The Orange Thai Chili Pepper (also known as prik leung) is one of the many different types of Thai pepper. It has a heat level and flavor that is comparable to the typical and traditional red Thai chili pepper, but is distinctive for its vibrant orange hue.
The orange Thai chili pepper packs a decent punch, coming in at 50,000 to 100,000 Scovile Heat Units (SHU) on the Scoville scale. This means that they are around medium to hot heat for any chili connoisseur, which is similar to all of the other pepper in the Thai chili family, although their fruity flavor might make them a little milder.
When compared to the popular but mild jalapeño pepper (which comes in at only 5000 SHU), it will taste anywhere from 10 to 20 times spicier!
Aside from their heat levels, orange Thai chili peppers have a fruity, and very subtly sweet taste initially, but this is followed by strong heat and spice that lingers for a little on the palate.
The Appearance Of The Orange Thai Chili Pepper
The Orange Thai Chili pepper, true to name, is a vibrant orange color, making it stand out from all of the other peppers in the family, and from a lot of the other chili pepper options on the grocery store shelf on the whole.
They have a thin shaped, slender, and slightly curved straight pods, that are usually between five and eight cm in length.
Their skin is waxy and taught (rather than wrinkled or bumpy), and ripens from a dark green to bright orange when fully matured. When cut into, the kin is crisp, and the inside is filled with small, cream-colored seeds.
The orange Thai chili pepper plant is fairly standard looking for a chili pepper plant, but is abnormally productive, and when cared for properly cam yield up to 200 chili peppers per plant. They are in season mid to late summer, and will fruit all the way to mid-fall, or even until first frost.
How To Cook With Orange Thai Chili Peppers
This is a great variety of chili to grow in your kitchen garden – they are ideal because of theri high yield, pleasing ornamental appearance, and compact size.
If you decide to grow your own Orange Thai chili pepper plant this summer, then you will be brimming with chili peppers all through late summer and fall.
You will have more than enough to make a large batch of hot sauce, chili paste or salsas (if you think you will be able to use the whole batch before they go off). Alternately, you can use them for dehydrating, and then grinding into chili flakes or chili powder.
If you decide that you want these Orange Thai peppers but don’t have a green thumb or space in your garden, you can often find them at local farmers markets when they are in season (they are in season late summer, through to about mid-fall). You can chop them to add to food (such as soups, stews and salads) as a flavorful garnish.
They are great for both raw and cooked applications, and can be used for stir-frying, boiling, and sautéing.
These are Thai chilies, meaning that they are delicious when naturally incorporated to rice and noodle dishes, like pad thai and pad phet, for a flavorful and spicy hit!
