— trina wimberly

So, uh, this is, I'm gonna approach this, um, not as a chili pepper question, but as a general ingredient substitution question. Okay? So when we consider an ingredient substitution, think about how that ingredient functions, okay. In the recipe. And then think about what other ingredients would satisfy those functions. Sometimes it's one, often it's multiple ingredients that we'll need to use when we pull out one. Um, so in the case of hot peppers, as an example, or chilies, um, if it's the heat that you want, but you can't get it from, uh, capsaicin, then think about black pepper. Think about ginger, think about long pepper. You know, these, uh, these other items that bring some type of heat, uh, to the palate, um, that could be satisfying for you. Okay? It's a, a different type of heat. The way that black pepper or ginger, uh, feel on the palate is different from the way chilies come on. Um, so you need to make that shift in your mind and expect a change, some difference in the experience while trying to find the goodness, right, in that new version that you have created. Okay? Um, if the, uh, the chilies are providing color, right, often red, but it could be green or brown or black, um, then think about other items that can lend green, red, brown, or black colors for that visual interest, whether it's a small dice of tomato, a sprinkling of black sesame seeds, right? Or something else. Um, sometimes, you know, it's a, it's an aroma, you know, like a, a a a Chipotle chili is smoked, and so it, it adds a beautiful smokiness to a sauce, for example, um, you might consider reaching for a, uh, a black cardamom, uh, which is a larger variety of cardamom that is also processed with smoke. So it lands a hint of smokiness. Um, but it's gonna land a different flavor as well, because cardamom tastes different from chili. So, again, um, understand that as we make changes, we should also expect the results to be a little bit different, beautiful in their own right, but a little bit different. And often that just takes a little bit of a, a mental shift, uh, to enjoy that. Okay? But that's the process that I want you to go through as you think about substitutions.