Tomato Addict: Ghost Chili

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Ghost Chili

Ghost Pepper

OMG!!!! I can't even begin to explain how hot this pepper is. So hot that I don't even know how it could have a culinary purpose.
Certified in 2006 by the Guiness World record keepers as the hottest pepper on the planet. From Northeastern India, it is called Naga Jolokia, or Bhut Jolokia. I believe that translates to "Ghost chili". Apparantly eating one can cause you to give up the ghost.

One of my best friends bit into one and got a blister on his lip. One of my chef's decided to make a hot sauce out of them and had to repeatedly leave the room because the fumes were burning his lungs and sinuses.

So...other than having the bragging rights of having the "hottest chili in the world" growing in your garden, I have no idea what to do with this.... It's just off the charts hot!!!!
I'm curious if anyone else grew it or anyone has any suggestions for uses of a pepper that could destroy your digestive track?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: One of my girlfriend's patients gave us a couple of these, didn't tell her what they were. She couldn't remember what he called him, but she said they were really hot. They were stubbier than what I thought the ghosts looked like, so I figured they were hybrid habaneros or scotch bonnets or something. I cut the top off by the stem, and I could instantly smell the heat. I cut a sliver the thickness of a quarter, then cut it in half, and ate a quarter of that. Holy God, I've never burned so bad. Instant pain, instant breathing difficulty, I couldn't see. I regularly cook with Habaneros and can handle my heat, but this was unreal. I unseeded it and now have a bunch of seeds to plant. I'll make some evil chicken wings with the sauce from them :); August 22, 2012 at 1:36 PM
Anonymous said...: had some in soutwestern China (Yunnan) on crawfish. My wife and I have been accused of being crazy heat-eaters.

First off, we couldn't eat the crawfish. had to ask the cook to go and put them in a different sauce. they simply burnt and took our breaths away.

Then, my wife would eat a crawfish, then suck on an ice cube. Sucking the head was not possible without needing an ambulance.

we had blisters on our lips and chins too! We finally ate the bowls, but ran the restaurant out of ice!

Later, I wanted to wipe my (running profusely due to the heat) nose and didn't think about the napkin being soaked in pepper oil. I had to snort ice water to even begin to stop suffering. The locals told us the peppers were "ghost peppers."; August 25, 2012 at 7:47 PM
Unknown said...: Attention avec ce piment
surtout ne pas aller au WC after , lol; September 29, 2013 at 6:06 PM
Unknown said...: After have touch this chili , never go to the WC , LOL; September 29, 2013 at 6:07 PM
Tomatoaddict said...: Haha Serge!; January 16, 2014 at 5:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Older thread, I know, but I've been growing these for years. I either dehydrate them and watch idiots try to choke them down, or I put a SLIVER in a sauce or chili. I've also dehydrated them and then ground them up (goggles recommended). I mix the powder into nacho cheese and once, in a moment of sheer stupidity, put it on a pizza (don't do that). Definitely adds the heat! These just don't really have any flavor. They taste a bit like burned beef jerky, and I don't like jerky, so I'd never want copious amounts even if this pepper wasn't that hot.

Incidentally, bhut jolokia does not translate into ghost pepper. That's a common misconception, as is the claim that people in India put this on fences to deter elephants. Nothing deters elephants. That's ridiculous.; September 25, 2014 at 2:50 PM