With the popularity of Southwestern and Thai cuisines continuing to spread, so has the popularity of spiciness, primarily achieved through the use of peppers. But the hotness of peppers varies greatly among the varieties, and it isn't always easy to know if you're about to bite into something with a warm, spicy taste or an afterburn that just won't seem to go away even though your tastebuds have.
Instructions
Determing Which Hot Pepper You Have
1. Look at the pepper. Usually, the smaller the pepper, the hotter it is. Take a bell pepper for instance. It is one of the largest peppers, but has a zero on the Scoville index. That is because it contains very little, if any, capsaicin, which is the substance that makes peppers spicy. Capsaicin is usually found in the seeds and membranes of the pepper. The smaller the pepper, the more concentrated the capsaicin.
2. Compare the pepper's color and appearance to others on your visual guide. Most visual guides will include the units on the Scoville heat index as well as descriptions of the peppers and their proper usage and substitutes. For instance, they will tell you what works well in a Mexican dish as opposed to Caribbean or Asian foods.
3. Be brave and taste the pepper. It's difficult to know what type of hot pepper you have and whether it's appropriate for your dish if you don't know what it tastes like. Again, the Scoville units can come in handy. If you barely feel anything, you might have a cherry pepper on your hands; if you burn off your taste buds, it could be a scotch bonnet.
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