what to do with a bounty of aji amarillo peppers?
October 14, 2022 1:36 PM   Subscribe

After spending the summer in apparent hibernation, my aji amarillo plant is now covered with chiles, far more than I will be able to eat fresh. What can I do with them to be able to continue to enjoy them?

Willing to consider pretty much any preparation – submerge in vinegar? Make hot sauce with? Turn into pepper jelly to take advantage of the fruity note to their flavor? Please suggest your favorite way to make use of hot peppers like this. Thank you!
posted by Lexica to Food & Drink (7 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Make hot sauce! It's not too difficult. Look for recipes that are non-fermented and it's even easier. Here is one such recipe. What I would do - drop the onion. The garlic is enough. Add fruit. Throw in a whole peach or other stone fruit. Amarillo peppers are akin to tabasco peppers - if you like that level of heat, leave them as it is. If you like it less or more hot mix in other peppers. One or two habaneros will add plenty of heat. Fresno and cherry peppers add wonderful flavor. Jalapeno adds a bit of a gunpowder flavor.
posted by plinth at 2:13 PM on October 14, 2022 [2 favorites]


I feel like this is so obvious that maybe you considered and discarded the idea, but drying them is a classic way to use them for a long time. If you don’t have a food dehydrator, ask around, especially if you know anyone who hunts or goes mushroom picking, and see if you have tool libraries that have one to borrow. You may also be able to use your oven if it has a low enough setting, especially if it has a convection fan. Whole chillies can also be hung to dry in bunches on string in a well ventilated room. You can dry some whole, some in slices, some without seeds, just the seeds, etc, for different recipes, and grind some into powder, crush others into flakes.
posted by Mizu at 2:24 PM on October 14, 2022 [2 favorites]


Salt curing is simple and delicious.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:23 PM on October 14, 2022 [2 favorites]


I have also made candied jalapenos by cooking them in a lot of sugar and a little water and vinegar to taste. I don't use a recipe but this is pretty much what I do.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:26 PM on October 14, 2022


You can also freeze hot peppers, and use as needed.
posted by coffeecat at 3:39 PM on October 14, 2022 [1 favorite]


Dry at least a few fully ripe ones so you'll have seed for next year's crop. You don't need a dehydrator for this; half a dozen put in a brown paper bag and stored somewhere warmish will dry out just fine on their own.
posted by flabdablet at 10:54 PM on October 14, 2022


I grow aji limon every year and most of mine get tied into bundles and hung from the ceiling to dry. Once dry I save some whole but the bulk of them I crush into powder to use as a more fruity/floral version of cayenne pepper powder.
posted by Ferreous at 7:51 AM on October 15, 2022


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