You love chili? Chilli is now too expensive to eat… a lot of.

You love chili? Chilli is now too expensive to eat… a lot of.

Chilli is a fruit or a vegetable?

Did you know that chili is always an expensive ‘fruit’? Yes, it’s actually a fruit and not considered a vegetable although in the culinary world, no one sees chill as a fruit lah. So, when compared to apples, oranges and maybe even durian kampung, chili is expensive. If we think of chili as a vegetable, then it’s even more expensive because vegetables are generally cheaper than fruits. So, how expensive is expensive?

Durians more expensive?

Well, branded durians could be RM25 per kg or cheaper. Chilli has hit RM24 per kg! So, durians are still more expensive right? Well… I can easily eat 1kg of durian or even 2kg or even 3kg. However, not many people can tell me they could eat RM24 worth of chili; 1kg. Haha. So, yes, chili is now very expensive but we do not use a big quantity. Read on:

Article in nst.com.my Red chilli prices at markets here have surged to RM24 per kg due to high demand ahead of Chinese New Year and Ramadan.

Vegetable trader Hendri Sapriadi, 55, who operates at the Taman Perling market, said the previous average price for red chillies was RM18 per kg.

“Supply from Batu Pahat remains stable, but prices have increased slightly because of high demand, including from Ramadan bazaar traders.

“Besides red chillies, long beans have also seen a price hike, now selling for between RM9 and RM10 per kg compared with RM6 to RM7 previously,” he said when met today. Article in nst.com.my

Have you tried to grow chili before?

It’s tough and I have failed many times. Maybe it’s the time to try one more time. However, it’s tough. Too much water NOT good, too little water NOT good… Overwatering means the roots will rot. Too much rain certainly will kill the tree. If there are no sun… they will also not be healthy. However, if we try to grow things like okra or cucumber… both of them are far easier to grow as well… This is also the reason why as soon as something is not right with the weather, chilli’s yields will drop tremendously. Malaysians love to eat chillies, so the demand is always high and when supply drops, then prices go up.

Even 100gm is a lot, let’s not kid ourselves

It’s okay. Buy them as and when needed versus trying to buy many kgs. If the supply cannot increase or supply is dropping, we can also reduce the demand over the short term as well. My wife for example would only buy enough cili paid for 2 meals. I can have maybe 9-10 cili paid per meal (no soy sauce). So, it’s still cheap relatively even if RM24 per kg is indeed very high.

happy shopping!

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