I like spicy food, but I like limits to my spice. Whenever I buy jalapenos at the store, I seem to get the type that are too hot to use more than one or two. I want the kind that come with nachos with that fake orange cheese, that I can eat a bunch and not feel too bad.
I remember buying some from the pickle section once that were way too hot. I’m looking for something that has maximum flavor with limited heat. What kind do I need to buy?
There’s at least one brand around here (Merzetta, I think?) that sells “tamed jalapenos” which are supposed to be more mild.
It’s a crap shoot. I have bought jalapenos at “white” grocery stores and had my tongue blistered. I have bought them from the Latino markets and ate a bowlful with no pain. I grow my own, and they are probably the ones you want.
I would talk to the grocer and see if you couldn’t sample one before you buy.
Look for canned pickled jalapeños in the Mexican food aisle. Those will probably be ok. Old El Paso, or some other national brand.
Yeah, buy the Marzetta ones…or get used to the spicy, regular ones. Just keep eating the hot ones and you will build up a tolerance. Then it will be a non issue.
If you were shopping at any of the stores in my area, you wouldn’t be havnig that problem. It can be tough finding stores that have jalapeños that are even spicy, let alone have a little kick in them.
Those ones on the nachos are probably canned. There are canned varieties that come in mild and hot grades, rings and diced. You can blanch them to cut the heat. Cut rings then toss in boiling water for a minute or two tops.
If you clean out the inner lining and seeds (wear good gloves doing this!) that will go a long way towards reducing the heat level while keeping the flavor. The heat is mostly in the seeds and inner lining. A good rinsing or soaking overnight in vinegar then draining and rinsing would probably help as well.
You want the pickled ones. They’ll be MUCH tamer then the raw ones. As for how much, as someone else said, it’s a crapshoot. I get the La Preferida Mild Nacho Slices. The last ones I bought had just a bit of a bite, the jar I have right now, I could eat by the handful, they have no heat whatsoever…literally none. (As opposed to ‘none’ in a “I’m so tough it doesn’t bother me” way.)
Don’t get me wrong, I like spicy stuff, but for what I use these for, this is perfect. I usually stick them on garlic bread and I love the taste, but I’m not looking for any heat in this instance, just taste.
Thanks for the replies. I do like SOME heat to them, I just prefer a slow heat to a quick heat, if that makes any sense. I’ve thought about roasting them like a red pepper, as I think that keeps the flavor without so much of the heat (if I get rid of the seeds).
(I went to Five Guys tonight and had the Cajun fries, with a TON of extra seasoning. It’s really not too hot at first, but by the time you’re done a slow burn remains in your mouth.)
If I find the right kind, I’m going to make cheddar jalapeno mashed potatoes. Not culinary genius, but yummy in their own right.
Yep. If you’re buying them fresh, they’re all over the map. I like my peppers hot, in general, and with jalapenos, I have not found any way to distinguish hotter peppers from milder ones based on appearance or any other trait.
That’s pretty much the same with any pepper. They have a general range of heat, and the actual heat level varies from pepper to pepper and plant to plant.
Be really quite thorough about removing the seeds and ribs. I made some habanero poppers a few years ago and made myself dizzy with the damn things, mostly because (I think) I didn’t quite entirely get the seeds and ribs out. Next batch I made was quite manageable, because I was very, very thorough.
Yeah, if you want to temper your pepper, the ribs and seeds are where the heat is at.
I’m of the opinion that jalapeños have a huge range of heat. Most other peppers are fairly predictable. A serrano is hot but they’re pretty much all hot in the same way. Jalapeños can go from bell peeper to “damn!”
I like heat, but when I cook with Jalapeno’s, I don’t expect it.
Sometimes you get some that are no hotter than a bell pepper, sometimes you think you got a Habanero, some times, its just right.
Honestly, I only like jalapenos because they are cheap. Their flavor is kind of crappy on the pepper scale, above green bell peppers, but not much.
You can always add heat, the Chile Arbol powder, in the clear cellophane packs, pretty hot in quantity, not bitter like Cayenne (another crappy pepper), doesn’t mess with your flavors.
The Ancho chiles are pretty common, mild, good flavor, then add your heat as you
see fit.
A guy I know, runs trucks, he chews Jalapenos to stay awake, he says the ones that have the tree bark looking skin are hot, the more tree bark looking skin, the hotter, don’t know if I believe him.
I’ve heard that, too, but I haven’t found any definite correlation.
