What do you think about a habanero ??? How do you use it???

Answer 1

They're too hot to use in guacamole! They're used in some salsas that come from far-southern Mexico like Yucatan. You have to be super-careful with those salsas - I took a big bite once unsuspectingly and I spent five minutes turning red, then white, then red again, with tears running down, and couldn't speak but could only drink ice-water in big gulps. The salsas are used as table salsas, to be added at table by individual diners, according to whether they like super-hot things or not.

An easy way to use a habanero and see how hot it is is to make CEBOLLAS CURTIDAS or marinated onions, used as a sort of relish with grilled meat and tortillas, or enchiladas or tacos or whatever. Not all recipes add a habanero but this one does:

* Slice one purple onion into rings. Put the rings in a colander over the sink.
* Pour boiling water over the colander - this is to slightly soften the onion and make it a little less sharp and raw-tasting.
* Put the onion slices in a glass or ceramic bowl (not a metal one) and pour vinegar over them (White distilled vinegar is fine.)
* Stick a fork in a washed habanero chile and turn on the gas burner and toast the chile over the flame as if you're toasting a marshmallow. When it gets blackened spots, use another fork to ease the chile into the middle of the nest of onion rings in the vinegar. DO NOT TOUCH THE HABANERO WITH YOUR HANDS or you risk SEVERE pain if you rub your eyes!
* Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid, and marinate in the fridge for at least several hours - it will keep for days and days. It will turn a dramatic shade of fuchsia from the purple onions. The onions will get very hot from the chile and they will be hot enough to hurt. Don't eat the chile unless you are crazy.

Habaneros are also related to Jamaican "scotch bonnet" peppers (people disagree on whether they're the same or not) and there are some jerk-chicken recipes that suggest you put half a habenero pepper in the marinade. Again, don't touch the chile with your hands!

Answer 2

I love hot peppers and can eat jalapenos like popcorn, but habanero peppers are insanely hot. I can only eat a little piece on a slice of cheese and crackers and I have to follow it with a LARGE glass of milk. It takes me about 10 minutes to recover enough to eat another slice. They do have a wonderfully fruity/tropical type flavor, but OMG are they hot!

If you plan on using one to cook with, use it SPARINGLY and oh yes, WEAR RUBBER GLOVES. Touch your eyes or lips or anything else and you will be writhing in agony for a while. Milk helps a tiny bit with removing the heat, but it still has to wear off.

Wearing rubber gloves, remove the seeds then mince tiny pieces into your favorite food (chili, soups, stews, etc.). Use sparingly and add tiny amounts at a time until the desired "heat" level is reached.

Answer 3

I think it is a lot of bang for the buck in the world of hot peppers. I dice it up real fine in a big pot of chili sauce. Too much and you can breathe flames out of both ends of your digestive system.

Answer 4

Use them like any other chili pepper EXCEPT remember they are extremely hot and can even burn your skin. Men especially, be careful!

Answer 5

use them to make a salsa
or you can make up some gelatin any flavor and mix the peppers and pour over cream cheese

Answer 6

Use it sparingly unless you like it really really hot. It works anywhere jalapeno is used but you have to be careful because it is so much hotter.

Answer 7

I don't like them they are too hot;but my husband Loves them he cooks with them all the time he likes to make salsa with them he grew alot of them in his garden this summer

Answer 8

finely chopped in guacamole -- yum!

Answer 9

its great in mexican salsa.
hot hot hot.