Ghostly
I have to confess that I’m afraid of ghosts. This fear has nothing to do with Halloween being only a couple of weeks away. It has to do with the Naga Bhut Jolokia also known as Cobra or Ghost Pepper.
A pepper’s heat is measured in Scoville units or SKU. For example a jalapeño peppers and tobacco sauce has a SKU rating of 3 500- 8 000, habanero peppers SKU rating is 100 000 – 350 000 and the Ghost Pepper has a whopping SKU 1 000 000+. To determine the amount of scoville units a pepper has the pepper is diluted in sugar water and tested on people’s tongues. It is diluted until the tongue can no longer detect any heat when tasted. This system was invented by Wilbur Scoville in 1912 and is considered inaccurate.
The Bhut Jolokia has been cultivated for centuries in northeastern India and Bangladesh and only made its way to Canada over the past decade. The peppers fiery reputation grew quickly among hot pepper fanatics and has a bit of a cult like following which doesn’t surprise me as eating a Ghost Pepper can be somewhat of a religious experience laden with fire, brimstone and heart pounding apparitions.
What scares me about this pepper isn’t its scoville searing heat but it’s inconsistencies of heat as it depends upon where the pepper is grown as to how hot they can be. Ghosts grown outside their indigenous environment may be less than half as potent as those grown within it. You can get a Ghost that is considered to be a dud that contains little or no heat effect at all. These irregularities can make for some truly volatile results when preparing dinner.
Ripe Jolokai peppers are distinctly shaped and come in a variety of red, yellow and orange colours. They have an exceptionally thin skin compared to other peppers which is almost semi-transparent when dried.
Ghost Peppers are grown by hot pepper enthusiasts throughout our region. They are available fresh and dried although I have not met any commercial retailers of the peppers as of yet, many backyard gardeners sell ghost peppers on-line. For a more controlled Ghost Pepper experience you may want to visit the Firehouse Gourmet who sells Ghost Pepper powders, extract and sauces.
I obtained some Ghost peppers from a friend in Prince Edward County who grows them indoors and made the following recipe for hot sauce with them.
The Ghost Pepper became recognized as the hottest pepper in the world by Guinness World Records in 2007. It should be noted that the Ghost Pepper is no longer the hottest pepper in the world as the Moruga Scorpion from Trinidad is twice as hot as the Jolokai and has a SKU of 2 000 000 or the equivalent of law enforcement grade pepper spray
Bhut Jolokia Hot Sauce
Ingredients:
1/10th of a Bhut Jolokia pepper
2 habanero peppers, stem removed
1 cup Bermuda onion, diced
1 green onion, minced
3 Cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 Tsp. ground cumin
1/3 cup white cider vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
A pinch of salt
Method:
This pepper is extremely hot and if not used moderately following the precautions you may encounter physical discomfort and/or pain. Wear gloves when handling peppers. Do not touch your skin or mucous membranes after handling the peppers. Wear eye protection when blending or boiling the sauce.
Wearing protective gear, place all of the ingredients in a blender and place lid on blender. Puree the ingredients until smooth. Pour contents of blender into a medium sized, stainless steel sauce pan. Heat the sauce over medium heat for 15 minutes. Allow mixture to cool and use it sparingly. Sauce will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
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