Comments on: Spectacular Sili / Chillies

By: Marketman

Marketman — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:47:24 +0000

Rose5, while generally speaking, I tend to find the smaller locally grown chillies hotter than the bigger ones, globally, the hottest chillies are NOT the smallest ones…

By: Rose5

Rose5 — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:59:39 +0000

Hi, is it true that the smaller the sili mao na sya ang pinaka halang? tnx…

By: EbbaMyra

EbbaMyra — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:33:51 +0000

Houston being close to Mexico and other Latin countries has a huge population of Latinos, and they sure love their dishes spicy.. and so at most markets and groceires, one will find huge varieties of fresh and dried chiles. But not until Thai restaurant and vietnamese stores sprung in the city, that thai chiles and ur own siling labuyo was known. Edel, the plant of your yaya’s mother might have cross polinated with banana pepper (sweet & mild), which is also elongated like our labuyo, but bigger in size. Diffrent family of sili plants should not be planted close to each other, side by side, for it will sure result in a crossbred variety.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:00:51 +0000

Where is Silly Lolo anyway? :)

By: edel

edel — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:57:07 +0000

Mr. MM, i remember my daughter’s yaya telling me that her mother has a siling labuyo plant that she planted from seeds.. unfortunately (she has a green thumb, btw), the chillies are sweet and kids from the neighborhood eats it freshly picked from the shrub.. RE: “fake” chilies, yeah maybe they are greenhouse grown =)

By: Marketman

Marketman — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:48:32 +0000

Susan, yes, the long light green chillies are the preferred sili for the Bicol Express (I actually asked Ms. Kalaw, the person who popularized Bicol Express this precise question), but if you want to modulate the heat, start by removing the pith and seeds of HALF of the peppers and using the other half as is. In other words, you can manage the spiciness by adding as many or as little seeds and pit of the chilli, this is where most of the heat resides. Do not add other ingredients like sugar, etc to downgrade heat, just adjust amount of seeds. Susan, don’t feel silly at all, single photos can give the wrong impression, and on this blog, you just NEVER know what might be posted next… it could just as easily have been a post on how to shave a pig skin properly…hahaha. thelma, the naga jolokia is WICKED WICKED HOT, according to a documentary I recently saw on television…frankly, I have no need to go there if my head is already exploding with a single green siling labuyo popped into my mouth raw… edel, maybe they are greenhouse grown? I find greenhouse veggies often lack character and zing! Lex, I agree completely on the “sweet” views. I think a lot of restos do it to mask poor underlying ingredients. Sweet tends to overwhelm the tastebuds… but the sad part is the public is falling for it, in my opinion. Alexena, the meat nearest the cavity or the ribs are what get a little spiced up. Not too spicy, just enough for you to notice there is something a little different about it. Mila, will try… though it will be a slow and painful process, I think! thelma, I agree, anything you grow yourself taste 3x better than store bought!

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:04:52 +0000

MM, I have a question about the long chilies. I have a pepper plant just like the picture of your sili mahaba in your previous post, which I tried to use in sinigang. It was SOOO hot I could not eat it! I usually buy a sili mahaba from the veg. stand that is long, dark green, and narrow which is quite mild. Is the sili mahaba in your 2005 post the peppers used for Bicol Express? I’m thinking of harvesting all the peppers and making that dish but don’t know if I’d be able to consume it if it’s too hot. Can I somehow add an ingredient to downgrade the hotness? By the way, I feel silly now thinking those little black things on the lechon were hairs left on the skin…I should have known better that MM would not do that on purpose.

By: thelma

thelma — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:09:21 +0000

mila, yes you’re right! i just went by what it was written on the packet of habanero seeds that i bought. according to mm’s 2005 post on chilis, one comment was that the supposedly hottest
pepper in the world is the naga jolokia. that must be some kind of pepper from hell if it’s even hotter that the habanero. i just wonder how naga jolokia pepper looks like. i would love to plant that in my garden if could buy the seeds…

By: edel

edel — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:27:02 +0000

vanessa- i think there are varieties or maybe newly-breed of chillies that are not really spicy at all. and i don’t think ts the refrigeration. i was able to buy a not spicy (labuyo) at the market not too long ago, as well as the green sili used for sinigang, no flavor at all.. from taiwan or china yata, just like the garlic na walang flavor compared to our garlic from ilocos

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 07:57:27 +0000

I once smuggled a big Zip-Loc of sili in my suitcase. These just have no adequate equivalent in Europe, in my opinion. Could it be the refrigeration in stores that makes the chillies lose some of their heat?