r/HotPeppers • u/Saritatay • 4d ago
Food / Recipe Recipe to tame a ghost pepper?
My 10-year-old grew ghost peppers and now they’re finally ripening. He’s so excited to try one 😬 but I don’t think he really gets just how insanely hot they are.
Anyone have a recipe (salsa, chili, hot sauce, etc) that uses just a tiny bit so he can say he tried it without destroying himself?
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u/Jesslet 4d ago
I throw one in the stockpot when I make birria. Let it cook in there whole for the full 4+ hours of simmering and remove it at the end. Puts a subtle but intense heat into the meat & consume especially, probably would work similarly for chili
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u/Saritatay 4d ago
Birria sounds amazing.
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u/nametaken420 4d ago
the very bottom of a pepper, furthest sliver away from the stem, is sometimes referred to as THE CHEATER piece. This is the least spicy part of the pepper. Slice that nub off and let them eat that.
have a bit of ice cream or yogurt nearby they can just hold in their mouth.
my neighbors kids love eating my ghost peppers, so I let them suffer. Kid once told his mom that his ears were hurting after eating a bite, and sipping milk, lol
they will be fine, its not like they are going to die. Probably just cry kick and scream for 30 minutes, you know.. the usual.
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u/Saritatay 4d ago
Lol. I feel like my son would love the challenge of eating an actual piece of the pepper. And if he has an excuse to eat ice cream or whipped cream - even better. Plus, bragging rights 🤣
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u/bowmans1993 4d ago
Make sure to take a video so you can laugh about it through the years. That'll be a priceless memory
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u/davidmcguire69 4d ago
If it were me I would let him eat a piece raw. Your developmental years are meant for trying new things and learning from mistakes and/or successes. As long as he has some food in his belly beforehand and some kind of dairy product to coat the mouth afterwards, let it rip! While in the moment he might regret the decision, afterwards (with helpful encouragement from his dad the hype man) he will feel accomplished and proud. He will tell all his friends.
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u/nametaken420 4d ago
recipes: Sliced Ghost peppers go well on Pizza/Calzones. The cheese helps tame the heat.
Salsas/Pico: 1 Peach, 1lb of diced Tomato, 1 Ghost (diced), 1/2 Onion, 3 cloves of Garlic, Lime Juice, Cumin, Salt, Black Pepper and Cilantro. Let it meld in the fridge for an hour
Ratios are a guestimate, can always make it your own.
Lots of people will either blanch or dry them and drop them in olive oil to marinade and make a very hot olive oil. Mine are blanched because like to eat the halves later.
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u/SirTorrentsOfAle 4d ago
You should start him off on chili flakes and work his way up to habaneros first so he can naturally build a tolerance. Some individual pods are much hotter than others. The safest way to consume them is to process the entire harvest. There are lots of ways to do that and learning how to cook is the main benefit.
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u/KeithChatman 4d ago
I make a sweet hot sauce from my reapers and habaneros using strawberries, the sugars tone down the heat quite a bit and people love it. I have a waiting list for when I do my first batch this year haha.
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u/paintaquainttaint 4d ago
Here’s a visual recipe I used for a peach/ginger/citrus sauce. I used it on pork ribs and wings but it’s a nice mix for the fruitiness of the ghosts and could easily be adapted to a salsa with some orange cherry tomatoes. I added another ghost and white wine vinegar to this. It’s a nice introduction to ghosts if they don’t want to just eat it straight.
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u/Colonel-_-Burrito 4d ago
You must slowly approach the ghost pepper with a variety of its favorite snacks in hand. After you get it to trust you, carefully make physical contact and it may end up being your best friend forever.
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u/xxboscoxx1 4d ago
Cut it on a plate and give him ~1cm x 1cm piece to eat with a sandwich so he can get a chance to truly taste the floral notes of the pepper without diluting with water and sauces while still being small enough to not completely annihilate his palate. I do this with my family lol. I usually bite them or turn into a salsas or bbq sauce if I dont want to get rekt too much the night before work lol
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u/AustnWins 4d ago
You can use your favorite recipes for any those dishes and just use a pinky nail sized portion of the pepper flesh without any gills. Also goes great in small amounts in a chicken curry.
Or, take it head on, a tiny piece of ghost pepper flesh, size of a sprinkle or less on a toothpick. Have the garden hose on standby to just run water through your mouth and some ice cream as backup 😉
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u/TardedApeDoc 4d ago
I was chopping habaneros at my buddy's place and he has a 7 and a 10yr old. We just let them touch one of the slices and then touch their tongue, they got the idea. Then of course had them wash their hands thoroughly
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u/kshucker 4d ago
Look up a jam/jelly recipe that uses a super hot. I’ve been making a jam with reapers for a few years now and people at work love it. Even people that don’t necessarily like hot stuff. It’s the perfect blend of sweet and heat.
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u/Gem_Supernova 4d ago
idk what part of the process makes it less spicy (maybe the cornstarch?) but this recipe for jamaican pepper steak has been my goto for using superhots, I just replace the bells and bonnets with whatever handful of peppers I have.
you taste the actual flavor of the peppers really well but the heat is pretty tame. I've really been enjoying the surprisingly awesome carolina reaper flavor without it being lethal. its still hot but esp if you go easy on the ghost its under a habanero level for me
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u/Illustrious_Dust_534 4d ago
Weird one! Mince it really fine and whip it into a block or cream cheese with the tiniest pinch of sugar. The ghost pepper taste is incredible and surprisingly pronounced from within the cream cheese, and the heat is significantly more mild.
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u/Washedurhairlately 4d ago
Tame a ghost pepper? :: thinking::
You could watch someone else eat them. Problem solved. For you, not the recipient.
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u/abowtimari 4d ago
I also grew ghost peppers with my son and he's begging to try one. He's almost 10. He can eat raw serranos and the jalapenos that I let ripen on the vine until they're red. I'm just nervous because there is a HUGE jump in heat from those peppers and ghost peppers. My husband says to let him go for it and have a tiny bite. I told him they could do it together and I'll take a video and laugh hysterically while they regret their life choices.
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u/Agile-Profession2579 4d ago
Add in other peppers with the ghost peppers. I made salsa with ghost peppers and just used a couple for a large batch. Gave some heat without being overwhelmed. But my son decides in reapers this year so in the same boat!
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u/AnUrbanTaco 4d ago
Cut it and half and remove seeds, sauté with onions and bell pepper then add to baked beans 🤤
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u/Viper518753 4d ago
Let him learn. I grew chocolate bhutlah this year. My sons friends thought they could eat them raw and show no hint of pain. It was rather amusing to watch...
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u/blast0man 4d ago
Garlic onion salt vinegar and a small( like maybe an half ounce)amount of tequila chopped up in a bottle heat that bad boy to at least a hundred then fridge for 12 hours. All this is based upon the volume of pepper. I usually fill the bottle like maybe three quarter full with vegg and then add the liquid in after. Ghost pepper hot sauce.... also always use gloves cover face wear long sleeves and don't use a cutting board that you use for normal cooking.
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u/nutationsf 4d ago
I ferment mine into a mash/paste then use around ¼ tsp in anything you want the amazing flavor in without out adding too much heat.
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u/PoppersOfCorn Tropical grower: unusual and dark varieties 4d ago
This or into powder for the same principle
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u/1776boogapew 3d ago
Let him try the tip of his tongue to the tip of the pepper. He’ll live and learn. Maybe even laugh and love.
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u/Dr_Dewittkwic 3d ago
1 ghost pepper, finely chopped, mixed into the batter for a whole pan of corn bread. One of my favorite ways to let mere mortals enjoy the flavor of ghosts.
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u/Green-Pea-4586 4d ago
He’s 10, not 5. I’d personally pick a fully ripe one, cut off the very tip ( at the bottom), and give it to him on a tea spoon so he doesn’t get any on his hands. The heat of a pepper like this is intense, but it doesn’t last forever, and it doesn’t actually do any harm. It’s just a trick to your brain. Nothing legitimately bad will come if it, and if you make it a seriously tiny piece, it honestly won’t be that bad. Have some ice cream nearby
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u/Charming_Ambition_27 4d ago
Some lessons gotta be learned the hard way my man. Put some gloves on the both of you, cut a SMALL piece off of the TAIL end of the pepper. the moment the pepper piece is in the mouth quickly discard the gloves in the trash so capsaicin doesn’t spread.
Also it’s wise to have milk already in a couple glasses.