Ají Amarillo Powder: Peru’s Yellow Chile, Its Heat, Flavor and Uses

Ask how hot ají amarillo is and you’ll get answers that don’t agree: one merchant’s figure sits far above what a lab analysis found. Ground from the orange-yellow chile that Peru’s state news agency calls the ají sold all over the country,¹ the powder brings moderate heat, a fruity, slightly raisiny taste and a bright color to sauces, potatoes and stews. Dried whole, the same chile is called ají mirasol. It’s a Capsicum baccatum, a South American species separate from the C. annuum behind cayenne and paprika.

At a glance

What ají amarillo is

The species. Ají amarillo is a Capsicum baccatum chile. Kew describes the species as a subshrub or shrub of the seasonally dry tropics, native from Colombia to northern Argentina and central and southern Brazil. Dave DeWitt, writing on the baccatum ajís, lists Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Bolivia as places they’re grown. You may read that it’s farmed commercially in the United States, Australia and India. We couldn’t trace that.

The name. Ají is a Spanish word of Taíno origin, used in South America and the Caribbean for the pepper plant and its fruit.⁴ The dictionary says Taíno, not Otomanguean, and none of our sources date the word to 4600 BCE. “Amarillo” means yellow. Peru’s state news agency says the chile also goes by ají escabeche or ají verde, and that its telltale orange is the color of ripeness. DeWitt writes that it’s called ají amarillo when yellow or orange and ají colorado when red.

The dried form. Ají mirasol is ají amarillo dried in the open air, “looking at the sun.” Drying keeps it for several months and concentrates its flavor and color.¹ DeWitt says the dried pods are often called cuzqueño, after Cuzco, and that ajís are sun-dried and then crushed into powders. PepperScale notes that dried ají amarillo loses some of its sweetness and picks up a lightly smoky, sunburnt taste.

Flavor and the compounds behind it

Expect a fruity, slightly raisiny pepper flavor, a gentle heat that builds, and a sunny orange color. Sources don’t fully agree on the aroma, though:

Go easy on the common comparison to habanero and Scotch bonnet. Those chiles are C. chinense, and the 2011 study found the Andean species smelled distinctly less of the fruity, exotic notes that mark C. chinense.⁷ One catch: the study analyzed fresh accessions. We didn’t find any analysis of the dried powder.

How hot is ají amarillo?

How to read this:

• The 30,000 to 50,000 SHU range is a merchant’s figure for its own product, with no method given. PepperScale gives the same range for the chile, also with no method.⁶ It’s far above what the 2011 lab analysis found. It also matches the range widely repeated for cayenne; see cayenne pepper for why that range can’t be traced as a cayenne figure.
• The 2011 figures are capsaicinoid content in mg/kg, not Scoville units, and they lump ají and rocoto together. We haven’t converted them.
• The Codex figure is a category line, not a measurement.⁸ NMSU notes that HPLC, which measures the heat compounds directly, is the most accurate way to measure chile heat.⁹

In practice, heat varies by pod and by product. Start with ½ teaspoon of powder in a dish for four and taste. We found no measurement of that; it’s just a safe place to begin.

Origin and history

Our sources don’t settle where C. baccatum was first domesticated:

The 2,500 BC date is DeWitt’s; the Pickersgill abstract gives no calendar date. We couldn’t trace two other popular claims: that the Spanish called other chiles “peppers” because their heat resembled black pepper, and that the fresh pod rules in Peru while the dried form is more common in Bolivia.

How it is used

Peru. PromPerú’s recipe collection uses ají amarillo across the classics:

• Papa a la huancaína: potatoes in a sauce built on five boiled, deveined yellow ajíes.
• Causa: mashed potato seasoned with yellow ají paste, oil and lime.
• Ají de gallina: shredded chicken in a creamy sauce with minced yellow ají.
• Tacu tacu: rice and beans with yellow ají paste.

None of these recipes calls for the powder, but it can stand in for the paste or the whole chile. Peru’s state news agency notes that ají mirasol is usually toasted lightly to bring out its flavor.

You’ll often see a “holy trinity” of Peruvian cooking (ají amarillo, red onion and cilantro). We couldn’t trace it to any of our sources.

Using the powder.

• Bloom it briefly in oil with onion and garlic as the base of a sauce or stew.
• Stir it into mayonnaise, sour cream or a cheese sauce for a quick huancaína-style dip.
• Season roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash or chicken.
• Mix a little with water into a paste to stand in for jarred ají amarillo paste.

PepperScale pairs ají amarillo with cilantro, garlic, lime, cumin, onion, queso fresco, potatoes and tomato.

See also Peruvian spices and huacatay, another Peruvian staple.

Buying and quality

• Check the label for “ají amarillo” or “ají mirasol” alone. Some products add salt or other chiles.
• Color. A bright orange-yellow powder is a decent sign of freshness. A brown or dull one has faded.
• Heat claims on labels are the maker’s own. No standard defines ají amarillo heat.

Storage

Keep the powder airtight, dark and cool. Agencia Andina says drying keeps the chile for several months;¹ we didn’t find a shelf-life figure for the powder from a regulator or standards body. Replace it once the color and fruity smell fade.

Nutrition and health

We didn’t find a nutrient analysis of ají amarillo powder, so there are no vitamin or mineral figures here. In the amounts you’d use, a chile powder doesn’t supply much of anything. Claims that it relieves inflammatory diseases such as Crohn’s, prevents heart disease, lowers blood pressure or cholesterol, or keeps cancer from returning aren’t supported by any source we reviewed.

Capsaicin. The strongest human evidence on capsaicin is about a prescription skin patch, not chile in food. A 2017 Cochrane systematic review found moderate-quality evidence that a high-concentration (8%) capsaicin patch gave moderate pain relief to a minority of people with postherpetic neuralgia.¹⁰ We’re not claiming ají amarillo treats or prevents any disease.

Safety

• Mycotoxins (EU). EU law caps ochratoxin A at 20 µg/kg in dried Capsicum fruits, whole or ground, a category it says includes chillies and chilli powder.¹¹
• Handling. Keep chile powder away from your eyes and wash your hands after handling it.

Substitutes and comparisons

• Other chile powders: cayenne pepper, habanero powder, chile de árbol powder, paprika
• Cayenne pepper substitutes
• Peruvian pantry: Peruvian spices, huacatay