You are correct.

I thought it was the opposite. Thank you for the clarification knowledge.

I heard or read that growers don't like to let them turn red, they want to pick when still green. Perhaps they keep longer? And Ron, perhaps they spoiled because they didn't get air? I've had that happen if I leave peppers in a produce bag in the fridge.

lougord99 wrote:Carnicerias Jimenez on Dundee had a big bin of red jalapenos 2 days ago. Very good quality, though many were turning green, so I had to look through to get the best red ones.

Thanks, Lou. I appreciate the tip. I don't get out there very often but I'll keep it in mind. I like using the red ones because they're easy to identify in a finished dish, like a stir fry, and can easily picked out by someone who wants less heat.

tjr wrote:I heard or read that growers don't like to let them turn red, they want to pick when still green. Perhaps they keep longer? And Ron, perhaps they spoiled because they didn't get air? I've had that happen if I leave peppers in a produce bag in the fridge.

I can't really say. I always repack them right when I get home -- and I've never purchased a flawless pack -- but this was the worst one ever, with at least half of the peppers being too mushy for anything other than discarding.

IMO, it should the store's responsibility to remove unsuitable items from their shelves, not the shopper's job to guess about them. Irrespective of intent, if nothing else, this just points out the impracticality of packaging certain kinds of produce this item in this manner. They cannot be checked by the seller or the buyer. A top-notch store finds a better way and a savvy shopper finds alternatives.

=R=

Red jalas definitely rot faster, from experience with both store-bought and home grown. I've found they're sweeter, but not necessarily less hot. So few store-bought jalas have any heat these days, it's hard to get good stats.

JoelF wrote:Red jalas definitely rot faster, from experience with both store-bought and home grown. I've found they're sweeter, but not necessarily less hot. So few store-bought jalas have any heat these days, it's hard to get good stats.

Based on what I've read, they're supposed to be slightly hotter than green. More capsaicin during the ripening. More fruity is the other conventional wisdom as far as a differing flavor profile.

More for gardening than here but picking peppers before they are ripe encourages more and longer flowering. Yields from plants where the peppers are not allowed to ripen are appreciably higher than where the early peppers are allowed to ripen. This is why you will see a lot more ripe peppers in farmers markets in late September to October than in July. In northeastern Illinois you can have many pepper varieties ripen in July but the yield penalty is substantial. The same thing applies to picking off the earliest blossoms to allow for larger plants before energy is devoted to producing fruit.

My experience with H Mart Niles, Korean and Thai peppers both red and green has been uniformly /fresh good but I usually shop on Saturday mornings where I assume the stock is fresh.
There are green chiles of the mild and some of the hot varieties and labeled as such. The green/red

Korean ‘Hot’ labeled ones have just the right amount of heat. The Thai can be scorching!!!!
The widely available green Jalapeños have been crossed with a bell type and are termed TAM’s (Texas A&M). The ‘heat’ has been bred out of them, usually.
I purchase red Jalapenos at El Rey in Milwaukee which always seem to have good heat.
-Richard

bweiny wrote:

cilantro wrote:

lougord99 wrote:Where do you buy your galangal?

Ideally, Talard. But in a pinch, you do sometimes luck out and find relatively fresh pieces at H Mart. Not too many other options that I’m aware of….

I'm pretty certain at least one of the two Fresh Farms in Niles carries it, because I've definitely seen it. Knowing my luck on the minor differences between the two, I'd go to the wrong one first when looking. I'll confirm the next time I go to each.

Galangal root $7.99/lb at Fresh Farms Touhy.

Galangal root $7.99/lb at Fresh Farms Touhy.

I looked at Fresh Farms Golf yesterday and they did NOT have fresh galangal. They did have fresh turmeric root, tho.

Giovanna

Giovanna wrote:

Galangal root $7.99/lb at Fresh Farms Touhy.

I looked at Fresh Farms Golf yesterday and they did NOT have fresh galangal. They did have fresh turmeric root, tho.

Giovanna

I'm shocked it was the opposite of my expected scenario of going to the wrong location first. Assist to Cremeria Ordena for getting me going southbound to start.