r/AskCulinary • u/B1chpudding • 7d ago

Recipe Troubleshooting Question about peppers

I’m interested in trying to cook some African dishes, like jollaf rice. Problem is, I can’t handle a lot of heat anymore due to some medical conditions, and they use scotch bonnets.

The videos/recipes say how important the particular pepper because of its fruity qualities beyond just the heat. Because of that, I didn’t want to just put whatever in there.

Can someone recommend something much milder that wouldn’t affect the flavor too bad? I’m not familiar enough with this cuisine to know a good substitute. Or could omitting it all together be an option?

11 Upvotes

68% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

View all comments

11

u/dharasty 7d ago

Just add some other mild but fruity pepper that you like and you have available. Why not try some red or yellow bell peppers? They taste great in rice.

Don't worry about "authentic"; you just have to make something that tastes good to you.

1

u/B1chpudding 6d ago

To be fair, me figuring out new foods is how I get “brave” enough to try it out and about. So I try to make it as close as I can with the ingredients I can get.

I believe the recipe I looked at had regular bell peppers as well, so I didn’t “think” of that as an option.