“Is something wrong with your chili?” I asked. “They look emaciated.”
Well, don’t they? Bigger than most of the hot peppers we are accustomed to seeing around here, sure, but wrinkled and dented, as if the air has been punched out of them. They certainly look like they could have inspired the rock anthem “Scar Tissue” by — who else? — the Red Hot Chili Peppers!
But seriously.
Once certified by Guinness as the world’s hottest chili (2007-2010), ghost pepper or bhut jolokia — if that’s indeed what those pictured here are — is 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. Compared to our own siling kulikot (labuyo to Tagalogs), it’s at least 10 times more incendiary. No wonder the locals called it siling yawan-on (devil’s chili).
I encountered the sili in the same garden patch as the round Thai eggplant. And, yes, that’s the way they normally look, although others of practically the same variety — but not in the same bush — are said to be smooth. And if you can be bothered to take a closer look at the photo below, you’ll see that the fruits come in different colors: red, orange, and dark violet (yellow as well). It seems as if this chili can’t make up its mind except in the matter of spiciness.
In case you’re wondering, I have no intention of trying for myself how hot it really is. Even kulikot is too fiery for me. I do know two guys who munch on kulikot like beer nuts, so this cultivar should be of interest to them. At any rate, the time to beat for eating three ghost peppers is 16.15 seconds — y’know, in case you’re hot to set a new world record…
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