When hot peppers from the New World came to Asia centuries ago, they were readily adopted into the native cuisines -- and few places more eagerly than in Siam, or what is now known as Thailand. There are many hot peppers in the country that go by the generic name "Thai pepper," but several stand out as the best known: the "prik khee nu" or bird pepper, and the "prik khee fah" or plain chili pepper. Because these peppers have hundreds of close relatives, it is impossible to determine if it is an actual Thai pepper plant when there are no peppers growing, and even with the pepper available, it is still hard to distinguish between a Thai pepper and one of its many cousins.
Instructions
1. Examine the plant and the fruit. A Thai bird pepper grows on a short, bushy plant with many small fruit pointing upwards. As many as 100 peppers or more can be on one bush that is only 2 feet high. The fruit is rarely as long as 1 inch, and in many cases it is much shorter. The shape is somewhat rounded but with a smooth point at the tip. The color is green while growing and bright red after maturity. The heat is considerable.
2. Look for the distinguishing characteristics of the chili pepper. The stems are taller and less bushy than the bird pepper. It can grow 3 feet in height. The pepper looks like a smaller version of the cayenne red pepper and grows pointing upwards. The fruit is slender and about 2 inches in length. The walls of the peppers are very thin. As with most peppers, the prik khee fah starts green and turns red -- in this case, a dark red. This pepper is sometimes sold under the name "Thai Dragon."
3. Observe the use to which the plant is put. An ornamental pepper plant that is no more than 1 foot tall, with a mounded shape, tiny leaves and small, bright-red peppers is likely to be a Thai hot ornamental plant.
Tags: bird pepper, prik khee, Thai pepper, chili pepper, many peppers, name Thai, pepper grows
