Aji Chombo, White Habanero, Red Bounty (11/05/2017) ** Died

Aji Chombo (capsicum chinense)

Copied from www.pepperscale.com/aji-chombo/
Habanero-like heat and flavor…

Scoville heat units (SHU): 150,000 to 350,000

Jalapeño reference point: 18 to 140 times hotter

Origin: Panama


While not easy to source in the U.S. or U.K., the aji chombo holds a lot of sway in its native Panama. With its extra-hot heat and fruity flavor, it compares well to its Caribbean cousins, the habanero and scotch bonnet peppers. If you’re looking to make an authentic Panamanian hot sauce with extra kick (or any fiery authentic Panamanian cuisine), the aji chombo is your chili of choice.


How hot are aji chombo peppers?

Hot enough to be more than memorable, that’s for sure! The aji chombo ranges from 150,000 to 350,000 Scoville heat units. That puts them on par with habaneros and scotch bonnets, but with a slightly higher heat floor. Compared to our jalapeño reference point, aji chombo are at least 18 times hotter (if comparing the hottest possible jalapeño against the mildest possible aji). But that range all the way up to 140 times hotter, if the hottest aji chombo is compared to the mildest possible jalapeño.



What do these chilies look like? Do they look like habaneros?

Like its heat, the aji chombos look also compares well against its spicy cousins. They are one to two inches long and podlike like a habanero. They can sometimes appear more elongated than a habanero or even squashed, like the tam-o-shanter look of the scotch bonnet. The aji chombo typically has three to four creases in its skin, too. Because of the similarities, its easy to confuse this chili with either the habanero or scotch bonnet.


In terms of maturation, the aji chombo ages from typical chili pepper green to a golden yellow-orange and finally a rich red.


What do aji chombo taste like?

Do you like fruity sweet with a ton of fiery heat? Then this is a pepper you’re going to remember with a big smile on your face. Its fruitiness fits right in with the habanero, in fact, so obviously in terms of heat and flavor, the habanero can make a good substitute for when recipes call for this much harder to source chili.


How can you use these chilies?

If you’re interested in crafting authentic Panamanian cuisine, you’ll want to keep aji chombo on your radar. It’s a staple for fiery meals there, and many popular Panamanian hot sauces use this chili as its base. In fact, those sauces are sometimes simply referred to as aji chombo. Beyond regional cuisine use, you can effectively use aji chombo anywhere where you’d use a scotch bonnet or habanero pepper. The flavor and heat profiles are similar enough, so try this chili in Caribbean meals, tropical salsas or hot sauces, just to name a few.

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This plant allegedly grows up to 4 feet tall, so it should be a fitting replacement for The Tomatoes That Ate My Dining Room.

Actual Picture:

Yes, but not without messing with me, first.

An hour after taking that picture, both plants were drooping and looking dead.  For some reason, this always seems to happen to me when I move anything bigger than a sprout.

So, I avoided looking for a few hours, and by evening, they had all sprung back up into perkiness.

They do seem to be happy now

Been wondering that myself.  I'll take a look at it this evening to see how it's doing.

As the previous picture from a couple weeks ago implies, the Aji Chombo is rapidly growing vertically, and the white habs are spreading horizontally.

As I keep raising the hood for the Chombos, I note that I'm already getting blossoms on the white habs, although no sign yet that any of them are going to set.

If I recall correctly, the white habs are supposed to be a short plant.

Time to look for some blossoms

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Usually, at three or so weeks after they start growing, I put them on transitional nutes.  Or when I think the plant is already tall enough.

There are three bottles: Flora Micro, Flora Grow and Flora Bloom.

The dosage of Micro is pretty much a constant over the life of the plant: 7.5ml/gal
In the beginning, you have more flora grow and less bloom.  Transitional is when you use equal amounts of both.  After that, you gradually wean the plant off the flora grow and keep adding more flora bloom