Late summer early autumn is when chiles are at their fruity-spicy best. I make it a point to see what’s available at the local farmer’s markets. Chiles are a hot (pun intended) thing to grow these days and farmers such as Melody Ranch, a local farm in Watsonville near where I live, tries out new varieties every year. The farmer told me that she leaves one row to turn nice and red, and I’m waiting for her jalapenos so I can make a few batches of homemade chile garlic sauce.
Yesterday, I came home with a sampling of Melody Ranch’s bounty. I asked and then selected the ones with the most heat from their array. There were large padron, Portuguese, something related to habanero, and cherry bombs. These are much larger than Thai chiles so how hot could they be? With exception to the occasional bell pepper, ginormous chiles don’t figure into Vietnamese cuisine. Hot ones add touches of heat but Viet food, in the main, isn’t big on chiles like that of other Southeast Asian cuisines.
However, I did recall seeing a Viet-American chef eating pan-fried chiles with rice as part of a staff meal at his restaurant. Think of pan-fried padron peppers that are served at trendy tapas bars. Why not do the same with these? Here's what I bought:
I split each one lengthwise, kept the membranes and seeds intact and heated up a skillet over medium-high heat with a light film of peanut oil. In went the chiles and I seared the, pressing and flipping until they picked up some caramely color. It was a little dramatic at times but the fragrance was amazing. After 3 to 5 minutes, they were done. Tossed with a few sprinklings of kosher salt, and I had a great snack as well as an accompaniment to rice.
The flavor? There was a moderately-hot amount of rich, sweet heat. It was bearable enough for my husband and I to gobble up a batch very quickly. For dinner, I pan-fried the chiles again and then stir-fried them with thinly sliced flank steak (marinated with soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and oil). Just now, I cooked up more and added them to a sandwich for a little bite.
Try this technique as a way to explore all the crazy, lovely chiles that are coming to market right now.
RST says
Hi Andrea,
Hahaha. It's Vietnamese salt you used I assume?
Do you remember the conversation we had in the car last year ("J" was driving)? We were talking about the variety and the excellence of Vietnamese salts and Philippine salts and we were joking about how one day some genius is going to package these salts in some fancy way and sell them for a fortune at a gourmet shop.
Well it has happened already. While browsing the Saveur website the other day, I stumbled on a small (web-only) featur
Cynthia says
I would love to try this, the problem is, all the chiles we get in these parts are way to hot to eat the way you've suggested (meaning as a snack).
Andrea Nguyen says
RST -- Lennie DiCarlo of Xroads salt (that same company) is giving us nipa boxes of her salt for the Asian Culinary Forum's goodie bag.
Yes, I remember that salt talk. Nice way to make $$, huh? If only you and I were so driven...
Cynthia, I didn't see these kinds of peppers until this year.
Cricket says
Cynthia, do you get poblano and anaheim chilis at your market? They are mildly hot (anaheim are rather ho-hum but still good) and turn sweeter in the technique Ms. Nguyen used. You wouldn't have to eat them straight as a snack, but they would make a terrific base for a sauce or a salsa.
Back to lurking...
John says
Andrea,
Once you cooked/seared the chilie's, did you just pick at them, cut them up into bite sized pieces, or serve with anything. Before I try it, did the searing break down any of the heat. If so, I'll look for these at Cabrillo tomorrow! Thx.
Spanish Translation Services says
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Regards
marlon says
I would love to try this, the problem is, all the chiles we get in these parts are way to hot to eat the way you've suggested (meaning as a snack)