Storing Chilies: Jalapeños, Serranos, and Others

[liuzhou]

It may surprise some but I've never seen, eaten or cooked Jalapeños in my long life. I certainly never saw them in the UK or anywhere else I have lived. Definitely not in China. Either pickled, canned or fresh.

 

Today I came across fresh Jalapeños online. Seems they are being grown in China's north-eastern Shandong province, home to Confucius and Tsingtao (Qingdao) beer.

 

My problem is that the minimum order is 1 kg of the things which is going to be difficult for me to get through. I read (Spruce Eats) that they can be held in the fridge for a week, but I can't see me eating a kilo in a week. I also see they can be frozen, but I am wondering what effect that has on them.

 

I did order them anyway, so they are on their way. May take three days or so.

 

Any advice warmly welcomed.

 

Image from the vendor's online listing.

 

 

[KennethT]

A kilo of chillies is a LOT of chillies!!!  Personally, unless you're making a lot of Mexican food, I'm not a huge fan of jalapenos myself. For either Asian or Indian foods I much prefer other varieties. But that's not really your question....

 

While many say that you can freeze chillies with no issues, I think it depends on how you plan to use them.  If you plan to mash them up into a paste, then yes, freezing is just fine.  If you want to chop them to add to a fresh tomato salsa and you want the crispness they can provide, then no, freezing isn't so good as when they defrost they'll be mushy.

 

I've kept other chillies in the refrigerator's crisper drawer for maybe 3 weeks, but by the end, they're really starting to look sad - slightly shriveled and wrinkly and definitely not as crisp as when fresh.

[liuzhou]

6 minutes ago, KennethT said:

For either Asian or Indian foods I much prefer other varieties.

 

So, I think will I. However, I just wanted to give them a try after reading about them so much, mainly here!

 

Admitedly buying a kilo just to try them is a bit crazy, but being stuck at home, I need a distraction and I figured I'll be able to do something with them, even if I never buy them again.

 

[Smithy]

You can pickle some of them and keep that bright heat. Of course the pickling juice will change the flavor somewhat, but I find that to be a good way to save some of the excess. I'll poke around and find some of the recipes, if you'd like.

 

A word of warning, though it may seem obvious: be sure you like the spices you put in with the vinegar! I more or less wrecked a batch by using premixed pickling spice. I HATE the flavor of cloves, and should have known better than to use a mix that had them.

[KennethT]

4 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

So, I think will I. However, I just wanted to give them a try after reading about them so much, mainly here!

 

Admitedly buying a kilo just to try them is a bit crazy, but being stuck at home, I need a distraction and I figured I'll be able to do something with them, even if I never buy them again.

 

That makes sense.  I think the reason people talk about them here so much is that they're the predominant hot chile in the US and the easiest and most reliable to be able to find in grocery stores here.  Here in NY, our hot chile selection is pretty abysmal.  Practically every store has jalapenos, most probably will have serranos as well as habaneros.  After that, probabilities go way down.  Next in line are probably the goat horn chillies or Anaheims.  Large red chillies like you find in Thailand and SE Asia are much less common - I can only find them in a few stores and lately not very reliably which is a shame because I use them the most out of everything.

[Darienne]

I would cut the Jalapenos in halves, and roast them in the oven.  Then freeze them and use them as the spirit and dish move you.   I usually use them making Chile Verde along with frozen roasted Poblanos.  Or I put them in Enchiladas. 

 

We never eat them raw...but that's just us.

 

[haresfur]

Freezing chilies works pretty well if you are going to cook with them. Pickling is good too. Or you can lacto-ferment them for hot sauce. 

 

You can also take jalapeños and stuff them with cream cheese, goat cheese or whatever, batter them and fry in oil. Good with beer. That would use up a fair number of them.

[C. sapidus]

You could also make a jalapeno hot sauce with some of your bounty.

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, haresfur said:

Freezing chilies works pretty well if you are going to cook with them.

Absolutely. I just wash them, dry them and throw them into a plastic bag and into the freezer.  They are easy to seed and chop up while frozen. 
 

Edited to add

and then there is @Shelby's Cowboy Candy. 

Edited May 5, 2023 by Anna N (log)

[JohnT]

@Smithy can you please post or PM me your favourite recipe for preserving / pickling Jalapeños. Yesterday evening our little supermarket in our village had stacks of them at a good price. JT.

[Smithy]

28 minutes ago, JohnT said:

@Smithy can you please post or PM me your favourite recipe for preserving / pickling Jalapeños. Yesterday evening our little supermarket in our village had stacks of them at a good price. JT.

 

Will do. It'll be a few hours before I can get to those notes.

[Annie_H]

Those of us all across the Northern climates including our Canadian friends, with four seasons, we are often surprised by market offerings. Seems every year some produce is dull but others are above expected. Jalapeños would not normally be my first choice having a dozen choices year round. Just the past couple weeks, poblanos and jalapeños are huge and cheap and very fresh. Embrace what the market offers.  

I just made a quick blender fresh green sauce for tamales. And a salad dressing cleaning out the blender jar---olive oil, rice wine vinegar, green onion, garlic clove. 

With an abundance of garden produce in the Fall, I roast. Then freeze.  

I have a half dozen jalapeños from a few weeks ago. Still look good. Another dozen in my next weeks grocery order. Roasting is easy and passive--a few onions, garlic heads. Stove-top is also easy and passive. Low and slow like caramelizing onions. 

I do ferment, but keeping it simple using what you have---roasting or stove-top. Then freezing. 

 

[Smithy]

14 hours ago, JohnT said:

@Smithy can you please post or PM me your favourite recipe for preserving / pickling Jalapeños. Yesterday evening our little supermarket in our village had stacks of them at a good price. JT.

 

14 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

Will do. It'll be a few hours before I can get to those notes.

 

It's been more than a few hours, but I'm at a point where I can look at my notes. I based my pickled jalapenos loosely on methods posted by Shelby and FauxPas. And I cheated!

 

I began with the juice from a depleted quart jar of dill pickles. I think that was about 2 cups' worth of pickle juice. I added about a cup of mixed vinegar: apple cider vinegar and rice vinegar. I added a cup of water. Salt (a tablespoon? didn't record it) and pickling spices (a tablespoon, and I still regret it because of the cloves). Brought it all to a boil, poured it into the erstwhile pickle jar that had been packed with the seeded-and-deveined jalapenos. Here's my post about the process.

 

This is based on refrigerator pickles, not on canned pickles. I've been pleased with the flavor and texture EXCEPT FOR THE CLOVES IN THE PICKLING MIX. (I know, other people like cloves. YMMV) The pickled jalapenos are holding their own, at least a month on, in the refrigerator.

 

For more inspiration, and my sources, please see these posts:

 

Shelby's jalapeno mustard

FauxPas' pickling method

My question about what to do with the chiles, which opened more avenues

Shelby's discussion about, and links to, Cowboy Candy

 

 

 

[JohnT]

Thanks Smithy, greatly appreciated. Love the “no cloves” comment 😀. I must admit that I have never found cloves in pickling spices here in the deep south of Africa.

[liuzhou]

Arrived last night. This is half of them. Experiments shall begin.

 

 

 

[KennethT]

Once you wind up using enough, I'm curious as to your opinion of them.

[scubadoo97]

On 5/5/2023 at 11:24 AM, haresfur said:

Freezing chilies works pretty well if you are going to cook with them. Pickling is good too. Or you can lacto-ferment them for hot sauce. 

 

You can also take jalapeños and stuff them with cream cheese, goat cheese or whatever, batter them and fry in oil. Good with beer. That would use up a fair number of them.

 

pickling has always been our GoTo method.   My Dad who spent his youth in Mexico City always needed some pickled jalapeños in the fridge to add to what ever he was eating

[Johntodd]

If you have a smoker, or a friend with a smoker, you can smoke them.  That's how chipotles are made.

 

After smoking, freeze most.  The rest can be chopped into mayo/adobo sauce and kept in the fridge for a very tasty slap-in-the-face. 😀

 

(I smoked mine over charcoal with "slices" of an old maple log I found on the farm.   Yummy!)

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by Johntodd (log)

[heidih]

1 hour ago, Johntodd said:

If you have a smoker, or a friend with a smoker, you can smoke them.  That's how chipotles are made.

 

After smoking, freeze most.  The rest can be chopped into mayo/adobo sauce and kept in the fridge for a very tasty slap-in-the-face. 😀

 

(I smoked mine over charcoal with "slices" of an old maple log I found on the farm.   Yummy!)

 

In my world they are jalapenos that have ripemed and usually dried on the vine and are then smoked. Not the greenies. Always try to have some on hand.

[Johntodd]

38 minutes ago, heidih said:

In my world they are jalapenos that have ripemed and usually dried on the vine and are then smoked. Not the greenies. Always try to have some on hand.

I love how there are so many chipotle recipes and techniques; but I love even more how they all taste amazing!

 

[heidih]

42 minutes ago, Johntodd said:

I love how there are so many chipotle recipes and techniques; but I love even more how they all taste amazing!

 

I don't particularly c

fare for them but there is a common pickle here - mostly carrots and some jalapen with seasonikng that is often offered as a side relish at Mexican spots. Like these though some lean more heavily to carrots whch I like. I do my own but for $1 I'll pick up a can.  https://www.salsas.com/herdez/products/peppers/jalapeno-chiles/

[FauxPas]

I freeze peppers all the time - whole or chopped. You can dry or dehydrate also, of course. 

 

I really liked my last pickled jalapeno. My brine was white vinegar (may have added a tiny bit of cider vinegar), pickling salt and a tiny bit of sugar. I put fresh sliced garlic and jalepenos in a jar and poured the brine over. Pretty simple. Refrigerated, but they didn't last long. I liked the garlic and bit of sugar, but whatever suits your taste buds. 

 

I have a Sandia Seeds recipe that is on my short list for this year. Hot sauce isn't hard to make, but here is a modified version of their easy hot sauce. I can't find the original online, I did change it a bit. @liuzhou, you have lots of nice hot sauces available to you already but I'll type this out, just in case you have any interest. 

 

500 ml filtered water (basically chlorine free, etc)

300 grams jalapenos (or other peppers or a mix)

1 small white onion (or whites of green onions)

3 cloves of garlic, diced

1 teaspoon of salt 

250 ml white vinegar (5%) acidity (or other vinegars?)

 

Heat water, peppers, onion garlic and salt on in a sauce pan. Bring to boil, simmer 15-20 mins. 

 

Allow to cool. 

 

Blend this mixture along with vinegar. Add salt to taste. 

 

Pour into clean jar and refrigerate for up to approx 1 month. 

 

 

[liuzhou]

On 5/5/2023 at 10:50 PM, KennethT said:

Here in NY, our hot chile selection is pretty abysmal.

 

Slightly off topic, but do you get 'facing heaven chillies'. If not, what do you use in the Sichuan dishes you cook?

The jalapeños fit right into Hunan cuisine, though. I used them in yesterday's dinner and had a Hunanese guest. She noticed the chillies didn't look 'normal' but had no complaints about the dish!

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

13 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

I can see the jalapeños fitting right into Hunan cuisine, though.

 

My knowledge of Hunan is poor, but the reason I do not use jalapenos is to me they are not very spicy and lean to the green bell pepper flvaor and smell I dislike. My reliable choice at mainstream grocery is serrano. Out heren farmer market and Asian arkets offer a wider selection.

Edited May 11, 2023 by heidih (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

My knowledge of Hunan is poor, but the reason I do not use jalapenos is to me they are not very spicy and lean to the green bell pepper flvaor and smell I dislike. My reliable choice at mainstream grocery is serrano. Out heren farmer market and Asian arkets offer a wider selection.

 

I'm with you, @heidih, I do not care for jalapenos and much prefer serrano peppers.