Jalapeno

Botanically a fruit

Although used as a vegetable in cooking, peppers are technically berries — fruits developing from a single ovary with seeds inside. Jalapenos belong to Capsicum annuum, the same species as bell peppers, serranos, and cayennes; the difference is selection for capsaicin content and shape.

Heat range and ripeness

Jalapenos average 2,500–8,000 Scoville units — moderately hot but well below habaneros (100,000+) or ghost peppers (1,000,000+). Heat varies wildly between individual fruits on the same plant, driven by water stress and ripeness. Red ripe jalapenos are often hotter and sweeter than green.

Chipotle: the smoked twin

A chipotle is simply a jalapeno that’s been ripened to red, then smoke-dried — typically for several days over wood fires. The process concentrates flavor and produces deep, leathery, smoky heat. Most jalapenos eaten in Mexico are actually consumed as chipotles.

Removing the heat

Capsaicin sits mostly in the white inner ribs (the placenta), not the seeds as commonly believed — the seeds just sit next to the spicy parts. Slicing out the ribs reduces heat dramatically without losing flavor.