Siling labuyo

Taxonomy and names

Siling labuyo is officially known under the cultivar name Capsicum frutescens 'Siling labuyo'. It belongs to the species Capsicum frutescens. Related cultivars of siling labuyo include tabasco, malagueta, and peri-peri.

The common name "wild chili" is derived from the Tagalog words sili ("chili") and the enclitic suffix -ng, as well as the adjective labuyo ("growing wild"), which is also a term for wild chicken or junglefowl). Other local names for it include chileng bundok, siling palay, pasitis, pasite (Tagalog); katumbal, kutitot, siling kolikot (Bisaya); katumba or lara jangay (Tausug); sili ti diablo/sairo (Ilocano); lada, sambalas, rimorimo, sanggariya (Bikol); paktin (Ifugao); and luya tiduk (Maranao).

Description

Like other Capsicum frutescens cultivars, siling labuyo has a compact habit, growing between 0.8 and high. They have smooth ovate to lanceolate leaves that are around 2.5 in in length with pointed tips. They produce small greenish-white flowers with purple stamens. These develop into a large number of small, tapering fruits that are around 25 mm in length. The fruits are very pungent and are characteristically borne erect (pointing upwards). Immature fruits are deep green in color and usually ripen to a vivid red. Depending on maturity and the variety, they can display a range of other colors, including yellow, orange, white, or a vivid purple. Flowers and fruits are often clustered in groups of 2 to 3 at a node.

Siling labuyo fruits are small but are very hot. They measures around 80,000-100,000 Scoville units, similar to the lower end of the range for the hotter habanero chili.

Ingredient in cooking

Although not as central in Filipino cuisine as bird's eye chilies are in other cuisines of Southeast Asia, it is still an often-used ingredient. Its leaves are usually consumed as a vegetable, such as in dishes like tinola.

The most common use of siling labuyo, however, is in dipping sauces (sawsawan), which almost universally accompany fried or grilled Filipino dishes. Unlike in western cuisines, these dipping sauces are created by the diner according to their preferences and are not made beforehand. Siling labuyo is almost always offered as an optional spicy element, alongside calamansi, soy sauce, vinegar, and patis (Filipino fish sauce).

Siling labuyo is also an essential ingredient in palapa, a sweet and spicy condiment made with scallions, coconut, ginger, and turmeric that is central to the cuisine of the Maranao people.

Siling labuyo can also used to make Filipino-style spiced vinegar (like sinamak and sukang pinakurat) which is also used as a dipping sauce. Instead of mixing fresh chilis on the table, the vinegar itself is infused with a large amount of siling labuyo and other spices and stored in bottles or mason jars. They can be kept for long periods in the refrigerator and their taste develops with time. |File:Cagayan de Oro sawsawan (dipping sauce) ingredients - Calamansi and Siling labuyo.jpg|Labuyo chilis and calamansi, ingredients for (sawsawan) |File:Home-made sinamak (Visayan spiced vinegar) with siling labuyo.jpg|Sinamak, a Filipino spiced vinegar, is made by preserving siling labuyo and other spices in sugarcane or palm vinegar |File:Palapa (Philippines).jpg|Palapa, a sweet and spicy condiment |File:3248Cuisine foods and delicacies Bulacan 30.jpg|Edible leaves of siling labuyo |File:275Food cuisine of Bulacan delicacies 13.jpg|Suam na asuhos (whiting soup) with siling labuyo and malunggay leaves and misua noodles |File:Tinolang Manok.jpg|Chicken tinola with siling labuyo leaves

Natural pesticide use

Siling labuyo can be used as a natural pesticide on crops in the Philippines. The fruit, skin and seeds of siling labuyo are all effective for ants, aphids, caterpillars, Colorado beetle, cabbage worms, warehouse and storage pests.

Commonly confused cultivars

Several introduced chili cultivars are increasingly being mislabeled as "siling labuyo" in Philippine markets (especially in Luzon), because these cultivars are generally easier to grow and harvest than siling labuyo. Their color and shape are also more consistent and they have a longer shelf life, but they are regarded as less spicy than siling labuyo.

These mislabeled cultivars include the red bird's eye chili ("Thai chili"), which is actually a chili pepper cultivar from a different species (Capsicum annuum) that came by way of Thailand. Their fruits, unlike C. frutescens, are borne on the plant drooping down. In Luzon, siling tingala and siling tari, high-yield F1 hybrids of C. frutescens and C. annuum from Taiwan are also commonly sold as siling labuyo. While they have C. frutescens ancestry (the fruits are also borne somewhat erect), they are much longer and uniformly red, similar to Thai bird's eye chilis. |File:0201jfFilipino cuisine foods desserts breads Landmarks Bulacanfvf 27.jpg|Siling tingala, a hybrid commonly mislabeled as siling labuyo in Luzon markets |File:9656Calasag, San Ildefonso, Bulacan 31.jpg|Siling tari, named after cockfighting spurs (tari), due to the direction of fruit growth. It is also commonly mislabeled as siling labuyo in markets.

References

References

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2. "2018 Scoville Scale: Ultimate List of Pepper's & Their Scoville Heat Units".
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5. (2016). "Extraction of resins from ''Capsicum annuum'' var. longum (''Siling haba'') for the study of their potential anti-microbial activities". Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research.
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9. (November 16, 2019). "The color purple: Siling labuyo blooms in another bright color". Agriculture Monthly.
10. "Filipino-Style Spiced Vinegar".
11. (March 19, 2015). "PINAY LIFESTYLE: Filipino dishes not complete without the "sawsawan" (dips) - The Complete "Sawsawan" Guide: Bulacan, Philippines".
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14. (September 27, 2018). "Home > Life Maranao condiment 'palapa' offers recipe for hope". ABS-CBN News.
15. Taculao, Patricia Bianca s.. (2019-06-01). "Create an organic pepper spray using 'siling labuyo'". [[Manila Bulletin]].
16. (December 16, 2014). "Siling labuyo: More than a hot spice".
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18. Salcedo, Margaux. (July 31, 2016). "Slow Food campaign kicks into high gear in PH".