Bird's eye chili or Thai chili ( owing to its shape) is a

chili pepper Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli ( ), are varieties of fruit#Berries, berry-fruit plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. They are used as a spice to ...

variety from the species ''

Capsicum annuum ''Capsicum annuum'' is a fruiting plant from the family Solanaceae (nightshades), within the genus Capsicum which is native to the northern regions of South America and to southwestern North America. The plant produces Berry, berries of many color ...

'' that is native to Mexico. Cultivated across Southeast Asia, it is used extensively in many

Asian cuisine Asian cuisine encompasses several significant regional cooking styles of Asia: Central Asian, East Asian, North Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and West Asian. Cuisine is a distinctive way of cooking practices and customs, usually associat ...

s. It may be mistaken for a similar-looking chili derived from the species ''

Capsicum frutescens ''Capsicum frutescens'' is a wild chili pepper having plant genetics, genetic proximity to the cultivated pepper ''Capsicum chinense'' native to Central America, Central and South America. Pepper cultivars of ''C. frutescens'' can be annual or sh ...

'', the cultivar '' siling labuyo''. ''Capsicum frutescens'' fruits are generally smaller and characteristically point upwards. In the Marianas and Guam these are often called boonie peppers or Doni Sali, which can be term for regional wild (technically

feral A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...

) varieties. The variation between different varieties can be significant for regional dishes or visuals, such as the Thai ornamental varieties.

Description

The bird's eye chili plant is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

with small, tapering fruits, often two or three, at a node. The fruits are very pungent. The bird's eye chili is small, but is quite hot. It measures around 50,000 – 100,000 Scoville units, which is less than a habanero, but many times hotter than the spiciest jalapeños.

Origins

All chilis found around the world today have their origins in Mexico, Central America, and South America. They were spread by Spanish and Portuguese colonists, missionaries, and traders, together with many other now-common crops, such as

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

, tomatoes and pineapples, through the

Columbian Exchange The Columbian exchange, also known as the Columbian interchange, was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the New World (the Americas) in the Western Hemisphere, and the Old World (Afro-Eurasia) in the Eastern Hemis ...

. The chili varieties found in Southeast Asia today were brought there in the 16th or 17th centuries.

Uses

Cooking

Indonesian cuisine Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions by various ethnic groups that formed in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed ...

, these chilis are widely used in a variety of dishes and sambals. The whole green bird's eye chili is also eaten raw as a side dish for ''gorengan'' (deep-fried foods). In

Vietnamese cuisine Vietnamese cuisine encompasses the foods and beverages originated from Vietnam. Meals feature a combination of five fundamental tastes (): sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and Piquant, spicy. The distinctive nature of each dish reflects one or more ...

, these chilis are used in soups, salads, and stir-fried dishes. They are also put in a wide variety of sauces, pastes, and marinades, used as a condiment or eaten raw, both fresh and dried. In

Thai cuisine Thai cuisine (, , ) is the national cuisine of Thailand. Thai cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with aromatics and spicy heat. The Australian chef David Thompson (chef), David Thompson, an expert on Thai food, observes that ...

, these chilis are highly valued for their fruity taste and extreme spiciness. They are extensively used in many Thai dishes, such as in

Thai curries Thai curry (, ) is a dish in Thai cuisine made from Thai curry paste, curry paste, coconut milk or water, meat, seafood, vegetables or fruit, and herbs. Curry, Curries in Thailand mainly differ from the Indian subcontinent in their use of ingredi ...

and in Thai salads, green as well as the ripe red chilis; or they can just be eaten raw on the side, with for instance, '' khao kha mu'' (stewed pork trotter served with rice).

Thai ornamentals

The more decorative, but slightly less pungent chili, sometimes known as "Thai ornamental", has peppers that point upward on the plant, and range from green to yellow, orange, and then red. It is the basis for the hybrid cultivar ' NuMex Twilight', essentially the same, but less pungent, and starting with purple fruit, creating a rainbow effect. These peppers can grow wild in places such as

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

and

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

References