Burning Fingers

I'd been thinking about making mole (sauce) for a while. Even though I didn't have all the ingredients but John didn't call me "Queen of Improvisation" for nothing. Yes, I often make up stuff.

We had 2 fresh Poblano peppers, some Guajillo chiles (chilies), extra Mexican salsa from Villa Del Mar (taco shop), and a block of Tofu. Monday night, I decided to make Tofu Mole with whatever we had at home. Yeah, kind of fusion, you might call it, a genuine creation of my own. But it came with a price.

First step was to roast those Poblano peppers. I cut them open and took the seeds out. Minutes later the middle finger of my left hand started to feel stingy. Goodness, I had a tiny paper cut on that finger earlier in the office.

It's crazy. Fresh Poblano peppers are not even hot. I was never a fiery food fan. And my mole was going to be very mild.

Somehow the burning sensation spread to the index finger and the ring finger. I managed to simmer up all the stuff and some baking chocolate (unsweetened) for a funny pot of mole, then put my fingers on ice.

By bedtime, I had to rid of the ice and the burning feeling was still there. I tried aloe vera gel and burnt cream but they didn't work. Finally, I gave up messing around and went to bed with burning fingers.

I didn't know how long it took me to fall asleep. Thank heavens, I woke up the next day with "normal" fingers.


Note:

Poblano peppers, also called Pasilla peppers. Grocery stores in San Diego often label them Pasilla.