Product Description
PURPOSE
WHAT IS IT?
De Árbol (“deh ar-boll”) are cousins of the cayenne, and pequin peppers. The powder is primarily used, commercially, in bottled hot sauces. Native to Mexico, and Asia, if you like cayenne, you’ll find some depth, along with equivalent heat, in the flavor of árbol.
EXPERIENCE
A bright heat, similar to cayenne, their flavor, with a touch more red-bell pepper sweetness, enhances other flavors in a recipe. This holds true in the powder. Most rate out at 15,000 to 30,000 SHU, but there are varietals that can go as high as 60,000 SHU.
CULINARY GEOGRAPHY
CHILE CONTROVERSY
Yahualica, a small town in West Jalisco, is famous for its Chile de Árbol. They not only grow it, but about a third of the town, 9,000 residents, are employed in the bottling hot sauces. More work in the chile industry, which is árbol. In the early 2,000’s, the Chinese began not only exporting chile de árbol to Asia; they began exporting it to Mexico! 30% of the Chile de Arbol consumed by Mexicans, today, is from China. That has had a hard impact on the growing regions within Mexico, because the Chinese grow the crops for far less per metric ton. The Mexican government has not done anything to protect the farmers, to date.
The powder that our recommended provider, above, offers, is produced from the Chinese chiles.
TRADITIONAL USES
- Hot sauces
- Carnitas
- Pork vindaloo
- Thai beef
IMPROVISATIONAL ‘RIFFS’
- Goulash árbol - Sub 1/4 of the paprika for a spicier, more fruitful flavor;
- My Singin’ Wings get their pop from chiles de árbol;
- My take on French onion soup incorporates a dash of árbol to bring up the flavor, not too much heat, but it reduces the sodium;
- Hot Fortune Cookies - For something different, a fortune cookie dough that looks about the same, but has a Thai accent to the taste, with a little kick!
THE BACKSTORY
In Spanish, de Árbol means ‘tree-like.’ The chiles also get nicknames for their long, woody stems like “rat’s tail” and their shape, “bird’s beak.” We know that chile de árbol traces back to at least the arrival of the Spanish in Mexico. Spaniards are also likely to have moved it to Chile and Peru. It found its way to Asia, where the Chinese, in the early 21st century, began exporting cheaply produced árbol to Mexico. This destabilized the price for the crops grown natively, and put pressure on the farmers who produce the native chiles.
AKA
- English: Chile de árbol (powder)
- Spanish: Chile de árbol (en polvo)
- French: Piment chile de árbol (en poudre)
- Portuguese: Pimenta chile de árbol (em pó)
- Italian: Peperoncino chile de árbol (in polvere)
- German: Chile-de-Árbol-Chilipulver
- Dutch: Chile de árbol-poeder
- Swedish: Chile de árbol-chilipulver
- Norwegian: Chile de árbol-chilipulver
- Danish: Chile de árbol-chilipulver
- Finnish: Chile de árbol -chilijauhe
- Polish: Papryczka chile de árbol (w proszku)
- Czech: Chile de árbol chilli (prášek)
- Slovak: Chile de árbol chilli (prášok)
- Hungarian: Chile de árbol chili (por)
- Romanian: Pudră de ardei iute chile de árbol
- Bulgarian: Чиле де арбол лют пипер (на прах)
- Greek: Chile de árbol πιπεριά τσίλι (σε σκόνη)
- Russian: Перец чили chile de árbol (порошок)
- Ukrainian: Перець чилі chile de árbol (порошок)
- Serbian / Croatian / Bosnian: Chile de árbol čili (u prahu)
- Slovenian: Chile de árbol čili (v prahu)
- Turkish: Chile de árbol biber tozu
- Arabic: بودرة فلفل تشيلي دي أربول
- Hebrew: אבקת צ’ילי דה ארבול
- Persian (Farsi): پودر فلفل چیلی دِ آربول
- Hindi: चिली डी आर्बोल पाउडर
- Urdu: چلی ڈی آربول پاؤڈر
- Bengali: চিলে দে আরবোল গুঁড়ো
- Tamil: சில்லி டி ஆர்போல் பொடி
- Thai: ผงพริกชิลีเดอาร์โบล
- Vietnamese: Bột ớt chile de árbol
- Indonesian: Bubuk cabai chile de árbol
- Malay: Serbuk cili chile de árbol
- Chinese (Simplified): 树椒粉（Chile de árbol）
- Chinese (Traditional): 樹椒粉（Chile de árbol）
- Japanese: チレ・デ・アルボルパウダー
- Korean: 칠레 데 아르볼 고추가루
- Swahili: Unga wa pilipili chile de árbol
- Amharic: ቺሌ ዴ አርቦል ቺሊ ፓውደር
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