The Nonya cooking ingredient Fresh Chillies is found in a bewildering variety of colurs, sizes and
flavours in different parts of the world, although originating from South
America.
There are more than two dozen varieties encountered in
South-east Asia, including finger-length chillies in red and green;
medium-length plump chillies which can be yellow, pale creamy white, orange,
green or red; tiny bird's-eye, and short bulbous chillies known as tabai Bali,
and found in that Indonesian island.
The most common chilli is perhaps the finger-length ( Capsicum annum var.
longum ), of medium intensity on the "heat"
scale. The tiny fiery hot bird's-eye chilli ( Capsicum frutescens ) is a
regional favourite, pounded and added to fresh or raw
sambals and side dishes in Thailand. In the Thailand and Philippines, bird's-eye
chillies are put in a bottle of vinegar which is used as a table seasoning.