The bird's eye chili plant is a perennial with small, tapering fruits, often two or three, at a node. The fruits are very pungent.
The bird's eye chili is small, but is quite hot (piquant). It measures around 100,000–225,000 Scoville units, which is at the lower
half of the range for the hotter habanero but still many times more spicy than a jalapeño.
All chilis found around the world today have their origins in Mexico, Central America, and South America.
They were spread by Spanish and Portuguese colonists, missionaries, and traders, together with many other now common
crops such as maize, tomatoes and pineapples. This is now called the Columbian Exchange. The chili varieties found in Southeast Asia
today were brought there in the 16th or 17th century. African bird's eye chilis, particularly those grown in Kenya,
are some of the most pungent chiles in the world. The African variant's
strength can be compared with habaneros or scotch bonnets on the Scoville scale.
As food:
In Vietnamese cuisine, these chilis are used in soups, salads, and stir-fried dishes. They are also put in a wide variety of sauces, sambals,
and marinades, used as a condiment or eaten raw, both fresh and dried.
In Thai cuisine, these chilis are highly valued for their fruity taste and extreme spiciness.
They are extensively used in many Thai dishes, such as in Thai curries and in Thai salads, green as well as the ripe red chilis;
or they can just be eaten raw on the side, with for instance, khao kha mu (stewed pork trotter served with rice).
In health:
Due to the slow release of capsaicin through small ventilated pores within the skin of the chili, it has been regularly used throughout India for its antibacterial qualities.
Having been applied by lightly grazing the affected area with a ripe chili, it can help clean wounds and fight the risk of infection.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird%27s_eye_chili
