A bit of heat

Love them or hate them, chillies have played a huge part in cuisines the world over.

A fundamental component of South American cooking for thousands of years, chillies were brought to the West as an alternative to black pepper after the overland spice trade routes were disrupted by Ottoman conquests in the Middle East.

At the time, spice was such a lucrative commodity that when explorers first encountered chilli it was revered for its likeness to black pepper and its popularity spread rapidly throughout the rest of the world.

The most common chilli (or pepper as they are colloquially known) is the bell pepper or capsicum, which has virtually no heat at all.

On the other end of the spectrum is the shockingly fierce bhut jolokia chilli from Bangladesh. The hottest chilli in the world, it is not for the faint-hearted.

There is a sauce made here, in New Zealand, from these chillies that is aptly named Dragon's Fury and I can say, from first-hand experience, use with extreme caution! A single drop is akin to eating fire but used sparingly, it can add punch to dishes or sauces where more heat is required.

Chillies are most commonly grown in hothouses or tunnel houses as they thrive in a warm environment.

They are particularly versatile in cooking as there are so many varieties available and they can be simply sliced and used raw, chopped and cooked into sauces or dried and ground to make spices and pastes.

Here are three ways that we regularly use chillies to their best effect. Oh, by the way, I love them!

Bevan and Monique Smith own Riverstone Kitchen, supreme winner of the Cuisine NZ Restaurant of the Year 2010.

Situated on SH1 in North Otago, just south of the Waitaki Bridge, they are open Thursday to Monday from 9am-5pm, and also from 6pm from Thursday to Sunday, but closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. www.riverstonekitchen.co.nz

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Prawn Gyoza with soy, coriander and chilli

Serves 4
80ml canola oil
10 large prawns, shelled and cleaned
1 3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 fresh red chilli, halved, seeds removed and finely chopped
zest of 1 lime (optional)
1 cup coriander, picked and washed
3 Tbsp Kecap Manis soy sauce
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp fish sauce
2 spring onions, finely sliced
20 10cmx 10cm gyoza wrappers

Fry prawns in 1 Tbsp of canola oil in a non-stick frying pan over a high heat until almost cooked. Remove from pan and allow to cool before roughly chopping. In the same pan, fry ginger and garlic over a medium heat with 2 Tbsp oil without colour until soft.

Remove from pan and place into a stainless steel bowl.

Add prawns, half the chilli, zest and quarter of a cup finely chopped coriander and combine. In a separate bowl, mix soy sauce, oyster sauce and fish sauce together. Stir well to combine and then add 1 tsp of sauce to the prawn mix.

Lay four gyoza wrappers out on a clean bench top. Using a pastry brush, paint two adjoining edges with a little water. Place 1 tsp of prawn mix into the centre of each wrapper.

Fold wrapper in half diagonally so that the dry edges meet the moistened edges. Press down firmly to seal the gyoza. Repeat until all gyoza are complete.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil over a high heat. Cook gyoza in two batches for one minute before removing from the water, draining in a colander.

Quickly heat half the remaining oil in a non-stick frying pan over a high heat and fry the gyoza in batches for 30 seconds until lightly coloured on each side.

Divide gyoza between four plates and dress with the remaining sauce. Scatter coriander, chilli and spring onions over the top and serve immediately.