Thai Chili


Red, Green, Fresh, Dried Thai Chilis

[Capsicum annum]

[Prik Ki Nu (Thai); Mak Pet Ki Nuu (Laos); Nga Yut Thee (Burma); Scuds (some chefs); C. annum]

There are many Thai Chilis, but this is the one that is well known and called "Thai Chili" worldwide, and the only one commonly sold in North America. It is small, often around 1-3/4 inches long as grown in Thailand, but there are many cultivars, and those grown in California are often up to 2-1/2 inches (more efficient to grow and harvest large sizes). These are replacing Bird Chilis in much of the world, due to ease of growing and harvesting.

These Thai Chilis are narrow, pointy and start growing point up, but turn downward as they reach full size. They turn from green to red when ripe (they may be somewhat orange in between). They are very hot (H8 to H9), slightly less hot when red ripe, and a little less than that when dried. Fully red Thai Chilis dry very well Those imported from Thailand tend to be hotter than if you dried those grown in California. Some varieties are black if in full sun, turning bright red or orange when ripe.

More on Chilis.


Buying:

  Here in North America, many produce markets carry these chilis in green. Asian markets always both green and red, and probably dried red as well.

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