an obssesion with habanero

August 17, 2013

an obssesion with habanero

Habanero chili and apple chutney

Autumn retreat for the kitchen team today to the Pink Lady apple farm in Elgin. it has been a long over due visit to see Brent hidden paradise even since I came back to SA .

I have promises Brent that I will keep develop apple recipe enhance my dish at Kitima as well as for my own pleasure indulgent.

Brent has been my loyal fans for habanero chili with black bean, habanero sambal Olek for many years ago

I said to Brent one day he must allow me to help him to purplish his first cookbook with his apple.

Here I got an amazing recipe of habanero relish I have learnt and master from my very honorable team at Kitima always gave me courage and inspiration to strive for new experience everyday.

For Chili relish

500gm Orange habanero

100gm Whole garlic

50gm Ginger peeled

100gm Shallot cleaned

50ml grape seed oil

For Apple

2kg Pink lady apple cored cut into small cubes 1cm x 1cm

2x 5cm Cassis stick

4 Bay leave

30g Yellow Mustard seed

500ml Apple cider

For Seasoning

100ml Grape seed oil

30gm Himalaya pink salt

30gm Pink peppercorn

150gm Palm sugar

How to prepare the relish

1. Roast whole chili , whole garlic, ginger and shallot in the oven on 140 degree for 30 minute Or can be pan roast on the pan until charred.

2. Discard stem from chili and blend into course texture.

How to prepare apple

1. Cored the apple and diced into 2cm x 2cm.

2. Bring apple ,cassis stick ,bay leaves, yellow mustard seed and pink peppercorn with apple cider to boil

3. Cook the apple until is soft removed bay leave and cinnamon

4.Add chili mixture then add seasoning.

5. Allow the chutney to cool off before bottle into the jug.

Posted 2013

My first encounter with habanero feeling was a bittersweet ........in 2002 !

After my lunch where pretty woman was shot at The Regent Wilshire Hotel i was almost need to wheel out of Beverly HIll to Santa Monica beach.

Rented a bike and ride all the way to Marine Del Ray with Paul Starr who promised show me the best of LA beside where Julie Robert sold herhelf to Richard Gere at sunset Boulevard strip.

Just after sunset, Paul decided to show me to his favourite Maxican restaurant served traditional Yucatecan food on the Hollywood West where i have had the burning sensation for the first time in my life i could not eat anything else but keep drink milk for my entered dinner after adviced by the chef called Diago.

In 2000, the habanero was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's hottest chili, but it has since been displaced by a number of other peppers, the record tending to change hands every few years.

I always thought this hottest from the Amazonas region migrated north to the Caribbean via Colombia. Upon its discovery by Spaniards, the habanero chili was rapidly disseminated to other adequate climate areas of the world, to the point that 18th-century taxonomists mistook China for its place of origin and called it "Capsicum chinense"

One day, My best friend Yueh Feng Theeboom arrived at my home with a tiny little jug of orange and black color king of relish looking to me and said " This is very precious sauce i got only two but i shared one with you and you not allow to take to your Restaurant share with everyone at L'orient !

Today i learnt to produce every year send off as winter warmer goodies to all my fans from around the world.

But getting some help is essential if you do send a couple kg garlic used in the recipe like me !

Chef jade help me peeled 2 kg garlic to exchange a plate of Hainanese chicken rice she told me is bloody worth .I think so too ha ha !

I remembered many of my regular guest came to savour my food because of the chili sauce they had eaten and gave them an experince they never had before ............the sauce is very addictive and the actual degree of piquancy

its fruity, citrus-like flavor, and its floral aroma have made it a popular ingredient in hot sauces and spicy foods.

Yueh Feng being such connosaius for chili herself has master the recipe of making these devil chili sauce with black bean garlic quietly at home whille habanero harvest in South Africa from winter until spring.

The second batch she bought to me was taste as good as first batch then i ask for the recipe.

We both obssive with chili ! A meal without chili is like living life with no air !

The Scotch bonnet is often compared to the habanero, since they are two varieties of the same species but have different pod types. Both the Scotch bonnet and the habanero have thin, waxy flesh. They have a similar heat level and flavor. Although both varieties average around the same level of "heat",

At the moment the habanero season coming toward the end and I more that likely got just the last hervest of the year. I order a few kilo for my brother Dean which he used at The Fireman's Arm served delicious hot fire pie with it....

I used just one to try out at Kitima today for our nasi Goreng as condiment for a kick ....