What exactly is a chili flake or red pepper flake?

[BAPyessir6]

Yes, I guess it's flakes of dried chili. But is "chili flake" or "red pepper flake" a specific pepper? Does it include the seeds or not?

I have a recipe (Chinese noodle dish I wanna make, called biang biang noodles. Basically noodles in a chili oil) that calls for chili flake/red pepper flake. The problem is, I don't know what that means. I have gochugaru (Korean chili flake), Aleppo chili flake, and red pepper flakes. I am wondering which to use (or which is proper!). Or is it just totally up to my own personal taste/heat preference?

Also, I feel like my red pepper flakes have way more seeds in them than my Aleppo/gochugaru chili flake has. Is it supposed to be like this?

A long question about chili flakes! Thanks all!

 

[taxlady]

Good question. I have seen a number of Chinese recipes that specify and what would be a reasonable substitute. But, that wasn't for the biang biang noodles. Maybe try looking at other recipes for those noodles.

 

[msmofet]

​

Amazon has this:​

Sichuan Chili Flakes, 8 oz - Traditional Red Pepper Spices and Szechuan Seasoning for Thai, Korean, Mexican, and Asian Dishes, Authentic Medium Hot Flavor for Kimchi, Pizza, Tacos, or Oils by Amazing Chiles and Spices ​

This is the red pepper flakes I use. I put them in a pepper grinder so it is a fine powder. (I like to have even heat instead of hot spots of flakes.) Hope this helps.

 

[Badjak]

In this case I would use a "generic" type, based on the heat you want.
Not something with too much of it's own taste like a madam jeanette (Surinam yellow).
Just cayenne orbird's eye or so

 

[msmofet]

Yes, I guess it's flakes of dried chili. But is "chili flake" or "red pepper flake" a specific pepper? Does it include the seeds or not?

I have a recipe (Chinese noodle dish I wanna make, called biang biang noodles. Basically noodles in a chili oil) that calls for chili flake/red pepper flake. The problem is, I don't know what that means. I have gochugaru (Korean chili flake), Aleppo chili flake, and red pepper flakes. I am wondering which to use (or which is proper!). Or is it just totally up to my own personal taste/heat preference?

Also, I feel like my red pepper flakes have way more seeds in them than my Aleppo/gochugaru chili flake has. Is it supposed to be like this?

A long question about chili flakes! Thanks all!

The seeds have a lot of heat.

 

[Andy M.]

I don't think it will make a big difference. The flakes will give the dish a spicy tang. A lot will give it more heat. I'd go with the Korean flakes.

 

[medtran49]

I'd go with the gochugaru as well.

Personally, I would never use scezhuan flakes for kimchi. They aren't even a true pepper.

When we make red pepper flakes at home, we use pequins. Since they are so small, it would take forever to seed them so there is always a high percentage of seeds.

 

[medtran49]

Oops post

 

[pepperhead212]

Those Szechwan crushed peppers are a type of cayenne pepper, like Thai Dragons, and similar, short, but not too short, peppers. "Crushed red pepper flakes" vary greatly, as to the peppers they use in them, as well as the heat in them. Those Szechwan pepper flakes are NOT the Szechwan peppercorns - they are chili peppers, as the label states; probably one of the varieties they grow in that region, and probably have better flavor and aroma, than the genetic varieties, found in pizza restaurants, which are also cayenne varieties, but they don't have much flavor - just heat, IMO.

The Korean flakes, or whole peppers, have a good flavor, but not as hot as the Szechwan types, which were about the same as the middle sized Thai peppers (the Thai birds are the smaller, much hotter ones, but less flavor, IMO) - my most used peppers, as they also seem to have the best flavor, in dishes where they are used fresh, green or red, dried red, crushed flakes, or powdered.

Years ago, when trying to find the "perfect pepper", for various things, a friend (another guy I got hooked on peppers!) and I tested several peppers Penzey's Spices sold, to see which would make the best Nam Prik Pao, and they were all incredibly different. The Tientsin and Dundicut (sp?) Were the hottest, but the least flavorful, while the Sanaam, at only 40k, was the best, and it seemed to be due to the extra sugar in it, as it caramelized much faster. And here was another interesting discovery - their 40k crushed red pepper flakes came in second for flavor, and almost as fast with the caramelization. The whole peppers from the Korean, Chinese, and Indian markets locally were not as good, for this, at least, and it took years to find a similar one I could grow - Aruna. Unfortunately, those Penzey's Sanaam peppers were sterile - probably irradiated - and that name is sort of a generic name, for Indian peppers.

 

[blissful]

...

The Korean flakes, or whole peppers, have a good flavor, but not as hot as the Szechwan types, which were about the same as the middle sized Thai peppers (the Thai birds are the smaller, much hotter ones, but less flavor, IMO) - my most used peppers, as they also seem to have the best flavor, in dishes where they are used fresh, green or red, dried red, crushed flakes, or powdered.
...

I like that you compared korean flakes to the szechwan types, so I know that korean are not as hot as szechwan. My question is, are you saying that the middle sized thai peppers are your most used peppers?

 

[dcSaute]

Yes, I guess it's flakes of dried chili. But is "chili flake" or "red pepper flake" a specific pepper? Does it include the seeds or not?

I have a recipe (Chinese noodle dish I wanna make, called biang biang noodles. Basically noodles in a chili oil) that calls for chili flake/red pepper flake. The problem is, I don't know what that means. I have gochugaru (Korean chili flake), Aleppo chili flake, and red pepper flakes. I am wondering which to use (or which is proper!). Or is it just totally up to my own personal taste/heat preference?

Also, I feel like my red pepper flakes have way more seeds in them than my Aleppo/gochugaru chili flake has. Is it supposed to be like this?

A long question about chili flakes! Thanks all!

I've had / used several varieties / brands.
just one word: careful

some are seriously hot! - as in 2-3 flake will light up a pot...

once did a recipe that called for 1/2 teaspoon . . . wound up throwing it away - it was so hot we could not eat it.

 

[msmofet]

I’ve done that also. I used to much Hungarian HOT paprika in my stuffed cabbage. Even my DD who likes hot food said it was to hot.

 

[pepperhead212]

Yes, @blissful. when I simply say "Thai Pepper", it is the Thai Vesuvius or Thai Dragon varieties, which are around 2-2½" x 1/4-3/8", and are around 50-60k heat units. I use them in Thai, but even more in Indian and Chinese recipes. And I always keep a jar of frozen red and a jar of frozen green ones, though I don't use those as much.

 

[blissful]

Yes, @blissful. when I simply say "Thai Pepper", it is the Thai Vesuvius or Thai Dragon varieties, which are around 2-2½" x 1/4-3/8", and are around 50-60k heat units. I use them in Thai, but even more in Indian and Chinese recipes. And I always keep a jar of frozen red and a jar of frozen green ones, though I don't use those as much.

Thank you so much.
Mr bliss loves hot but can't tolerate them, from his throat to his stomach. He used to eat hot foods, so I'm trying him to get 'a little' and figure out how to do that for him.
Today he tasted the vegan italian sausage I made and he said it was missing one flavor, the hot. I told him I left out the red pepper flakes because of the hot. So then when I made pizzas today, I put 20 pepper flakes on each 1 person pizza. He said the flavor was good going down but then it was too hot. We're going to try 10 pepper flakes the next time.
The pepper flakes I'm using are called crushed red pepper flakes Pimienta Roja Triturada-which tells me nothing of the kind of pepper they are.
I have korean, serrano, new mexico anaheim type, and cayenne (though I don't like it so I probably threw it out.)

 

[medtran49]

Szechuan peppercorns are berries of the prickly ash tree, a member of the citrus family. They are NOT true peppercorns or chiles. They have zero capsaicin, the  hot stuff in chiles. They do cause a numbing, tingling effect in the mouth.

 

[dragnlaw]

there are also 2 Szechuan peppers, red and green. Red is stronger tasting, the green more fragrant with more of a numbing on the tongue. Had both but didn't use them enough, green went a bit moldy.
Available in big bags at the Asian market.

There are also oils available in either red or green. But the ones I got, LOL, had absolutely no English (or French) on them. Only knew what they were from the picture of the berries and the colour of the labels.

 

[pepperhead212]

Speaking of those Numex Anaheim, @blissful, back when I was first getting into Thai food, in the early 90s, I found out that the best tasting Thai curry pastes were ones made with those mild peppers! Most books would call for the hotter peppers, but you really can't use enough of the paste to get the flavor, due to the heat. But in a favorite book - True Thai - the author, Victor Sadsook (sp?) called for 3 oz of Anaheim chiles in most of the red pastes. He said it was the closest thing to a pepper he used for that back in Thailand, and he had a restaurant in LA, where they had plenty of peppers to choose from! I also tried "hot", and "extra hot" Numex, but the mildest variety was the best tasting! I also tried toasting the peppers one time, like they do with most Mexican dishes, but we decided the flavor was actually better with just plain peppers. Then we figured, if something like this would be better in this type of dish, they would have been doing it by now!