The New World's Hottest Chile

I need some of these for my next batch of chillyie (see comments) sauce.

The Guinness Book of Records confirmed that New Mexico State University Regent’s Professor Paul Bosland had indeed discovered the world’s hottest chile pepper, Bhut Jolokia.

Bhut Jolokia, at 1,001,304 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), is nearly twice as hot as Red Savina, the chile pepper variety it replaces as the world’s hottest. A New Mexico green chile contains about 1,500 SHUs and an average jalapeno measures at about 10,000 SHUs.

“The name Bhut Jolokia translates as ‘ghost chile,’” Bosland said, “we’re not sure why they call it that, but I think it’s because the chile is so hot, you give up the ghost when you eat it!”

According to Bosland, Bhut Jolokia is a naturally occurring inter-specific hybrid indigenous to the Assam region of northeastern India. A member of NMSU’s Chile Pepper Institute visiting India sent Bhut Jolokia seeds back to NMSU for testing in 2001.

“The plant doesn’t set fruit very well, so it took a couple of years to get enough for field testing,” Bosland said.

Bosland then grew Bhut Jolokia, Red Savina, and habanero peppers under controlled settings. Bhut Jolokia exhibited significantly higher SHUs, as much as triple the amount, and these findings were confirmed by two independent laboratories.

Bosland reported that the variety has compelling potential in the packaged food industry as a food additive. The pepper could be pickled while still green, dehydrated and used as a seasoning. Because the heat is so concentrated, less would be needed and food manufacturers would save money.

“This isn’t something you’d pickle whole and eat,” Bosland said, “but it could replace dehydrated jalapeno as an additive.”

Bhut Jolokia is not NMSU’s first brush with chile greatness; the record-holder for world’s largest chile pepper is a specimen of the ‘NuMex Big Jim’ variety. The record-holder was grown near Hatch, but the variety was developed at NMSU.

From the New Mexico State University's website.

My Fish Curry Recipe

Peters'/CIAH Fish Curry
serves 2

two fish fillets chopped up to big pieces
salt & pepper
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne or paprika or cajun spice mix
1/4 cup flour
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4cup shopped spring onion greens
1/2 cup green beans
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
1 teaspoon chopped lemon grass
1 or 2 kaffir lime leaves chopped up all nice
1 small green chili seeded and chopped or 1/2 teaspoon crushed green chilli
1/2 teaspoon bottled crushed ginger
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 can of coconut cream or milk
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 splash of COCK Brand fish sauce (optional)

Prep by cutting everything up. Thai curries should be cooked real farken quick with the vegetables still a bit crunchy and fresh tasting, which means prepping is super essential. Remember, not prepping is bogue.

Season the fish with cayenne or paprika, salt and pepper, and dust lightly with flour. heat the oil in a pan and fry the fish until lightly golden on both sides and cooked through (about 4 minutes, depending on thickness of fish). Remove fish with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Drain out the oil, wipe out the pan and return about 1 tablespoon of the oil. Saute the greens, herbs, chili, lemongrass, lime leaves and ginger for about 30 seconds. It's good when the lemongrass gets crispy so put in the lemongrass first.

Add the ground coriander, coconut cream and water. Splash in a bit of COCK brand Fish sauce if you want. Simmer for 5-6 minutes, stirring, until the herbs are all fucked up, add the lemon rind and if you want you can puree in a blender to a smooth sauce. Add water if needed.

Return sauce to pan and check seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste. Place fish in the sauce to warm gently (don't fully submerge), then serve over white rice.

Chill A Beer In Only Two Minutes!

I drive prepared.

There's always a couple of fishing rods and all my tackle, a TW Sherrin and pump, a pro scrabble set and official scrabs dictionary, and at least a six pack of Melbourne Bitters in the boot of my duck.

Problem is I don't have a fridge.

Lucky for my summer Saab adventures, one of the Myth Busters blokes told Metafiler readers how to get their cans cold real quick.

About 20-25 minutes in a freezer. If you put it in a bucket of ice, that would halve that time. If you put water in that ice, it'd be cold (+- 5c) enough to drink in about 4-6 minutes, if you put salt in that water, you'd reduce the chill time to just over 2 minutes. Agitating the can in the water, rolling it around, reduces the chill time even more.

The fastest possible way is to grab a CO2 fire extinguisher and unload that sucker on the can.

Whatever you do, do NOT bury the can in sand, pour gasoline on the sand and set the sand on fire. That won't do anything.

A Dud Root (Vegetable)

Grown by a proud Mrs Hilary Nellist of Bedford, this parsnip is Britain's ugliest vegetable.

Via Boing Boing again.

Bill Grainger's Mysterious Reducing Hair Trauma

Sydney celebrity chef, Bill Grainger disturbs me.

His books and cooking shows check out. Bit prancy but mostly easy to follow recipes. Saw him live at one of those cooking shows. He did scrambled eggs. Use cream, butter and a hot pan. Don't muck around. Fry eggs quick, flip and get the hell out. Good advice.

Nope, there's nothing wrong with Bills (his books and restaurants don't use an apostrophe) cooking.

It's Bills hair that winds me up.

Bills paranoid about balding. Pick up any of his books, look at the photos and I'll guarantee you won't see the top of his head. The shot is either from a strange upwards angle, from behind, in a strange light, far away or even cropped at the forehead, chopping off the top of his head altogether.

Watch his cooking shows and the same thing happens. He comes across onscreen as almost effete but sheesh, he must run his shoots with anger a la Monsieur Mick Malthouse.

"If you so much as show a teaspoon sized bit of my bald spot I will shove this spatula so far down your cakehole you'll be ordering porridge everyday until first day of cherry season!"

Ooh Spicy!

Ooh Spicy!, originally uploaded by glennpeters.

At last I got one!

I've been putting it off for years.

And look at its brand name!