This summer, Chris and I grew vegetables on our balcony. We had basil, mint, sweet pepper, tomatoes and jalapeños. The jalapeño plant loved the sun, drank lots of water and produced super fat jalapeños. It even survived neglect during our weekend away. In the summer. In fact, when we came back we found that some of the jalapeños had turned red and wrinkled. The red peppers were sweet and hot. We realized that an aged jalapeño is red with lines; and those red jalapeños are the spiciest.

The plant eventually died. At least now I know which kind of jalapeño to grab at the grocery store. If I'm making vegan bahn mi or something served with raw jalapeños; I'll grab a bright green chile. It won't be too intensely spicy. For salsa, red is the way to go.