# I sometimes get entirely edible watery juicy green chillies when I order takeout. Ho **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 29, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168 "2008-10-29T23:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/1 "2008-10-29T23:57:35Z")
w do they do that? I’ve nibbled at a green chilli and I find myself in pain breathing in and out rapidly to soothe the tongue. But sometimes I’ll order something from a takeaway and they’ll throw in some chillies cooked in a particular way. I can eat them whole, and while they _are_ spicy they don’t cause any unpleasant pain. The word ‘pickled’ comes to mind. But I’m not sure if they _were_ pickled or just fried in oil, or boiled, or they are just a particularly mild kind of green chilli. They are quite moreish so I’d love to find out how to do them by myself. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/2 "2008-10-30T00:00:04Z")
Considering the topic right below this one at the moment, I almost thought that you meant this as a reply to that one but accidently wrote it as a topic itself. I like whole chillies, too. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/3 "2008-10-30T00:08:07Z")
There is a whole range of peppers that vary quite a bit in heat. Even Jalapenos themselves can vary quite a bit. It’s more likely you’re just being served mild peppers, than pickling or cooking making them that much milder. Here’s a short introduction to [mild peppers.](http://www.chili-peppers.org/articles/chili-peppers/mild-peppers.php) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/4 "2008-10-30T00:21:31Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Considering the topic right below this one at the moment, I almost thought that you meant this as a reply to that one but accidently wrote it as a topic itself. > > I like whole chillies, too. I didn’t even know about that thread! Last night was when I nibbled on some green chillies and (in pain) decided to add “find out how they prepared those chillies I got from the take-away” to my short-term to-do list . ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/5 "2008-10-30T00:21:55Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > w do they do that? > > I’ve nibbled at a green chilli and I find myself in pain breathing in and out rapidly to soothe the tongue. > > But sometimes I’ll order something from a takeaway and they’ll throw in some chillies cooked in a particular way. I can eat them whole, and while they _are_ spicy they don’t cause any unpleasant pain. The word ‘pickled’ comes to mind. But I’m not sure if they _were_ pickled or just fried in oil, or boiled, or they are just a particularly mild kind of green chilli. > > They are quite moreish so I’d love to find out how to do them by myself. I know the ones you mean - most commonly found heaped on top of a doner kebab. They are indeed pickled mild-to-slightly-hot green chillies - I’ve never seen the raw fruits for sale anywhere, but you might be able to pick them up in one of those ethnic grocery places. But while you’re there, you’d probably also find them ready-pickled in great big jars, which is going to be much easier. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/6 "2008-10-30T00:25:46Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I know the ones you mean - most commonly found heaped on top of a doner kebab. Or in my experience most commonly found in the corner of a pizza box. The area not containing pizza because of the roundness of pizza and the squareness of a pizza box. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/7 "2008-10-30T00:36:46Z")
I’ve never encountered them in that context, but I approve of the idea. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/8 "2008-10-30T01:10:09Z")
That sounds like [Pepperoncini.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepperoncini) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/9 "2008-10-30T03:21:40Z")
Pepperoncini? That’s not a pepper. That’s a candy. [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habanero) is a pepper. Damn wussy furriners. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/10 "2008-10-30T05:23:58Z")
_sigh_ Green chil **e** , people, green chil **e**. Most are roasted, then peeled. The way you describe them sounds like canned. Canned green chile reminds me of canned orange juice. Disgusting. :smack: No wonder **Ninja Chick** was complaining, I completely forgot that part. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/11 "2008-10-30T05:26:55Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Pepperoncini? That’s not a pepper. That’s a candy. [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habanero) is a pepper. > > Damn wussy furriners. > 😃 I take your Haba and raise you a [Jolo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhut_jolokia). I’m pretty sure our faces will look like a combo of these: 😕:eek::mad::p:smack: and probably in that order. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/12 "2008-10-30T09:30:10Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > _sigh_ > Green chil **e** , people, green chil **e**. It’s a regional spelling difference, not an error. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/13 "2008-10-30T09:45:53Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > That sounds like [Pepperoncini.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepperoncini) I never knew their name but I eat these every day (I live in Greece). Generally they are pickled, but they’re not bad fresh either. Back in the UK I’d only normally encounter them atop a kebab, but I like the idea of them filling up the corners in a pizza box. Once in Egypt I saw very similar looking green peppers in a salad. Everyone else in my group steered clear of them, but I munched down on a whole one. They were seriously hot - I had a very interesting next three hours. Lastly, **Mangetout** is correct. In the UK we spell it chili. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/14 "2008-10-30T12:16:00Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > I take your Haba and raise you [Jolo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhut_jolokia). [QUOTE=Wikipedia] In 2000, scientists at India’s Defence Research Laboratory (DRL) reported a rating of 855,000 units on the Scoville scale,[1][4] [/QUOTE] So India is expecting to be attacked by chilis? Does Pakistan have some secret that I haven’t heard about? ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/15 "2008-10-30T14:11:38Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It’s a regional spelling difference, not an error. No. Green chile is a specific type of pepper. There are plenty of different chili peppers, but I’m 99% sure that green chile isn’t grown (native?) anywhere outside of the southwest United States / northern Mexico. If it’s any of the varieties of pepper grown here (Big Jim, Barker, Sandia, Anaheim, etc.), it’s going to be called green chile. If it’s any of the strains actually _developed_ here by the [Chile Institute](http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/), and grown somewhere else, it’s going to be called chile. Calling a New Mexican green chile a chili is like changing the spelling of a brand name. It’s just blasphemous. ETA: The Chile Institute was founded in 1992, but I’m pretty sure the New Mexico State University Chile Breeding and Genetics Program has been around for over 100 years. > [@](#): > > The most important ingredient in this recipe is, unfortunatley, also the hardest to obtain: New Mexican Green Chile. By this, we don’t just mean green colored chile peppers that happen to be from New Mexico. The New Mexican Green Chile is a specific strain of chile pepper, bred specifically for the New Mexican climate by government scientists in Las Cruces around a century ago. It has a very distinct flavor from its more widespread ancestors, such as the Anaheim chile. There are a number of substrains of New Mexican Green Chile, of which the most celebrated is the Hatch Chile. [From here](http://www.instructables.com/id/E82FCXQUYKEV2ZDRH3/). At least somebody who agrees with me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/16 "2008-10-30T15:47:42Z")
> [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](#): > > I never knew their name but I eat these every day (I live in Greece). Generally they are pickled, but they’re not bad fresh either. > > Back in the UK I’d only normally encounter them atop a kebab, but I like the idea of them filling up the corners in a pizza box. > > Once in Egypt I saw very similar looking green peppers in a salad. Everyone else in my group steered clear of them, but I munched down on a whole one. They were seriously hot - I had a very interesting next three hours. I don’t know about Egyptians ones, but you can buy Peperocinis in pretty much any grocery store in the US. They’re usually near the olives & pickles. But, you have to be cautious and check the jar to see if it’s labeled “hot” or “mild.” The store bought ones can have a bit more of a bite than some of the ones you get with your sandwich at deli shops, but they’re still much safer for tender tongues than regular hot peppers. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/17 "2008-10-30T16:34:02Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > That sounds like [Pepperoncini.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepperoncini) Oh, so that’s what we’re talking about. I love them little guys. When they come in a pizza box I like to think of them as organic sauce packets - I’ll bite off the tip, squeeze all the juices and seeds and stuff out onto a slice, chomp down the rest of the pepper and then enjoy the vinegary / peppery slice of pizza. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/18 "2008-10-30T19:11:50Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > No. Green chile is a specific type of pepper. There are plenty of different chili peppers, but I’m 99% sure that green chile isn’t grown (native?) anywhere outside of the southwest United States / northern Mexico. If it’s any of the varieties of pepper grown here (Big Jim, Barker, Sandia, Anaheim, etc.), it’s going to be called green chile. If it’s any of the strains actually _developed_ here by the [Chile Institute](http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/), and grown somewhere else, it’s going to be called chile. Calling a New Mexican green chile a chili is like changing the spelling of a brand name. It’s just blasphemous. > > ETA: The Chile Institute was founded in 1992, but I’m pretty sure the New Mexico State University Chile Breeding and Genetics Program has been around for over 100 years. > > [From here](http://www.instructables.com/id/E82FCXQUYKEV2ZDRH3/). At least somebody who agrees with me. 🙂 I understand how you feel about this, but I think you’re just wrong. This isn’t a brand, it’s a descriptive term - even the word ‘chile’ in the name of that organisation is just a descriptive term - like ‘pepper’ or ‘institute’. All of those things you call ‘chile peppers’ are called ‘chilli peppers’ here. [cite](http://www.suttons.co.uk/pd_200501_Pepper_Chilli_Bhut_Jolokia_5.htm#) - this variety is headlined on your linked site, but it described here as a ‘chilli pepper’. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper) has this to say: > [@](#): > > The name, which is spelled chili, chile, or chilli, comes from Nahuatl \*chīlli \*via the Spanish word chile. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/19 "2008-10-30T19:24:46Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > How do they do that? My personal theory is that they’re a byproduct of the production of capiscum spray. How else do you get a pepperless pepper? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168/20 "2008-10-30T19:25:28Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > I take your Haba and raise you a [Jolo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhut_jolokia). > > I’m pretty sure our faces will look like a combo of these: > > 😕:eek::mad::p:smack: > > and probably in that order. OK. With a Jolo, **I’m** the wussy furriner. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sometimes-get-entirely-edible-watery-juicy-green-chillies-when-i-order-takeout-ho/470168.md?page=2)