WHY EAT RAW CHILLI PEPPERS

1. High in fiber
2. Gets your metabolism burning up to 5% more calories compared to when you don't eat any chilis, so it's really great for those who want to lose weight and not exercise much.
3. Rich in Vitamin A and C. By weight, green bell peppers have twice as much vitamin C as citrus fruit while red peppers have three times as much. Chili peppers contain 357% more Vitamin C than an orange.
4. Has good amounts of folic acid, potassium and Vitamin E
5. As a topical relieving rub, it's great for sports aches and pains, and to relieve arthritis pain.



6. Kills parasites in your intestines (read about it at http://eatrawfoodtoday.blogspot.com/2008/09/killing-parasites-with-chilli-peppers.html)

In Asia, we regularly have the mild big red chillies that are high in beta carotene, and the more adventurous ones like my parents love the tiny explosive chili padi or red eye chillies or Thai chillies. These chili peppers are all great eaten raw.

However, if you like pickled chillies like the green jalapenos stuffed into burritos and all those yummy Mexican dishes, or the green chillies soaked in a small plate of soy sauce which is served with Cantonese fried noodles filled with yummy eggy sauce, you might want to try making your own, rather than buying them off the shelf because those are generally not raw. It's really easy to make, and it's a great way to make use of extra chillies you have in the house which would otherwise go to waste.

Pickled chili peppers
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1. Cut the chillies in small round pieces. Remove the seeds if you can't take the heat.
2. Put the chili peppers into a sterilized glass jar (maybe a recycled jam jar or those grape jelly jars with a metal lid or a glass lid rather than a plastic lid which the color may come out)
3. Add some rice vinegar (don't put in white vinegar, not healthy) into the jar until it covers the chili peppers. Rice vinegar is the best in my book because it is mild in flavour.
4.Add sugar and salt to taste
5.Ready by the next day

I make a batch of those if I have a bumper crop of chillies and we can't eat them fresh fast enough. I have tons of raw chillies dried as well, and they are useful if I don't have the fresh ones on hand.

If you don't like them spicy, just eat mild chili peppers. They are really good for your health.

Jasmin
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