14 February 2007

Have a hot and spicy Valentine!

So... how are you spending your Valentine's? Want to know how I'm spending it? Well... we are going to be at this IT event in EDSA Shangri-La on the 15th and 16th. The ingress is -- you guessed it -- on the 14th! We'll be there practically the entire afternoon and probably most of the night if the set-up doesn't work as planned. Oh well.

But here's a hot and spicy Valentine's to you ... courtesy of my pickled peppers recipe ... version 2!

I have blogged about a pickled pepper recipe last 2005 (wow! time flies!). Check it out here and the result here. The first version involved a fair amount of chopping and cooking. Well, here's another recipe that's simpler to make!

You'll need:
Peppers (used for sinigang)
lasona (small, red onions)
vinegar (preferably cane vinegar)
whole black pepper
sugar
hot water
cold water
And before I forget... when we bought the peppers in Baguio, the first vendor we were going to buy from said "hindi maanghang yan" (my peppers are not the hot variety). We asked if this would be good for pickling, and she said it's better if it gives a little bite. So we got the kind that's on the spicy side. You can't tell the difference straight away between the hot and the regular kind, but the hot one has a darker shade of green.

So here's the way to pickle your pepper...

Wash the sinigang peppers clean.

Remove the stem and slice it into two. Remove the seeds. Is there a way to remove the seeds without touching a lot of them? My fingers are still burning 24 hours after we did this! Plastic gloves, perhaps?
Oh yes. Be careful where you place your hands after removing the seeds. Even after a couple of thorough hand washing, it can still sting! I learned this the hard way.

Guess what I did that made me wary of the power of this pepper.

Remove the skin of the onions. Slicing not needed if they're small.

Submerge the pepper in hot water (preferably freshly-boiled) in 3 to 5 seconds, then remove and pour cold water over it. We were told it's supposed to keep the crispiness of the pepper intact.

Now get the bottles and it's time to stuff in the peppers and the onions! For a regular jam bottle, we added three teaspoonfuls of sugar and around 2 tablespoons of black pepper.

Pour the vinegar and seal it up.
It's recommended that you store the pickles at room temperature for 7 days or more. If you're sure the jam bottles are sealed tight, it's also recommended to keep the bottles upside-down for a couple of days so the pepper at the top will be "cooked". Then bring it back to its right position for the remaining days.

I can't wait to try this out. When it's time to savour the pickled peppers, better have some fried fish handy! Yum yum!

A Hot and Spicy Happy Valentine's, everyone!

22 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:28 am

    Naku tito nick! (tito nick ulit..hehehe). Palagay ko di kaya ng powers ko yang sili na yan.

    Pero alam mo yung mga Indian dito hindi ko alam kung anong klase yung dila nila at ang tinding kumain ng sili, yung labuyo pa ha.

    Happy "hot" Valentines to both of you ni sweetheart mo.

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  2. Hi Watson! Happy Hearts Day to you and your dear family.

    Thanks for sharing that interesting recipe. I have "medium" tolerance for spicy food but I'm fond of it as long as I have lots of access to water. :)

    Thanks for visiting me. You probably don't know, but my son is a late talker. It was only when he turned 3 that he started constructing sentences. I'm thankful that he is doing much better now. Ang daldal na nga, minsan di mapigilan. LoL.

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  3. tamang tama yan hot kayo sa valentine.

    The Ca t

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  4. Anonymous6:02 pm

    happy hearts day!

    curious ako dyan.. gagawa ako nyan, wait for it :) . bagay siyang kasama sa prito?

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  5. ako....i will spend valentine's day...WORKING like a b!@+ch!!!! work work work....chu has no time for fun anymore! boooooo!!!

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  6. pagkain na naman!!! happy anghang valentine's...

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. Looks great. Probably too spicy for my taste buds. You are some guy to go through lengths in making something homemade.

    Happy Valentine's to you Nick and may your belated celebration be as hot and spicy as your pickled peppers.

    9:02 PM

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  9. sarap ilagay yan sa pizza!
    fave kong mag-order ng may pepperoni ;)

    meron resto sa amin (mexican) na kapag nakaya mong ubusin iyong pinakama-anghang na meal nila,
    di mo na kailanganh bayaran

    alles gute zum Valentinstag! exit na ako ... may nabasa akong fried fish eh, delikado! heheh

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  10. Let me know how it tastes Wats0n. I have passed your old recipe on to many people already and everyone loves it. We are out of peppers now because it is winter so I can't wait until summer arrives and I can pickle some more.

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  11. P.S. My favorite are the pickled onions. I'm thinking of doing a couple batches of just them.

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  12. Hi Nick, Happy Valentine's Day to you and your family!

    I can't wait for the summer when I plant more peppers. I'll try pickling them your way, hot and spicy :)

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  13. I made the mistake of cutting up peppers for cooking before putting on my contact lenses once... just once... O_o;;

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  14. Yummy! I always love spicing up anything I eat! The hotter the better!

    Happy Valentines Day Watson!

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  15. i do love hot pepper but not too hot like habanero. paiiyakin ako niyan.

    thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  16. Anonymous2:36 pm

    wow grabe ang anghang nyan! kapag pickled ba nababawasan ang anghang o ganun pa rin, nag-iisip tuloy ako kung ano lasa nyan, patikim!

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  17. hi sir nick! happy vday ha. parang hindi ako happy kainin yan.. it looks nice though.. nice display. heehee

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  18. Anonymous3:47 pm

    natikman ko na yung Binagoongan at Bicol Express na halos puro sili ang laman, masarap ha! kahit di ako mahilig sa mahanghang nagustuhan ko. ano naman kaya lasa niya?

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  19. Wow! I should try this one!

    Just dropping by and checking out the Pinoy blogosphere! May I invite you to visit my blog at http://ivanhenares.blogspot.com. Thanks!

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  20. Anonymous8:06 pm

    belated and advance happy valentines kuya nick hehe.

    naalala ko yung kwento ng lola ko noon, yung daw tito ko inutusan nya na gumawa ng atsarang papaya, sabi ng lola ko lagyan nya ng sili kasi gusto nya me anghang. noong tinatanggalan na na ni titi yung buto ng sili, nanggati daw yung ilong sukat kinamot ..ayun namaga heheh

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  21. Ann: Ginawa na namin ito noong college and we loved it. Di ko nga lang maalala kung maanghang o hindi yung ginamit naming sili.

    Rachel: ooooh... 3 years... parang ang tagal nun ah... nakakainip!

    Cathcy: Happy Balentimes!

    Cess: Naku oo! Masarap ito sa prito!

    Chu: Oy balita ko enjoy naman work mo e!

    Leah: I don't find pickled peppers in grocery stores so I made one. The last time I made was a couple of years ago! So ok lang. It's fun and a different experience.

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  22. Princess Em: pagbigyan mo na me sa food post ko...

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