How to Hang Red Peppers

Опубликовал Admin
23-01-2021, 19:20
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If you’ve ever been to New Mexico or southern Arizona, you’ve probably seen those beautiful bundles of dried red chiles hanging up somewhere. These bundles are also known as chile ristras, and are a pretty and practical way to hang red peppers up to dry for cooking or decorative purposes. You may be surprised to learn that these bundles are actually fairly simple to make yourself! All you need is some fishing line or cotton thread, a sewing needle, and at least 20 red chile peppers.

Stringing Your Chiles Together

  1. Wash and dry your red peppers. Rinse your chile peppers in a strainer or colander under cool running water to remove any dirt from the surfaces. Shake off as much excess water from the peppers as possible and let them air dry or pat them dry with a paper towel.
    • Use at least 20 chile peppers per hanging bundle you want to make. This will make a bundle that is about 1 ft (0.30 m) long.
  2. Cut a 2–3 ft (0.61–0.91 m) length of fishing line or cotton thread. This will give you plenty of length to work with. Any strong sewing thread or fishing line that is at least 25 lb (11 kg) strength or higher will work.
    • Remember that you need extra length of line or thread to hang up your bundle of peppers when you’re done stringing them together, so always cut more than you think you need. You can always cut off the excess later.
  3. Tie one end of the fishing line or cotton thread around the stem of a chile. Start tying a standard overhand knot at the end of the line or thread, but leave it loose enough to slip the stem of a pepper through. Slide the stem through the loop, then pull the knot tight to secure your first chile pepper in place at the end of the line.
    • Make sure that the knot is very tight and the chile pepper is tied securely onto the end of the thread. This first pepper is the anchor for the rest of your ristra.
    • Alternatively, you can tie the line around a small twig to create a more decorative and secure anchor. Just wrap the end of the line around the middle of the twig and tie a tight overhand knot to hold it in place.
  4. Tie the other end of the line or thread through the eye of a needle. Thread the end of your fishing line or cotton thread through the needle the same way as if you were going to sew something. Slip the tip of the line through the eye of the needle, then tie a tight overhand knot around the eye to secure the line in place.
    • If you’re using sewing thread and are having difficulties getting it through the eye of the needle, wet the end of the thread with your mouth to make it easier.
  5. Poke the needle through a chile’s stem above the base and pull the thread through. Pick up a chile and hold it firmly in one hand. Use your other hand to stick the needle all the way through the thickest part of the stem, right above where it attaches to the body of the chile, then pull the needle all the way through to string the chile onto the line.
    • If you have chiles of different sizes, start with the biggest ones and work your way down in size to end with the smallest ones.
  6. Thread all your remaining chiles onto the line. Repeat the process of sticking the needle through a chile’s stem, just above the base, then pull the thread all the way through to string the chiles together. Do this until all your red peppers are on the line.
    • Anywhere from about 20-30 red peppers generally makes for a nicely sized ristra.
    • The chiles will naturally fall into a sort of even spiral pattern, but you can spread them out to distribute them more evenly as you go if you see them bunching up unevenly on one side.
  7. Tie an overhand knot in the line just above the top chile pepper. Cut the line off the needle, then wrap it around itself just above the last chile pepper that you strung onto it. Tie a tight overhand knot so that the top chile can’t slide off.
    • You could also wrap the line tightly around the middle of a small stick and tight an overhand knot to hold it in place for a more decorative way to secure the chiles on the line.

Hanging Your Ristra

  1. Choose a warm, well-ventilated place to hang your bundle of peppers. Anywhere where the chiles will stay dry and get a lot of airflow will work. Avoid hanging them outside, unless you live somewhere very dry, or somewhere cold and damp, like a basement or cellar.
    • For example, you could hang your ristra in your kitchen or on the wall in your dining room.
  2. Use the excess line or thread to hang up the ristra. Tie the excess line into a loop and hang it over something like a nail or hook, or just tie it in a knot around whatever you’re hanging the peppers from. Make sure the line or thread is securely tied and won’t come undone.
    • For instance, if you have hooks in your kitchen that you normally hang pots and pans or utensils from, you can tie the sewing thread or fishing line into a loop and hang the bundle from one of those hooks.
  3. Let the peppers dry for 2-4 weeks. Leave the hanging peppers alone for at least 2 weeks. They will generally be completely dry after no longer than 1 month.
    • Once the peppers are dry, you can leave them hanging indefinitely.

Tips

  • Leave your ristra hanging up in your kitchen or dining room for decoration.

Warnings

  • Don’t touch your face with your hands after handling spicy peppers. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after you hang up your red peppers.

Things You’ll Need

  • Strainer or colander
  • Paper towels (optional)
  • Sewing needle
  • Fishing line or cotton thread
  • Red chile peppers
  • Twig (optional)
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