Spice Up Your Cooking with Peppers Return to the Spices Main Menu for More Information Types of Peppers Scoville Heat Scale How to Stop the Heat Using Dried Chiles Roasting Peppers Preparation There are many types of peppers used in ethnic dishes from Mexico, the American Southwest, India and Asia all have local varieties to compliment their national cuisine. The "hotness of peppers is measured according to the Scoville Heat Index . The mildest peppers such as sweet bell peppers and cherry peppers are at the bottom of the Scoville scale. In the middle are peppers like serrano, yellow hot wax peppers, and red cayanne peppers. At the top of the scale are the habamero and the Scotch Bonnet.

Peppers Common Names Photo Description Scoville Heat Units Anaheim Chile; California Green Chile; Long Green Pepper; Chile Verde; (When Mature And Red - Chile Colorado; California Red Chile) These large (5 to 8 inches long, 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide, tapering to a point), mild chiles have a thick skin, and are usually a bright, shiny green. Available year-round in most supermarkets, they're best in the summer. The flavor ranges from mild and sweet to moderate hot,they can vary greatly from pepper to pepper. They are perfect for chiles rellenos, dice or purée them for sauces, soups, and casseroles. Substitute: New Mexico green chile (very close, but hotter) OR poblano chilies. 2,500 Banana Pepper, Banana Chile, Sweet Banana Pepper, Pimento A banana-shaped pepper that changes from pale to deep yellow or orange as they mature. These are easily confused with hotter yellow wax peppers. Sample before using. Sweet banana peppers are sweet, long, tapered, yellow and banana-shaped, hence the name. Sweet Banana peppers may be fried or sautéed, used raw on relish platters, in salads, sandwiches or stuffed.     500 Cascabel: This is a medium hot Mexican pepper that is almost never found fresh in this country. When dried the pepper is round like a cherry pepper with a translucent skin. It has a dark reddish_brown color and the seeds rattle around inside, hence its name cascabel-or jingle bell. When toasted this pepper develops a rich nutty flavor. 5,000 Cayenne Pepper = Finger Chili = Ginnie Pepper = Bird Pepper A wrinkled, very pungent thick fleshed fruit, 6 inches long and 1-1/4 inches in diameter, they are often used in Cajun recipes. . Very pungent, even when small. The Cayenne derived its name from the Cayenne district of French Guiana. Used for sauces, dried, pickled or in salsas. Green cayennes appear in the summer, while hotter red cayennes come out in the fall. Substitutes: chile de arbol OR Thai pepper OR habanero OR jalapeno OR serrano. 60,000 Cherry Pepper, Hungarian Cherry Pepper, Bird Cherry Pepper, Creole Cherry Pepper Cherry peppers measure about 1 3/4 inch in diameter. The heat ranges from moderately mild to medium heat with traces of sweetness. Peppers are fleshy and heavily seeded. It matures from green to red.     100 - 500 Chipotal, Dried Jalapeno Peppers Chipotal is not actually a name for any particular pepper, but it applies to a smoking process to dry them. Usually mature jalapenos are selected to be smoked-dried, making them significantly hotter than the immature green pepper. Chipotals enhance and impart a wonderful smoky flavor. 8,000 Fresno Pepper Bright green, changing to orange and red when fully matured, Fresno chilies have a conical shape - about 2 inches long and 1 inch in diameter at the stem end. Similar to jalapeno peppers, but with thinner walls, they're great in salsas. Fresnos are available in the summer. the hotter red ones come out in the fall. 5,000 Habanero Pepper For the uninitiated even a tiny piece of Habanero would cause intense and prolonged oral suffering. Underneath the heat is a delicate plum-tomato apple-like flavour. close relatives are Scotch Bonnet and Rocoto. 325,000 to 570,000 Jalapeno Pepper These popular chiles have a good amount of heat and rich flavor. Green jalapenos are best in the late summer, while red jalapenos appear in the fall. Canned jalapenos aren't as fiery as fresh. Substitutes: cuaresmeno (very similar) OR Fresno chile OR guero chile OR malagueta (hotter) OR serrano pepper OR yellow wax chile pepper OR fresh cayenne pepper 5,000 Mirasol Pepper This thin-skinned pepper can vary more than any other chile in looks, and therefore may be hard to recognize. Sometimes small, sometimes large, smooth or wrinkled, it is quite inconsistent. Known for its distinct berry like, fruity flavor that enhances potatoes chicken, and pork. Spices up hot salsas, stews, and mole sauces.   2,500 - 5,000 New Mexico The darling pepper of New Mexican chili lovers, it is a light green when young, matures to a medium green, and finally a deep red when left on the bush. In the fall, chili pepper fanatics throughout the Southwest crowd roadside roasting stands to stock their freezers with the new fall crop. I am most familiar with the dried mature version of this pepper but depending on where you live, it is also available fresh and smoked dried while still green. Its heat range is from medium to hot, depending on the cultivar, and it has a very distinctive flavor. 5,000 Pasilla The pasilla pepper is a long, thin pepper 7 to 12 inches long by 1 inch in diameter. Pasillas turn from dark green to dark brown as they mature. Poblano Pepper (Fresh), Ancho Chile(Dried Version)   When fresh it is called chili poblano, a large (about 4 inches long and 2½ inches wide) mild, heart-shaped pepper that has thick walls, which make them great for stuffing. Because it is a rather mild pepper, it can be used in quantity to add a deep rich flavor to any chili creation. They're best in the summer. Substitutes: Anaheim. Ancho is the dried version, and it has a brownish-red to chocolate color with a rich chili flavor.   2,000 Rocotillo Chile These chiles look like tiny bell peppers and have black seeds. They have an interesting fruity flavor. Substitutes: manzana chile (very similar) OR habanero (similar heat) 2,500 Scotch Bonnet Chile This chile is almost indistinguishable from the habanero, except that it's a bit smaller. It's popular in the Caribbean. Substitutes: habañero chile OR Serrano chilies (use twice as many) OR jalapeno peppers (use twice as many) 325,000 Serrano Pepper A small, rich, waxy green peppers change to orange and red as they mature. They are about 1 ½” long with thin walls and the smaller they are, the more kick they have. Substitutes: jalapeno (not as hot).) 25,000 Thai Chile = Bird Pepper = Thai Bird Chile = Pick Chi A = Thai Jalapeno For such a small chile, it packs an incredibly fiery punch. Thai chiles range in color from red to green when fully mature. They are often used in Asian curries. Thai peppers should be used sparingly. Substitutes: chile de Arbol OR fresh cayenne pepper OR jalapeno peppers (not as hot) OR Serrano peppers (not as hot) 150,000