Red Fresno Peppers (Chiles)

In Albums: food peppers produce

Jul 14th, 2011, by Alex Zorach

I purchased these red fresno peppers (or red fresno chiles) at Iovine's Produce Corner in the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. They were $5.99 a pound, which is a steep price for peppers, but I was eager to try this new variety which I had never seen before. For scale, the peppers were around two inches long. I also have a photo of one of these peppers sliced open if you are curious.

These peppers were very mild as hot peppers go. I found them to be much milder than anaheim or poblano peppers. They were sweet and very rich, much richer than a red bell pepper. Their heat was concentrated at the top of the pepper, with the seeds. If you were to bite into the bottom of the pepper you would probably not even feel any heat, but if you ate the whole pepper raw (I have done this with one) you would probably feel a light burn.

These peppers are very versatile; you can add a lot of them for color, without adding too much heat. They also add a nice flavor. They are very good raw. They are not particularly good in salsa.