Mom uses peppers to cook her burdock root to make kinpira gobo.
She tends to make it more spicy which isn't good for Art, but you need at least a bit of red chili pepper or it has no kick to it.
My Aunt Grace used to give mom the chili peppers, but after she passed away, mom relied on the plant auntie had given her earlier.
Mom was upset when that plant died because she liked to make this dish for the family.
Soooo....
I took my brown thumb to Home Depot and bought a Thai pepper plant. I bought this particular plant because it already had a LOT of peppers on it. I just needed to keep it alive until they all ripened.
Friends all warned me that birds LOVE to eat the peppers as soon as they ripened even though they were extremely spicy. I found that hard to believe.
However, eventually the peppers did ripen and I picked them as quickly as I could and froze them all. Still, birds did manage to get some before I got up. I guess the early bird gets the peppers. I still couldn't understand how they could stand the hot spicy taste. Didn't it burn their tongue?
Then I saw this on a website.
Well...
I guess that explains it.
However, I have enough frozen peppers to keep mom happy for a good long while.
Ummm....
The birds have given up on my plant. My brown thumb has done the job again.
Friends told me white flies will also kill the pepper plant.
Nope... it's just me.
She tends to make it more spicy which isn't good for Art, but you need at least a bit of red chili pepper or it has no kick to it.
My Aunt Grace used to give mom the chili peppers, but after she passed away, mom relied on the plant auntie had given her earlier.
Mom was upset when that plant died because she liked to make this dish for the family.
Soooo....
I took my brown thumb to Home Depot and bought a Thai pepper plant. I bought this particular plant because it already had a LOT of peppers on it. I just needed to keep it alive until they all ripened.
Friends all warned me that birds LOVE to eat the peppers as soon as they ripened even though they were extremely spicy. I found that hard to believe.
However, eventually the peppers did ripen and I picked them as quickly as I could and froze them all. Still, birds did manage to get some before I got up. I guess the early bird gets the peppers. I still couldn't understand how they could stand the hot spicy taste. Didn't it burn their tongue?
Well...
I guess that explains it.
However, I have enough frozen peppers to keep mom happy for a good long while.
Ummm....
The birds have given up on my plant. My brown thumb has done the job again.
Friends told me white flies will also kill the pepper plant.
Nope... it's just me.
We are not spice lovers in this house. I can take a little -- very little -- but salt is about Sue's limit.
ReplyDeleteYummy spicy gobo, love it!
ReplyDeleteThe birds will feel good with capsaicin :) Reduced muscle pain. Like I have done with Capsaicin Salonpas Hot.
I learn so much here! Thanks, Kay!
ReplyDeleteInteresting evolution that the birds need to carry the seeds so they don't react to the pepper. Seems they're attracted to pepper plants though. You are always the informative teacher! Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteinteresting...
ReplyDeleteMaybe the plant is an annual so it only lives one year.
ReplyDeleteCan you buy them fresh in the store?
ReplyDeleteOh Kay! Good thing you froze a lot.
ReplyDelete… well I didn't know that about birds and peppers.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
I used to dose my bird seed with hot sauce and red pepper, which kept the squirrels away.
ReplyDeleteThat was really interesting about birds and peppers. So glad you found that info for I too was skeptical. You may have to buy a plant each season and freeze the lone crop.
ReplyDeleteyep...birds are not bothered by spicy peppers. you can dry them and save them too. that's what i do.
ReplyDeleteKimpira gobo!!! Can you please share your mom's recipe?
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Jan
Delete
DeleteHi Jan! Nice to meet you. I shall have to do a blog about this one of these days. Unfortunately, the flavoring for the kinpira comes from a flavor packet called Furidashi which we can only get in Japan.
Well, now I've learned something interesting! Birds don't have spicy genes. So glad to hear your mom will have enough peppers for the foreseeable future. :-)
ReplyDeleteInteresting factoid about birds and peppers. Kathy G used this knowledge to good advantage.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know they were immune to pepper.
ReplyDeleteWe like spices, hubby especially. He lived quite a few years in Vancouver, with a large Asian population. He has to say, when asked by servers, NOT white man spicy, but real spicy!
ReplyDeleteIT's interesting about the birds. They must not have taste sensors as we do.