Serious Heat: A Guide to Chile Substitutions
What to do when you don't have the right chile.
You know the drill. You've clipped or printed out a recipe that's supposed to be tonight's dinner. Except, the grocery store betrays you—not having those few essential items you need. As an editor at Chile Pepper magazine, for me that usually means a certain chile necessary to test or develop a recipe. For example, in certain regions, some chiles like cayenne are impossible to find fresh.
The key to finding an adequate chile replacement is knowing its heat level, sweetness, and smokiness. We pooled our resources to come up with a substitution guide for whole chiles. While it focuses on whole fresh or dried chiles, you can always use a hot sauce in lieu of ground chile. The chart, after the jump.
Anaheim: A mild green chile named after the California city, this pepper also goes by the name "California chile" and is often used for chile rellenos; the red strain is called Chile Colorado. Substitution: Canned green chiles or fresh Poblano chiles
Banana Pepper: The sweet pepper, shaped like its namesake fruit, is also called yellow wax pepper. Substitution: Any mild chile like Anaheim or even bell peppers
Bhut Jolokia: Also known as Naga Jolokia or ghost chile, this is the world's hottest chile. Substitution: Red Savina Habanero (lots of them)
Cayenne: A bright red, hot pepper, usually sold dried. Substitution: Chile de Arbol or Guajillo. Crushed red pepper flakes are from cayenne, so it would be the easiest substitute, along with ground cayenne powder.
Chipotle chiles in adobo: The smoked incarnation of the jalapeno that's mixed with adobo sauce. Substitution: One tablespoon ketchup + 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke + 1 jalapeno
Habanero: A small, lantern-shaped chile that's intensely hot. Substitution: Scotch Bonnets or double the dose of jalapenos
Jalapenos: Smooth, dark green chiles that can vary from medium-hot to hot. Substitution: Half the amount of Serrano chiles
Pasilla chile: The dried, medium-hot chile also goes by chile negro. Substitution: Ancho chile (sweeter) or Mulato chile (earthier flavor)
Scotch Bonnets: They belong to the same chile variety as the habanero. Substitution: Habaneros
Serrano chiles: A hot, slightly-pointed chile available in various colors. Substitution: Habanero or jalapeno chiles
Thai chiles: A thin-skinned chile typically found in red and green, popular in numerous Asian dishes. (Bird chile is the name of the dried form; drying the chile gives it the hook shape, similar to a bird's beak.) Substitution: Fresh or dried cayenne peppers or serrano chiles.
Also, Gourmet Sleuth has a magical solution: just plug in the missing ingredient and the website will spit out a substitution.
About the author: On Wednesdays, Andrea Lynn, senior editor of Chile Pepper magazine, drops by with Serious Heat.
Additional research by Stacy Camacho.
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6 Comments:
This is awesomely helpful, thank you!
razorangelwings at 2:21PM on 09/30/09
I don't think jalepnos are in any way a substitute for habaneros. Jalepenos are mild, herbal and have thick skins. Even 10 of them would not be hot enough to be a habanero. Better by far would be the little thai chilis.
Dcarl1 at 2:30PM on 09/30/09
This is really handy for me; where I live, if you don't need it to make a schnitzel, you can't buy it.
That's not entirely true, I can get a small selection of hot peppers.
Anyways, when I read this headline and the subsequent article, I was left with the impression that there would be some kind of chart! Something I could print off and stick on the fridge, so the next time I find myself thinking, hmm, it calls for serrano peppers, should I use the Jalapeno or a tin of Old El Paso Green Chillies in Goo? I can look at the handy chart.
It's still useful info though, and really, I'm pretty much limited to jalapeno anyway
kevster at 3:00PM on 09/30/09
@kevster: Wow, this schnitzel-filled land sounds kind of magical, minus the inconvenient grocery shopping part. And re: chart, you're probably right. How does guide sound? ;0)
Erin Zimmer at 3:25PM on 09/30/09
This is extremely helpful for a chili lover like me who is still learning a lot about cooking with them on my own. Thank you!!
alosha7777 at 6:01PM on 09/30/09
Jalapenos have little or no heat. Poblanos have even less heat. A Chipotle is a dried Jalapeno. Cayenne is much spicier than jalapenos. Serranos are pleasantly spicy, but can be too much for some people. Orange habaneros have the most flavor and even heat - very finely mince if using, never leave in chunks or dices. Avoid red habaneros - it's overkill. Scotch bonnets don't taste as good as habaneros in my opinion. You won't use dried chiles as much unless you're making a lot of rubs, pastes or soups.
ChefR0bert at 4:17PM on 10/20/09