Red Hot Chili Pepper

This post has nothing to do whatsoever with the music band named Red Hot Chili Pepper. This is really and literally about Red Hot Chili Pepper.

The chili pepper (also called chili) is the fruit of the plant capsicum of the nightshade (Solanaceae) family. Cultivated since prehistoric times in Peru and Mexico, it was discovered in the Caribbean by Christopher Columbus.

This is the plant that puts fire on your tongue and maybe even a tear in your eye when you eat spicy Mexican, simmering Szechuan, smoldering Indian, Thai food or Padang food. The heats is caused by the substance capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide). This chemical compound causes pain and inflammation if consumed too much, and can even burn the skin on contact in high concentrations.


HEALTH BENEFITS

Fight Inflammation
Chili peppers contain a substance called capsaicin, which gives chilies their characteristic pungence, producing mild to intense spice when eaten. Capsaicin is a potent inhibitor of substance P, a neuropeptide associated with inflammatory processes.
Natural Pain Relief
Topical capsaicin is now a recognized treatment option for osteoarthritis pain. Several review studies of pain management for diabetic neuropathy have listed the benefits of topical capsaicin to alleviate disabling pain associated with this condition.
Clear Congestion
Capsaicin not only reduces pain, but its peppery heat also stimulates secretions that help clear mucus from your stuffed up nose or congested lungs.
Boost Immunity
Chili peppers’ bright red color signals its high content of beta-carotene or pro-vitamin A. Just two teaspoons of red chili peppers provide about 6% of the daily value for vitamin C coupled with more than 10% of the daily value for vitamin A.
Prevent Stomach Ulcer
Chili peppers have a bad–and mistaken–reputation for contributing to stomach ulcers. Not only do they not cause ulcers, they can help prevent them by killing bacteria you may have ingested, while stimulating the cells lining the stomach to secrete protective buffering juices.
Lose Weight
All that heat you feel after eating hot chili peppers takes energy–and calories to produce. Even sweet red peppers have been found to contain substances that significantly increase thermogenesis (heat production) and oxygen consumption for more than 20 minutes after they are eaten.


Wow, red hot chili pepper is so amazing isn’t it?   Maybe we should change that old saying to “A bowl of chilies a day keeps the Doctor away”.


HOW TO ENJOY

Chili recipes come in all types of colors and flavors depending on what part of the country that you come from. In Indonesia, chili is a common ingredient in many different dishes from different areas of the archipelago.

We have sambal which is served as a condiment for variety of dishes. It is sometimes a substitute for fresh chilies. It can be extremely spicy for the uninitiated. It is common to find bowls of different sambals on the dining table in Indonesian homes.

One of the famous Indonesian cuisinse, Padang Food, aslo use lots of chillies in the recipes and my favorite is the Balado.

Balado is versatile hot spicy sauce of Padang Food. We can cook it with eggplants or beef or prawns or eggs (boiled or fried).

Dendeng Balado (Spicy Beef Jerky)

Ingredients

500 grams lean beef meat (silver or topside)

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Pinch of salt

For the seasoning sauce10 red finger-length chilies, finely sliced
3 cloves garlic chopped
5 shallots, finely sliced
1 medium tomato, deseeded and chopped
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
Pinch of salt
2 kaffir-lime leaves

To make the seasoning sauce, grind all ingredients (except the kaffir-lime leaves) to a smooth paste in a mortar or blender, adding a little oil if necessary to keep the moisture turning.

Cut the meat more or less around 3 mm thick, 3 cm wide and 3 cm length. Rub the salt onto the meat.

Deep fry the meat on a medium heat oil until brown and crispy. Set aside for a few minutes then pat dry with towel paper.

Heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok over medium heat, Stir fry the seasoning and kaffir-lime leaves until fragrant and cooked around 10 minutes.

Add the fried meat into the wok and mix well with the seasoning sauce for 1 minute. Remove from heat, discard the kaffir-lime leaves.

Using the same seasoning sauce, we can also make Balado Terong (Hot Spicy Fried Egg plant)