I love jalapenos! In fact, just last night, I had the extreme tots from Sonic, topped with jalapenos (yum!). My stomach does not always appreciate them, but that does not matter – when it comes to jalapenos, my taste buds win over my stomach every time! The only thing jalapeno flavored that I will not eat is jelly and jellybeans.
Jalapenos are small to medium chili peppers, but they can pack a lot of heat in their small body. These particular chili peppers were named Jalapeno after the city that traditionally produced them – Xalapa. Jalapenos are grown in the Paloapan River basin to the north of Veracruz as well as in Delicias, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Navarit, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Chiapas.
The green jalapenos are hotter than the red jalapenos, which tend to be milder and sweeter in taste. Hot green jalapenos are my favorite, but even their temperature depends on how they were grown and prepared. If deseeded and deveined, the jalapeno will have a milder taste. This is because the heat is contained primarily in the seeds and veins. Capsaicin is the active chemical compound found in jalapenos that gives it its heat. Even handling a jalapeno with bear hands can cause your skin to burn so if you are preparing jalapenos for a recipe remember to wear latex gloves.
The heat in peppers is measured in Scoville units, a unit of measure developed by pharmacologist Wilbur Scoville in the early 20th Century. The Scoville units measure the amount of capsaicin in a pepper, so the higher the number, the hotter the pepper. The jalapeno pepper rates between 2,500 up to 8,000 Scoville units.
What should you do if you get a hold of a pepper that is too hot and burning your mouth? Avoid your first instinct, which is usually to drink water. Capsaicin is not soluble in water, so drinking water only helps spread the spices around, making your mouth burn more. If you really need relief, try drinking some milk or a little bit of sugar.