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If heat equals strength and this is the World's Strongest Man Contest, the habanero chile can lift an 18-wheeler. The serrano can lift a VW van. The jalapeño can lift a Vespa, which is still pretty powerful compared to the pepperoncini lifting a Big Wheel way down at the bottom of the Scoville scale. But there is much more to a chile pepper than its brawn. Different varieties have different flavors, colors and shapes and play different roles in cooking. Here’s a breakdown of three popular varieties. The habanero: Lantern-shaped and bright yellow or orange, the habanero is the hottest chile that is readily available in U.S. groceries. You can seed habaneros to lower the heat, but when working with them, wear gloves and keep your hands away from your face. Wash anything that touches the chile's seeds or juices. The habanero's floral, tangy flavor works well as the focal point of a dip. The serrano: Looks like a slender jalapeño. As it ages, it turns from green to red to yellow. Rich and potentially blistering (though sometimes fairly mild), serranos show up most often in salsas, marinades, sauces and chilis. Its size and shape make the serrano difficult to core and seed, so the best way to temper it is by using less of it. The jalapeño: A workhorse pepper that is easy to find in most grocery stores. It's easy to work with, too. If you have a moderate tolerance for heat, you should be able to handle a jalapeño without removing the seeds and ribs. (If you're less tolerant of heat, try taking out the seeds and ribs.) Jalapeños are dark green (red when extra ripe) and have a sweet flavor that is similar to a bell pepper with a kick. Reference: Help! I ate a hot pepper! (Cookthink) Reference: How to seed a chile pepper (Cookthink) Reference:: Why are some jalapenos hotter than others? (Cookthink)

How to mince garlic

When you want a dish to have quintessential garlic flavor that permeates each bite, mince it. You can mince with a knife, or a garlic press. Either way, you need to free the individual cloves. To do that, press down on the head with the heel of your palm. Apply firm, even pressure so the cloves don't fly all over the place. To peel an individual clove, cut of the hard stem end where the clove attached to the bulb. Either stop the cut just short of the skin on the other side and peel the skin around to remove it, or make the cut all the way through and squeeze out the clove. The older the clove, the easier the skin releases. You can also peel it by setting the side of your knife blade on the clove and pressing down until you feel the skin release, though not hard enough to pulverize it, or the skin will get mixed in with the garlic. To mince with a knife, smash the peeled clove with the side of the knife. Then just run your knife back and forth across the smashed clove, chopping as you go until it's as fine as you like. If you don't want individual little pieces of garlic and have a press, just put the whole peeled clove (or cloves, if you can fit them) in the press and squeeze. Use your knife to trim away any clinging garlic.

What is an oil's smoke point?

The smoke points of an oil (or butter) is precisely what it sounds like: the temperature at which it begins to release clouds of smoke. At that point, the oil is breaking down and has a very narrow window of time left until it burns and should be tossed out. The smoke point is different for different kinds of oils. Vegetable oils are tougher and can reach a higher temperature before smoking, making tehm good for frying. (The commonly accepted temperature for frying is somewhere between 365F-375F.) Butter burns easily, and olive oil has a pretty low smoke point, so they’re better for sautéing at relatively lower heats. Here are a few examples of oils and their smoke points (get your thermometers ready!): Sunflower Oil -- 440F Canola Oil -- 400F Butter -- 350F Extra Virgin Olive Oil -- 320F

How to mince ginger

When you want the flavor of ginger to permeate a a sauté , stir-fry, sauce or braise, mince it. For the most ginger flavor, mince it finely and add it toward the end of cooking. Cooking ginger longer mellows its flavor. We usually start with what we call a "thumb" -- a piece of ginger roughly the size and shape of your thumb. To make the thumb easier to peel, start by cutting off any small protruding parts. You can peel and mince these separately. We like to peel ginger with a spoon. Because a spoon is dull, it easily takes off the soft skin and leaves most of the aromatic flesh behind. Slice the peeled thumb lengthwise into planks, thick or thin depending on how fine you want your mince to be. After you slice away one or two planks, roll the thumb over on the flat side for more stability. Stack the planks and slice them lengthwise into matchsticks. Now just gather the matchsticks together, rotate them 90 degrees, and slice them crosswise to complete the mince. For a finer mince, just run your knife across the pile a few times, chopping as you go.

How to peel ginger

Ginger's brown outer peel looks tough, but it's not. It's so thin and light that you don't need a knife or vegetable peeler to peel it. To start, break or cut off the the amount of ginger you need. Slice off any small protruding limbs to make the main piece easier to peel. Hold the piece of ginger in one hand. With the tip of a spoon, scrape away the ginger's peel. You'll be surprised by how little effort it takes to remove it. Because spoon tip is dull, it easily takes off the soft peel without wasting much of the aromatic flesh. Once you've peeled the ginger, you're ready to prep it further. Reference: How much is a thumb of ginger? (Cookthink) Reference: How to mince ginger (Cookthink)

What is dal?

Dal comes from the Sanskrit word to split. Indians use the word dal to refer to dozens of varieties of dried split peas, beans, lentils and other pulses (meaning the dried seed of legumes such as lentils, beans and peas). Dal is the name of spicy, aromatic side dishes made with curry, onions, tomatoes and seasonings which are generally eaten with rice or bread and a dairy like yogurt to provide non-meat protein. Dal is an everyday dish in India. Indian Masoor dal is made with salmon-colored, round, delicately flavored split lentils that turn a mellow shade of yellow when cooked. Moong dal (or mung daal) is a hulled, split version of the mung bean that is used to make bean sprouts and is very popular in North India. Chana dal is similar to split yellow peas, but has a sweeter, meatier taste, and can be found in Indian and Pakistani markets. Dal can also be soaked and ground to make the fritters or pancakes called dosas.

What is a legume?

Légume is the French word for vegetable. But if you remove the accent, the English word legume refers to thousands of plant species -- including beans, peas, lentils, soybeans and peanuts -- whose seed pods split when they ripen. Dried legume seeds are called pulses. Legumes are a high source of protein and have been a staple at mealtimes around the world for thousands of years. Recipe: Soybeans With Yogurt And Basil (Cookthink) Reference: Cannelini beans vs. Great Northern beans vs. Navy beans (Cookthink)

Help! I ate a hot pepper!

What should you do if you eat a pepper that sets your tongue on fire? Do not drink beer. Water won’t help either. (In a Caribbean folktale, children drown in a river trying to cool their tongues after eating habanero stew. See Dave Dewitt and Nancy Gerlach's The Pepper Pantry for the full story.) Capsaicin, the chemical that makes a hot pepper hot, doesn’t dissolve in water, so even ice water won’t help remove the heat. Your best bet? Get milk. Because capsaicin is fat-soluble, a compound in milk can actually pull the capsaicin off your tongue and relieve some of the burn. Another option: eat bread or rice to absorb the heat. Cucumber can also have a cooling effect. If you are feeling brave (or masochistic), you could try eating another pepper. According Robert Berkley, the author of Peppers: A Cookbook, you can build up a resistance to capsaicin by eating more chile peppers. With Berkley’s approach, you get the added high of a capsaicin-triggered endorphin release. Before you know it, you might be addicted to the hot little things. Reference: How to seed a chile pepper (Cookthink) Reference:: Why are some jalapenos hotter than others? (Cookthink)