Thai Peppers

[eek]

My friend has asked me to send him some Thai peppers (he asked for the seeds).

He requested medium hot. But would like to send him a couple of varieties. I am thinking three kinds.

As im clueless on this, I am seeking advice.

First of all what are the name of the peppers I should ask for please (as well as their relative 'hotness')?

Can I just buy the seeds as requested? (Also fab if anyone knows how to ask this in Thai!)

And, lastly, would anyone know where best to buy them in Chaing Mai?

Thank you!

[eek]

bump bump.

Any advice foody people?

[rogerdee123]

Well I don't really know the names of them.

But send him some of the (medium) larger ones because these are terrific as suppositories which are used often in traditinal medicine circles for both constipation and also "fluid stools" which are also not uncommon in Thiland.

Of course "prik kii nuu" would be too small (probably) for this purpose but one never knows.

[Solosiam]

Send him three different size chilli's.

Mouse Shit chilli's - Tiny little ones

Medium Chillis

Large Chillis - nearly half the size of jalapeno's

You can tell which sort they are by teh fact that ripe chillis are red, so send small red, medium red, and large red chilli's or their green siblings. Chilli's are farily easy to grow here in the trpics, don't know about elsewhere.

[eek]

ty.

He was also chatting to me about Habanero peppers. I really dont know about chillis at all!

Can Habanero ones be bought here per chance?

[blue eyes]

Here is an interesting site about peppers.It has a link to how to grow them also.It is in the USA not Thailand.But give it a go anyway.http://www.batnet.com/rwc-seed/pepper.hotness.scale.html

[wine-o]

My friend has asked me to send him some Thai peppers (he asked for the seeds).

He requested medium hot. But would like to send him a couple of varieties. I am thinking three kinds.

As im clueless on this, I am seeking advice.

First of all what are the name of the peppers I should ask for please (as well as their relative 'hotness')?

Can I just buy the seeds as requested? (Also fab if anyone knows how to ask this in Thai!)

And, lastly, would anyone know where best to buy them in Chaing Mai?

Thank you!

[wine-o]

The two main chiles you'll find in CM are:

prik kii nuu: (literally translated "mouse shit chiles"), which are the ones you see in som tam, yam wun sen etc. They are extremely hot and are the chile workhorse of Thai cuisine. These ones are tiny, about 1-2cm in length. Colours are green and red.

prik chee faa: these look like Anaheim or Poblano chiles(North American names), and tend to less hot but can pack a punch as well. They're larger, about 10cm usually and are quite often used in curries and for garnishing. Colour is red.

I've seen Hungarian style chiles in markets in CM too. They are odd, curly shaped and can be hot or not, depending on the chile. They can be green, yellow or red in colour.

I'm sure there are others available too. You can find the best ones at the fresh markets, the Mae Rim market on the main road has Royal Project produce where all the veg are fantastic.

For seeds, check out the plant markets behind Tesco/Lotus on the Superhighway. Also, Queen Sirikit Gardens has plenty of seeds.

Also, for mail order tell your friend to source www. richters.com

Did you know that chiles are not native to Thailand? They arrived with the Portuguese and Dutch merchants 500 years ago along with tomatos and pineapples. Their home is S. America.

Hope this helps.

wine-o

[track61]

I understand all the world's peppers originated in Mexico. I don't recall ever seeing habeneros in markets here or in thai food. I puchased some jalapeno and haberno seeds on-line from www.gourmetseed.com and had them shipped out here. I'm not a pepper expert but see nothing special about thai chiles. Hot is hot, everywhere.

[sceadugenga]

Plenty of Chillies here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chillies

I agree with Track61 that they originated in the Americas, Thai food was once spiced with the traditional peppercorn. (Piper nigrum)

eek, go to a produce market and just buy as many varieties as you can find, eat the chillies and dry the seeds and send them off. They grow quickly and easily in any climate that doesn't have frost. Even in northern Europe they are grown in glass houses.

If your friend complains they're too hot tell him to cook with less chillie next time.

Bear in mind also that importing any plant matter into LOTS of countries is illegal.

Edited August 28, 2007 by sceadugenga

[Tim207]

My friend has asked me to send him some Thai peppers (he asked for the seeds).

He requested medium hot. But would like to send him a couple of varieties. I am thinking three kinds.

As im clueless on this, I am seeking advice.

First of all what are the name of the peppers I should ask for please (as well as their relative 'hotness')?

Can I just buy the seeds as requested? (Also fab if anyone knows how to ask this in Thai!)

And, lastly, would anyone know where best to buy them in Chaing Mai?

Thank you!

You didn't say where you want to ship to but if it is the US don't bother. Have your friend get what he wants mail order from a company located in the US (or whatever country he is in). Try this site for US http://evergreenseeds.stores.yahoo.net/hotpepper.html . Customs is very picky about seed imports. at least in the US. Last time entering the US I was searched and all seeds found were confiscated because they didn't have USDA stamp which I am willing to bet would not be on any seeds you find in Thailand (why would they unless destined for export in which case they wouldn't be on local shelves). On the bright side, they only found half of my stash and there was no penalty for trying to smuggle them in.

[eek]

Thank you all so much.

My friend is from Poland, and apparently has trouble getting hold of them there. As he doesnt have a means to purchase online, he cannot get hold via net either, that is why when he was talking to me about chilli's I thought would be nice to send him a gift from here.

Now that I have a much better idea what to look for I will go shopping. (As pathetic as this sounds, I get embarressed easy, so arming myself with a little knowledge of what is and isnt obtainable really helps!)

Do you suppose there is any reason why some seeds should NOT be sent??? I did not think there would be any harm in sending them as they are for personal use. Of course, I may be one of those ignorant people who ends up sending something which contaminates a whole freakin country!

AYe Caramba!!

[pete_r]

Do you suppose there is any reason why some seeds should NOT be sent??? I did not think there would be any harm in sending them as they are for personal use. Of course, I may be one of those ignorant people who ends up sending something which contaminates a whole freakin country!

As far as I understand, the thinking behind forbidding moving plants, including seeds, between countries is that they may be carrier of diseases in the form of fungus spores, plant viruses, etc... There is always a (small) chance that such diseases find a host without natural defenses in their new environment and prosper on to devastate the new host. If the host is a farmed crop, the result is financial losses for the agriculture (crop loss and cost of pesticides), or if the host is a wild plant, the result is damage to the local ecosystems.

[Tim207]

Thank you all so much.

My friend is from Poland, and apparently has trouble getting hold of them there. As he doesnt have a means to purchase online, he cannot get hold via net either, that is why when he was talking to me about chilli's I thought would be nice to send him a gift from here.

Now that I have a much better idea what to look for I will go shopping. (As pathetic as this sounds, I get embarressed easy, so arming myself with a little knowledge of what is and isnt obtainable really helps!)

Do you suppose there is any reason why some seeds should NOT be sent??? I did not think there would be any harm in sending them as they are for personal use. Of course, I may be one of those ignorant people who ends up sending something which contaminates a whole freakin country!

AYe Caramba!!

As Pete says, species/pest migration is a huge concern. I have no idea about Polish regulations so you should call their embassy. If you can't send seeds you might try hiding them wrapped in a letter that states what the seeds are to help disguise them. That way if it is caught they will just confiscate the seeds. Pepper seeds are pretty small. I don;t see any real danger in sending pepper seeds.

[eek]

thank you all very much for the advice and tips.

[track61]

If you buy them from one of the reputable suppliers mentioned above they probably know the documentation required for import. The place I used said they shipped anywhere.

On another note, wonder how many pepper growers there are in Poland. I just don't associate hot peppers with that part of the world. Even fresh paparika is mild to medium hot at the most. Not that it matters much, but regardless of what happened to the cat, curiousity still rears its ugly head once in awhile.

[jayenram]

There are basically three types of chilies (excluding bell peppers) widely available in Thailand as has been stated.

The Thai chili - approx 50 - 60 mm long, 5 mm diameter, green, orange, red

The prik kee noo (mouse droppings) - approx 12 mm long, 3 - 4 mm diameter, green, yellow, orange, red

The anaheim chili - approx 100 mm long, 25 mm diameter, pale green

I have seen other chili varieties available in supermarkets (cayenne and mild jalapeno) but not on a regular basis.

Try Yorky's sites for "The Scoville Scale" and "Markets of Thailand"

www.freebeerforyorky.com

[cimot]

Any advice foody people?