Where in Ohio are you, btw?

Kim–when I say, “dry them,” I mean, dry off the water you used to rinse them. If you put them in the freezer wet, ice will form on the them and make cutting them up a pain. Just either let them drio dry on a paper towel or towel them off. And then stick them in a ziplock bag, mark the date and what kind they are and freeze them.

I freeze and use both ripe red jalapenos–which is what went into this recipe, and green ones. They are both good. In fact, all of the chiles I have treated this way worked out perfectly this year. I did serrano, jalapeno, thai bird chiles, habeneros and poblanos. They all worked out great.

Beth–thank you very much for pointing out the typo. It should say, “up to but not including the peanut oil.” I fixed that!

Raw sugar is what I used because I like the “brown” sugar taste, and because that is what lives in the kitchen. To go get white sugar, I have to go into the baking pantry in the utility room, and so, raw sugar is what gets used for most everything. You can use white or brown or raw–whatever you have.

Now–I can see I am going to have to write that soy sauce post I keep promising where I explain the differences between them and what they are used for and all of that.

If you need to use wheat free tamari because you have gluten sensitivities, by all means, do so, and don’t worry about it. It will still taste good.

The reason this has a combination of two different soy sauces, however, is because they have different flavors and they change the character of dish significantly. The Cantonese are very particular about the blending of soy sauces to provide the perfect flavor profile for each dish, and the more I learn about the subtleties of Cantonese culinary traditions the more I respect them.

In short–thin soy sauce, also known as light soy sauce (not “lite” low sodium soy sauce) is pretty much straight up soy sauce. It is the standard sauce of the Chinese kitchen. Dark soy sauce has caramel and maybe a bit of molasses put into it, which gives it a redder color, and a thicker texture–if you swirl the sauce in the bottle, and watch it drip–it had sefinate “legs” like a good full bodied red wine does. Thin soy sauce has no legs, it just runs down fast.

The dark soy sauce has a richer, darker flavor and is sweeter. It is really great with beef, because it helps tame the stronger flavor of the meat. It gives it a delicious color, too–beef when stir fried tends to go greyish–with dark soy sauce, the color is enhanced to a rich reddish brown that is very appealing to the senses.

Soy sauce is so cheap at the Chinese market, I suggest going out and picking up a bottle of thin (I use Kimlan Aged) and dark (I use Kimlan dark), and try them out in various recipes, alone in and in combination. They really do have different flavor and color profiles.

That is just it. I am going to have to write that post in the next couple of days….

Thanks,

Beth

When you say “dry them” do you mean towel them off, or make them into dried chiles? I’m assuming you were referring to green jalepeno, rather than red, ripe chiles?

Will it work to halve them (so as to seed them) before freezing? I guess that would be in the same category as mincing, so I’m thinking the answer is yes.

Cool idea!