A rainbow of hot peppers

A few years ago, there were few sorts of chili peppers in local shops in Japan. Actually, most markets and shops had only one in the fresh section :

Shishito (shishitogarashi). “Lion chili pepper”. It is not hot at all and easier to digest than a bell pepper. There are many Japanese recipes using it (tempura, skewers, salads…). We can buy it fresh year round.

Recently, foreign varieties has become more common. I don’t say we can buy them whenever we want, but sometimes the local supermarket has a few burning surprises… To get 4 at a time, I went to a department store.

Red Korean chili.

GOLD CHILE : extremly strong, for sauce, chutney, pickles. Origine is Colombia. (It is grown in Japan, like the others.)

AJI LIMO : very strong, for salsa, stir-fry, soup. It’s from Peru.

You may find it as : ahi limo, Aji pepper, limo pepper, ahi pepper, ahi limon pepper…

Green Korean chili.