Hot Shots Blog

Chile Pepper Fun Fact - SMOKIN' ED'S CAROLINA REAPER

The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes SMOKIN' ED'S CAROLINA REAPER® as the hottest Chile Pepper in the World with a record average of 1,641,000 SHU (Scoville heat units) made effective on August 11, 2017, which is over 71,000 SHU hotter than its groundbreaking 2013 record. In comparison, Jalapeno peppers rate at 2,500 to 8,000 SHU. The Carolina Reaper is a cultivar of the Capsicum chinense plant. Developed by American breeder Ed Currie, the pepper is red and gnarled, with a bumpy texture and small pointed tail.

The crossbreed is between a "really nastily hot" La Soufriere pepper from Saint Vincent and a Naga Viper pepper from Pakistan and was named "Reaper" due to the shape of its tail. It has been described as having a fruity taste, with the initial bite being sweet and then immediately turning to "molten lava". The sensory heat or pungency detected when eating a Carolina Reaper derives from the density of capsaicinoids, particularly capsaicin, which relates directly to the intensity of chili pepper heat and Scoville Heat Units (SHU).

Hot Sauce Fun Fact - Ghanaian Shito Sauce 

It's a type of pepper sauce, we're not full of Shito...

Shito is the word for a particular pepper sauce in Ga, a Ghanaian language from Accra, the Ghanaian capital. Whilst the word for pepper is different for each of the Ghanaian native languages, shitor din, commonly called 'shito', is widely used as the name for the hot black pepper sauce ubiquitous in Ghanaian cuisine.

Shito sauce consists primarily of fish or vegetable oil, ginger, dried fish, prawns, crustaceans, tomatoes, garlic, peppers and spices. These ingredients are usually blended together and cooked in vegetable or corn oil for a little over an hour to create the sauce.

Chile Pepper Fun Fact - The Shishito Chile Pepper 

What are they and how the heck do you say it? 

Unlike some other Asian countries, Japan isn’t known for its spicy cuisine. In fact, for all its unique flavor, Japanese food has very little heat at all. And that’s sort of the story of the Shishito pepper…except for when it isn’t. Shishitos are bright, flavorful sweet chilies with typically a mild spiciness (50 to 200 Scoville heat units.) But like the Padrón pepper (from which it may likely take its roots), there’s a fiery punch every so often where a Shishito breaks the norm and turns up the dial. It makes them a ton of fun to eat, and they have grown immensely popular as a quick-to-cook appetizer or side. 

How chili peppers ended up anywhere outside of the Americas is typically a story of exploration centuries ago. It’s likely the Shishito has its roots from the Padrón pepper which is native to Spain. They look a lot alike, and, as you’ll see, they share the same quirky heat, though the Padrón is noticeably spicier, reaching at its maximum the spiciness of a mild jalapeño (500 to 2,500 SHU). 

The Padrón likely ended up in Spain in the 16th century from South America. From there, the Japanese likely were introduced to the chili. The mix of growing the Padrón in Japanese soil along with selecting the mildest peppers in the lot for propagation, likely converted the taste and heat of the Shishito into what we have today.

With a very mild range on the Scoville scale from 50 to 200 Scoville heat units, the typical Shishito is sort of like a rounding error of hotness above a zero-heat bell pepper. Meaning – they aren’t hot at all…most of the time. It’s sort of a warm, pulsing light simmer, very much under the radar. Comparing it to the jalapeño, our reference scale, the typical Shishito pepper is 13 to 160 times milder. Though, there’s a catch. 

One out of every ten to twenty Shishito peppers will rev the heat engine just a little further. They don’t reach even mild jalapeño heat, but it’s enough to catch you by surprise. Padrón chilies have a similar “Russian roulette” tendency, and they both add a level of playfulness to the eating experience that most foods can only dream of.

The typical Shishito is slender, two to four inches in length, thin-walled, and slightly wrinkled. It has a bulbous end to the pepper that some Japanese say looks like a lion’s head. In fact, its name speaks to its shape. Shishito is a mash-up of two Japanese words: shishi for “lion” and tōgarashi for “chili pepper”. Think of the giant lion heads in Japanese parades and festivals and you’ll see it. 

Shishito peppers do look a lot like Padrón chilies, and they can be mistaken for one another in markets. To tell them apart: Padrón peppers tend to be a little stockier and a little less wrinkly. Shishito also tend to be slightly shinier. Both tells, though, can be hard to process without both chilies being present.

The taste is where Shishito peppers make up for their near total lack of heat. These are flavorful sweeter chilies: grassy and citrusy with a slight hint of smoke. That citrusy sweetness is not as common on the lower end of the Scoville scale, which makes the Shishito’s flavor pretty unique. 

Chile Pepper Fun Fact - Chile Peppers are Sensitive to Temperature 

Can you grow peppers in hot weather?

Peppers, like tomatoes, are sensitive to temperature. Most peppers will drop their blooms when daytime temperatures get much above 90 degrees F. in combination with night temperatures above 75 degrees F. They will also drop their blooms in the early spring if temperatures remain cool for extended periods.

Naturally, in a hot, preferably dry, summer season, chile peppers are happy garden residents. They flower in mid-summer and continue bearing until frost. With very little help, they produce a boatload of chilies. 

Do pepper plants like hot sun? 

While peppers prefer plenty of direct sunshine, the plants may still be grown in partial shade. However, growing in full-shade is not recommended for peppers.

Chile Pepper Fun Fact - The Scoville Scale

So, what is the Scoville Scale anyway? 

A Chile Peppers heat level is measured by Scoville Heat Units (SHU). The Scoville Scale was created by American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912. The Scoville scale relies partly on a human tester, so measurement is sometimes imprecise. A more accurate (though not as fun) method is to use high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). HPLC provides results that are often 20–40% less than the SHU method, but at the end of the day it is all relative. The higher the SHU number of a Pepper, the hotter it is!

American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville invented the Scoville scale in 1912. Scoville created the scale by way of his Scoville Organoleptic Test, which he used to measure a pepper's heat level. When conducting his test, Scoville mixed an alcohol-based extract of capsaicin oil from a pepper into a solution of sugar water and placed the solution onto the tongues of taste testers. Little by little, he diluted the solution with more water until his taste testers told him that it no longer tasted hot.

Scoville then assigned a number rating to that pepper based on how many times he had to dilute the solution to eliminate the heat. Jalapeño peppers, for instance, have a Scoville rating of 10,000, which means a jalapeño solution would have to be diluted 10,000 times before the heat was neutralized.

Hot Sauce Fun Fact - According to Instacart 

According to Instacart, North Dakota consumes the most amount of hot sauce, averaging 5.4 ounces per consumer. New Mexico ranks second at 4.4 ounces per person, and Colorado ranks third, coming in at 4.0 ounces of hot sauce per person. These regions have a considerable lead over most of the country, as many states barely break the 2.0-ounce mark. Hawaii, Iowa, and Arkansas rank as the states that eat the least amount of hot sauce, with each person respectively consuming 1.3, 1.4, and 1.5 ounces of hot sauce in each state.

The 7-Pot is from Trinidad, and there are a few different versions, including the Yellow 7-Pot, the 7-Pot Jonah, and the Chocolate, or 7-Pot Douglah. It is related to the Trinidad Scorpion Pepper and has rough, pimpled skin, but is more plump, with a ribbed texture and a more fruity flavor. Its name refers to the saying that it is hot enough to spice 7 pots of stew. In Trinidad, it is used in military grade tear gas and marine paint, which prevents barnacles. 

The heat of the 7-Pot pepper is similar to the Bhut Jolokia but with a fruitier and nuttier flavor, like other Caribbean peppers. It is becoming more popular and well-known among Chileheads.

SALSA takes on many different forms as you might expect from a dish that has been around for thousands of years in one form or another. The Aztecs, Mayans, and Incans all had their versions of it! The list below covers six of the most popular types of salsa you should know. Each has its own best use cases, so learn them and use them well!

1. Pico de gallo - Pico de gallo is an uncooked salsa — also called a salsa cruda — made with fresh ingredients. The typical pico de gallo contains tomato, onion, and peppers along with cilantro and lime juice. You can make it hot with jalapeño or serrano chilies or you can use bell peppers for a mild version.
2. Salsa roja - With a name that means “red sauce”, salsa roja is one of the better known Mexican salsas. It is made with ripe red tomatoes to give it its characteristic bright red color. Salsa roja is most similar to the jarred salsa so popular throughout the United States. Salsa roja is the main salsa in most Tex-Mex restaurants.  Most recipes will include onions, garlic, and chili peppers. Salsa roja is traditionally used as a condiment for tacos and burritos. It’s also used as a topper for meats like chicken and beef.
3. Salsa verde - To give it the green color referred to in the name, the Mexican version of salsa verde is usually made with tomatillos instead of tomatoes. Aside from the tomatillos, other ingredients are the same ones that show up in other salsa recipes like salsa roja. The typical salsa verde ingredients include peppers, onions, and cilantro.
4. (BONUS) Jalapeño Salsa verde - Note that while tomatillo salsa is what is most often referred to as salsa verde, some people consider other green sauces like chimichurri sauce to also fall into the salsa verde category. Chimichurri sauce is a bright green Argentinian sauce made with cilantro and parsley.
5. Salsa criolla - Unlike the other salsas on this list, salsa criolla is red onion-based rather than tomato-based. Other ingredients include aji amarillo peppers and cilantro. A salsa criolla will also have lime juice as a source of acidity — think of it as a ceviche without the seafood. You determine how hot it is by how much of the pepper you add.
6. Salsa taquera - Taco sauce is what this salsa’s name translates to and it is traditionally served at Mexican taco stands. Similar to Pace’s Picante sauce, taco sauce is known for being spicy. While its main function is as a taco condiment, it works as a dip as well. Use it like salsa roja or any of the standard salsas.
7. Salsa ranchera - Salsa ranchera delivers a few novel twists on the standard red sauce recipe since it involves roasting the tomatoes for a smokier, more savory flavor. Bringing additional umami notes to the mix is Worcestershire sauce, called salsa inglesa — or English sauce — in Mexico. Salsa ranchera is best known as the type of salsa used to make huevos rancheros, but you can use it like any other tomato-based salsa — as a topping or a dip.