinds and many resemble each other. They could be a Thai chile...Just call them 'bird chiles'- that covers about a thousand kinds ;-) "

But Janie at http://www.chileplants.com/ hit the jackpot. She said:

"Looks like Nepali Orange

http://www.chileplants.com/search.asp?ProductCode=CHINEO "

I think she's right. The chiles look just like that and fit the physical description that's given.

So these are Indian chiles brought to Fiji by migrants! I cooked them in Thai Basil Chicken the other night. The chiles are very tasty, a tad less hot than Thai bird chiles, and more fruity, too. I'd definitely cook with them again. In fact, the next time I visit the farmers mkt I will search out the stand and buy another bunch of these chiles.

This website has pix of the Nepali Orange chile in various stages of growth, with a pic of the plant in full fruit near the bottom of the webpage (next to Sept 14 entry). http://www.chillisgalore.co.uk/pages/growing2006.html

Thanks for your comments and answers, everyone!

[tino27]

Caveat: I'm sorry, but my digital camera is on the blitz. As soon as I can get a photo, I'll post one on-line.

My neighbor gave me a basket of goodies from her garden and amongst them was appears to be a chili pepper. It is a bright orange-red and is about the size of a habanero. However, it also has these "wings" or "petals" (3 of them) that come out of the side of the pepper and point upwards towards the tip.

My neighbor had no idea what it was other than she said when she nibbled just the outer flesh, it was sweet, but when she got to the veins and seeds, it was very spicy.

I've looked up photos of habaneros and scotch bonnets and other than the size and color matching, nothing had these "wings".

Any thoughts on what I might have in my possession? Could I have a habanero with a natural mutation to it?

Feel free to post any links to photos you find on the web as that may help narrow down the pepper.

Also, other than using them in cooking right now, any thoughts on what my friend could do to preserve all of these chili peppers (she has a ton of them)? I thought about pepper jelly, but wasn't sure if there might be other options, too.

Thanks!!

[andiesenji]

What color are the seeds?

[tino27]

I didn't want to cut into the only one that my friend gave me (in case I get that camera working again), but I just called and asked my neighbor and she said that the seeds were white.

Does that help?

[azureus]

There is a pepper called Capsicum baccatum "Bishop's Crown" which resembles your description. It's listed as being fairly mild. If your's is hotter, it's probably the same species of pepper, but a different variety. Here's a link to a photo: Bishop's Crown. Habanero peppers are actually a different species, and are wrinkled rather than winged.

April

[lperry]

That's it. Also called cambuci or chapéu de frade (bishop's hat). I've grown these and they had the same sweet flesh and hot veins and placenta. Here's another link.

[tino27]

azureus/lperry -- yep, that seems to be what I have. Thank you!!

Any thoughts on long term preservation? My neighbor has a ton of these and doesn't know what to do with them.

[CaliPoutine]

This is a pretty popular way to use Habaneros.

Habanero Gold Jelly

1/3 cup finely sliced dried apricots

3/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 up finely diced red onion

1/4 cup finely diced sweet red pepper

1/4 cup finely diced habanero peppers, including seeds

OR 1/4 cup diced, combined jalapeno and Scotch Bonnet peppers

3 cups granulated sugar

1 pouch Certo liquid pectin

Cut apricots into 1/8 inch slices. Measure into a large deep stainless steel saucepan with vinegar; let stand 4 hours. Individually, cut onion and seeded peppers into 1/8 inch slices; cut slices into 1/4 inch dice. Measure each ingredient; add to apricots. Stir in sugar.

Over high heat, bring to a full roiling boil. Stirring constantly, boil hard 1 minute. Remove from heat. Immediately stir in pectin, mixing well.

Pour jelly into hot jar, dividing solids equally among jars and filling each jar to within 1/4 inch of top rim. Wipe rims. Apply lids.

Process 10 minutes in BWB. Cool upright, until lids pop down, about 30 minutes. When lids are concave but the jelly is still hot, carefully grasp jar without disturbing lid and invert, twist, or rotate each jar to distribute solids throughout jelly. The jar can be inverted temporarily but do not allow it to stand upside-down for prolonged periods.

Repeat as necessary during the cooling/setting time, until solids remain suspended in the jelly.

Yield: 3 half pints

Hot 'N Sweet Confetti Jelly

1 cup minced dried apricots (1/8" dice) Note: Could use dried peaches or pears instead.

1 1/4 total cups minced red sweet pepper and minced red onion (1/8" dice), approximately half-and-half.

1/4 cup Habanero peppers

Note: For extra-hot, increase Habaneros to 1/2 cup and reduce red sweet pepper/red onion combination to 1 cup total.

1 1/2 cups white vinegar

6 cups sugar

1 3-oz. pouch liquid pectin (I used Ball, which I've decided I like better than Certo.)

Prep apricots, peppers and onion. Place in a large, stainless or other non-reactive pot. Add sugar and vinegar. Bring to the boil and cook 5 minutes. Pull off the burner; allow to cool, cover and let sit overnight.

Stir occasionally if convenient.

Note: 4-6 hours would be plenty, so the time doesn't need to be any greater than the soaking time for apricots in the original recipe.

Next day, bring the mixture back to the boil. Stir in liquid pectin. Boil hard 1 minute.

Pull off the heat. If necessary, skim foam. (I did need to skim a bit.) Let cool 2 minutes, stirring to distribute solids. Pour into jars. Stir to distribute and remove air bubbles. Do the usual with the jars and lids, BWB 10 minutes.

When jars are sealed, "agitate" to distribute solids throughout the jelly.

Yield: 6 8-oz. jars.

[RobertCollins]

I would look at a couple things right after I took a big bite out of one to confirm my suspicions.

I think you would decide after that bite that it would work in the kitchen much like a bell pepper.

If so, slice and freeze for use in soups and stews, Maybe dehydrate in the oven, stew them down into a sauce with maybe tomatoes and can them or freeze to I guess.

Tasting is the first step, then almost anything you can think of.

[rotuts]

I get these green chili's from my local Indian grocery store in waltham ma. bulk. 1.99 lbs They are hot to very hot, not anywhere near Scotch bonnet hot. tape give you an idea of size. left out they turn orange maybe red. I plan to make some green chili oil tomorrow with them as an Experiment. i like the taste of green over red. grind up a bunch in the Cuisinart with some neutral oil, heat in the microwave and keep hot for a bit and filter with a coffee filter or two:

my guess is green Thai birds. your thoughts?

[heidih]

These are the hotter smaller chilis I get at the Vietnamese market. I think habanero is a whole different flavor. The ones above have a high seed to flesh ratio. I am not sure how much "green" flavor you will get from them as opposed to just heat if processed as proposed. Please report back though. I have only ever used them chopped in vinegar or a dish or munched alongside. I usually grow them as well and prefer them with the rounder flavor they have red/ripe.

[Jason Perlow]

I get these green chili's from my local Indian grocery store in waltham ma. bulk. 1.99 lbs They are hot to very hot, not anywhere near Scotch bonnet hot. tape give you an idea of size. left out they turn orange maybe red. I plan to make some green chili oil tomorrow with them as an Experiment. i like the taste of green over red. grind up a bunch in the Cuisinart with some neutral oil, heat in the microwave and keep hot for a bit and filter with a coffee filter or two:

Indian Chili.jpg

my guess is green Thai birds. your thoughts?

They are a varietal of bird, as to what kind, no idea.

[rotuts]

thanks. i had planned on a small batch 100% chili w seeds, the another batch 50 % with seeds 50 % no seeds just flesh combined.

they have two other green chili's there a serrano like and a longer green I have no idea on the heat of these. maybe some combo

of all the above in various proportions would result in a hot chili oil with good 'green' flavor.

stay tuned!

[rarerollingobject]

My mother grows identical-looking ones, and after much pondering it over the years, I've pretty much convinced myself they're green chile de arbols - images here.

[rotuts]

excellent point. on your ref pic, third row, first on the left looks very interesting as a comparison. these if picked young would not

get as long as some of the pics in the ref and not curl at the bottom.

well these are the ones Im stuck with to use and lets see what happens.

a long time ago i was going to clarify all the Mexican Chili types etc by study, selection and sampling as i had a source in mexico.

After a while i gave up so as not to become insane prematurely.

this is clearly the standard green thin small chili, hot, for the various East Asian communities and restaurants.

Edited March 3, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[Ttogull]

My mother grows identical-looking ones, and after much pondering it over the years, I've pretty much convinced myself they're green chile de arbols - images here.

I have seen lots of de Arbol and buy them 2 or 3 times a year in Texas. The OP's chiles do not look like de Arbol to me. The shoulders are too narrow. I've seen chiles like the OP's in more Asian type stores, and they are usually labeled Thai chiles. I think it would be strange to see de arbols in MA. The flavors are very different. De arbols are more smoky. For me the heat is ver quick and sharp without much linger. The Thai seems hotter, sticks around, and builds.