I have an insanely hot pepper: now what?
Someone gave me a Trinidad Scorpion Moruga pepper: according to Wikipedia, it's the hottest one out there. At least, the person who gave me the pepper said it's one of those, and it certainly seems to look like one.
I can take a bit of chili: I've cooked myself meals before with an entire chili pepper in each, and I can take that much without much problem. Having said that, I'm definitely not a pro when it comes to spiciness, so I'm kind of scared to cook with this demon fruit.
What do I do with this pepper? Is there some way I can get the flavor and spice in a meal without upsetting my stomach or searing my mouth (and/or other stuff the morning after)?
edit: I'm suddenly thinking, maybe I could grind it up and make a big chocolate cake out of it? am I right in assuming the oils in the chocolate will dilute the peppery oil in the pepper?
Best Answer
Have you ever eaten something so hot it made you cry and felt like it'd never stop burning? Given what you've said you've tried, this thing is probably 10-100x as hot as the kind of pepper that would do that to you. Please be careful.
In any case, pretty much the sole point of a pepper like this is to try to be the hottest thing in the world. The amount of capsaicin is incredibly huge compared to the amount of other flavor in it; you're basically never going to taste anything but heat from it. So if you want to actually use it, just assume that the only thing you can do with it is make something hot.
I have a decent heat tolerance and love things with a bit of heat, but I still probably wouldn't bother. There are plenty of ways to add heat with much less risk of creating something completely inedible. If I really wanted to make use of it, I'd probably start with a very small quantity in a dish to try to get a sense for the heat level. This means using it in some kind of soup/stew/sauce where you can incrementally add things as you cook, not in something like a cake where you have to just go for it and possibly end up throwing away a whole cake. (For some peppers I might also try touching it to my tongue first, but I don't think I'd recommend that in this case.)
Finally, you can always try to cover it up by using it in a rich, fatty dish, e.g. a sauce with plenty of cream or coconut milk, but honestly, you'll still be lucky if you can taste anything from the pepper besides the heat.
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What can I do with super hot peppers?
Thus, this section is dedicated to exploring what you can do with your hot peppers!What neutralizes hot pepper?
Vinegar: Acetic acid neutralizes the alkalinity of capsaicin. Pour it over hands or contaminated skin. It's also safe to soak skin in a mixture of vinegar and water for 15 minutes. Additionally, you can rinse your mouth with vinegar to relieve hot pepper burn.How do you neutralize a Carolina Reaper?
After Eating the Pepper. Slowly drink milk if any irritation is felt in the mouth area. Milk contains casein that binds to capsaicin, neutralizing its spicy effect. Consume antacids if any stomach pain is felt more than an hour after pepper consumption.How long does Carolina Reaper pain last?
The pain usually lasts only an hour,\u201d he said in disbelief and wondered why I would ever eat one. I explained to him that after biting off the tip of the pepper to taste it, I was surprised that it wasn't as hot as I had expected. Then I popped the whole thing in my mouth. \u201cThat's the mistake everyone makes,\u201d he said.13 Year Old Eats Worlds Hottest Pepper! Carolina Reaper Challenge
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Answer 2
The hottest part of the pepper is inside the actual fruit, the white veins (aka placenta) contains the highest concentration of capsaicin (the source of the 'heat').
If you carefully clean the pepper, removing the internals, even lightly scrapping the inner walls of the pepper, you will end up with a much more mild pepper. If you will go a step further and roast the cleaned pepper and use a paper towel immediately after roasting to absorb the oils that roasting brings to the surface, you will end up with a very flavorful, but not "too spicy" pepper which can be used in any variety of applications, such as chili or salsa, without overwhelming heat.
By "carefully" clean, I suggest wearing gloves, working a safe distance from anything else being prepared and thoroughly cleaning your work surface afterwards. DO NOT touch yourself (especially your eyes) with your gloved hands. (see http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/trinidad-moruga-scorpion-world-8217-hottest-pepper-eat-201500678.html... section "Safely Handling Chiles")
Answer 3
Wikipedia tells me that that is at about 1.2 million Scoville.
Pepper Spray used by law enforcement is generally 0.5-2 million Scovlille, generally to the lower end effectively as it is diluted to 5-10%.
Imagine applying paper spray to your food, instead of pepper.
I've had friends end chicken wings flavoured with sources that hot, to show their "manlyness". Every one of them ended up crying ("like little girls"), from agony. Describing it as more pain than they could have imagined. After seeing their pain, I felt it would have been a greater mercy have beaten them into unconsciousness, than to have allowed them to consume that food. There is no flavor, there is only pain.
In short, unless you are a phenomenal chili head, that chili is little most than a novelty.
As such a novelty, your might like to attempt to grow your own from the one your were given. So you can point out to guests that that is a chili that is most dangerous than many controlled substances.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Mareefe, Sydney Troxell, Karolina Grabowska, Ivan Torres