Gordon Ramsay's Favorite Way To Prep Fresh Chiles

Aside from his restaurants and TV appearances, Gordon Ramsay has built a sizable following for his easy, sensible tips covering everything from the best fried eggs to determining the doneness of a steak. But his method for prepping fresh chiles is particularly ingenious thanks to how easy, effective, and efficient it is.

In an interview with People, Ramsay suggests: "Put a handful of fresh chiles into the freezer. Then grate a little — or as much as you want — into curries, sauces and burgers." This is a great way to save time and effort when you don't feel like dicing chiles yourself — plus, it's nearly impossible to dice any vegetable as finely as a grater can. Freezing them beforehand firms them up, so the chile won't squish or bend during the process. Frozen chiles can also last for up to a year in the freezer, almost perfectly preserving their flavor.

A common mistake with DIY frozen vegetables is not blanching them first to kill off the enzymes that cause discoloration and mushy textures. However, peppers of almost all varieties don't seem to experience this problem. Just grab any extras you have left over, seal them in an airtight bag, label the date, and freeze. There's an endless number of applications for grated chiles, so you can basically consider them an extra seasoning that's easy to keep on hand.

Possibly the best thing about grated frozen chiles is their fine texture. They're easy to add to just about anything — from raw burger meat to soups just starting to simmer — but also consider how you might want to use them in or as a topping.

Chile butter is a spicy, hearty way of leveling up just about any roasted meat. Just leave some butter on the counter to soften, add in grated chiles, then scoop the butter into plastic wrap and roll it before putting it back in the fridge. Since the chiles are so fine, you can also make a quick spicy oil by adding your favorite chiles and oil to a pot, letting it warm to 180 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes, then straining the chiles out by pouring the oil through a cheesecloth.

Frozen, grated chiles are also a great way to control the spice level of individual servings. When you make something like curry or chili for a large group, not everyone will have the same heat tolerance. And while even the most finely diced chiles may retain much of their heat, creating unexpectedly spicy bites, grated chiles are practically a paste, diffusing through food evenly and quickly. By allowing everyone to effectively and deliciously control their own food's spice level, it's much easier to cook for large groups — and it opens up what kinds of recipes you can use.