Aji Amarillo

[Fred Hempel]

Great photo!

The Aji Amarillo I distributed ripen to the orange color, but only after a good deal of time at light-green/yellow.

However, I have only distributed mini-Ahi (see Barb's photo) and I am only growing the large orange one (Cole Robbie's photo) this year.

Chefs seem to want the large ones, but they are hard to find. I saw my first one last fall, and am currently growing it for the first time.

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Nice pic, Barb!

I found a web pic of some Ajis from Peru:
http://www.fhperu.com/wp-content/upl...ji_rocotos.jpg

So I guess the one we have is the yellow Aji?

How do I tell when the peppers are ripe? Or can I use them at any stage of ripeness?

[jmsieglaff]

Wow nice looking plant! I can't wait to try them this summer!

[Fred Hempel]

Here is how we use the mini Aji Amarillo we grow (again, see Barb's photo for how the peppers look when they are immature).

1. At the immature yellow-green stage (Barb's photo) we use them as frying peppers. They are very mild, and slightly fruity. In frying pepper mixes they contrast nicely with darker frying peppers (the ones we use are Padron, Aleppo and Mareko Fana)

2. While we sell some mature orange peppers, our main use for the mature peppers is roasting. I roast them at low heat until they become golden-brown. Then they are used year round in cooking. I use roasted Aji Amarillo flake almost as much as black pepper...

Here is an article on Aji Amarillo.

Originally Posted by Tracydr

Wow, they look awesome!
How hot are they? What do you like to use them for?

[Cole_Robbie]

How does the Aji compare to the Mareko Fana?

[Fred Hempel]

The Aji we have distributed is much smaller than Mareko Fana. It is about 1-2" in length at maturity. When ripe it is a medium heat pepper, but with some floral/tropical flavors. However, as I noted in the article I linked, Aji takes a long time to ripen, and most of the peppers we harvest are used as mild frying peppers.

Mareko Fana is a long, large pepper. Similar in size to Jimmy Nardello peppers (5-9" at maturity). Mareko Fana has medium heat, although it too can be used as a mild frying pepper when small and immature. Larger green peppers get hot, well before they turn purple-brown.

[Cole_Robbie]

thanks Fred

[Barb_FL]

Update: I wanted to report on the other Aji Amarillo plant I'm growing. It was planted in a 5 gallon root pouch.

The plant is totally opposite of the one in the picture. It is the tallest pepper plant I ever grew - over 5'. it is really healthy and not bushy at all. It has tons of blossoms and the beginning of baby peppers. It is also really late compared to the one in the pic.

Other than what the pepper looks like, you would not think they are related at all.

[jmsieglaff]

My two into a 5 gallon bucket on the deck where they will spend the summer. The extended forecast has allowed me to get them out early. And knowing they can moved in if absolutely needed.

[Barb_FL]

Another Update re: plant shown in picture: What a difference a few weeks make; the peppers are no longer mild - they are HOT!

[jmsieglaff]

Thanks again Fred! These peppers are doing great! Are these ripe or not yet? I did snack on a smaller one than these bigger ones and I was surprised it was fairly hot, comparable to a jalapeno.

[Fred Hempel]

Ripe is what you want it to be with Aji Amarillo.

We eat and sell 90% of our Aji Amarillo when they are yellow and mild. So we pick every other day.

There are no good cues to tell you when they've gone from mild to hot, so the only way to keep picking mild ones (and avoid hot ones) is to clean off the plants of all peppers that are an inch or more in length every other day.

I am sure others would consider the mild ones we like "unripe" and undesirable.

[AlittleSalt]

Mine look like too Fred. Thank you.

[Fred Hempel]

They become hot long before they turn from yellow to golden-orange.

[jmsieglaff]

I certainly found that out, the one I had was quite small still and pale yellow and was pretty hot. So fully mature will be marked by an golden-orange color, thanks! I'll have to eat very young one or two and see how the taste is.

[Fred Hempel]

The taste in the young ones is very mild.

But, they are like Padrons -- while heat is correlated with size, it is not completely correlated. That's because some peppers mature small, and while they look "younger" by size, they are not, and they are hot.