| |
what you should know
If the jalapeno's a sparkler and the habanero's an M-80, then the
serrano's a bottle rocket. It's small, it puts off some heat and, though generally safe, it can get
you into trouble if you're not careful.
(If
you prefer World's Strongest Man
analogies to firecracker analogies, we've got you covered.)
hot or not As they ripen, serranos generally go from
green to red to yellow, though it's difficult to tell
how hot a serrano is just by eyeballing it.
heat seeking Traditionally, a chile pepper's fieriness
has been measured in heat units using something called the
Scoville scale. A pepper's Scoville
rating depends on how much of a compound call capsaicin it has in it.
Serranos typically measure between 5,000 and 15,000 Scoville units.
less sco' A competing scale has emerged to make relative chile heat a little
easier to put in perspective. The Official
Chile Heat Scale scores peppers on a 1-to-10 scale -- serrano is a six, while jalapeno is a five.
get milk You won't need a number to tell you when a
pepper is too hot for you. So what do you do when your mouth's on fire? Get milk. (Or you could eat a piece of
bread and pace around yelling, "Hot dog, you all, I
swear!" That's what our friend
Kirk's dad does when he's overstimulated.)
sweet and dairy When cooking with chile heat, try to balance with it sweet (think of southeast
Asian food) or with dairy (think of yogurt with Indian food or sour cream with Tex-Mex).
what you need
- Our favorite place to stock up on spicy jerks, rubs and condiments is Uncle Brutha's Hot Sauce Emporium, on 7th Street in D.C. Order a bottle of
their
Fire Sauce No. 10.
- If you're one of those people who loves to shop at places like Uncle Brutha's,
you'd like Chile Pepper magazine.
- Because they're so slender, serranos can be a pain to seed. Chip likes to go at
them with his 3 1/2-inch walnut
paring knife from Chicago Cutlery. It's a workhorse and it's only $10.
what you do
|
 |
|
