# How spicy do you like your food?



## CherryThai (Feb 13, 2010)

My husband always says that i put too many chillies in when I cook Thai food for him. How spicy do you like to prepare your Thai/Ethnic dishes? Im addicted to chillies


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## CharlieD (Feb 13, 2010)

I like spicy thai food, but not too spycy, my wife though can hadle and actually likes twice as spicy as I do.


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## CherryThai (Feb 13, 2010)

I tend to make my dishes less spicy for him, and keep some chopped chillies to add to my portion. The spicier the better


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## wanna be (Feb 13, 2010)

*It depends.*

When I was younger the sky was the limit.I used to make smoked habaneros every time I BBQ,d.I can still eat fire,but acid reflux really makes you pay.Enjoy it while you can,because after you get older it really kicks your butt.After just a couple of jalapenos now I could really use some depends.T.M.I I guess.


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## MostlyWater (Feb 14, 2010)

Not at all !!


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## Selkie (Feb 14, 2010)

If I have an option between hot , medium  or mild , I choose the mild!


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## GrillingFool (Feb 14, 2010)

Very. In my noodle bowl lunches, I am up to 6 peppers.
So now when I make spicy, I have to remember my wife is tolerant but
not a  chilihead like me! So I make it bland (with only 2 peppers) and add mine
on the side.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Feb 14, 2010)

Not too hot, I like spicy, but it doesn't like me.


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## JamesS (Feb 14, 2010)

Less so than when I was in my twenties....but still moderately spicy. Unfortunately, I often cook for my mother and my fiance, neither of whom can tolerate too much spice.


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## Andy M. (Feb 14, 2010)

Difficult question to answer.  When I say I like HOT HOT foods, you may taste them and feel like they are no more than medium.   Everyone's perception of heat is not the same.  

I like heat in some dishes but I don't want it to be the overpowering flavor of the dish but a compliment to the other flavors.


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## radhuni (Feb 23, 2010)

Do you want to know spicy or hot?

We add lots of spices in almost every dishes but that don't mean they are hot. We add spices like cardamom, cinnamon in sweet dishes.

My DH always like 3-4 green chili with his meal But I don't like hot food.


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## danpeikes (Feb 23, 2010)

scale from 1-10 i like my spicy heat at an 11 my wife likes it at a 1


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## velochic (Feb 23, 2010)

We eat a lot of Indian food and when we're at Indian restaurants, I tell them to make my food a 6 (on a scale of 1 - 10) and sometimes even a 5.  It was a 7 when I was in my 20's and 30's, but my stomach won't take it anymore.  Dh, who is in his 50's still gets 7 or 8.  Dd (8yo) asks for level 3.

When I cook at home (my mother lives with us) foods are not made spicy hot at all because of her.  Each person adds the amount of spice they want before eating.  Even dd likes it spicier than my mom.

Interesting aside... we're multilingual/multicultural in our house.  In every language spoken by one or more of us, there is a word for "spicy hot" and a word for "temperature hot".  Only in English do we not have that... because spicy doesn't necessarily mean "hot" spicy in English.  I make very spicy dishes, but the spices themselves may be very mild.  Interesting observation, anyway.  So, we use "spicy hot" as a term and "hot hot" as a term.


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## GB (Feb 23, 2010)

I can handle a lot of heat, but I enjoy a moderate amount. I do not want to be reaching for my drink after every bite. I do not want to be blotting my forehead and turning different colors. I want my mouth to tingle, but I don't want to blow out my taste buds.


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## Alix (Feb 23, 2010)

Speaking as someone who recently had a wasabi overload...moderate heat thanks! I got a rather large wasabi chunk in my sushi the other day and it completely ruined an otherwise lovely piece of sushi. My eyes watered, my nose ran (and that is MOST unappetizing) and I could taste nothing but wasabi. I like a bit of heat but I want to taste all the nuance in my food.


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## froggythefrog (Feb 23, 2010)

I like hot food, but any more, it gives me the hiccups and digestive troubles follow, so I stick with moderately spicy.


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## bullseye (Feb 23, 2010)

I like hot to the point that it enhances but does not overpower the flavour of the food.  When I was young, I liked heat for its own sake.  I can still tolerate it, but I like to think my palate has evolved beyond that.


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## Claire (Feb 23, 2010)

I like my food quite spicy.  Remember that spicy does not necessarily mean HOT.  I like hot foods as well.


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## vyapti (Feb 23, 2010)

I like to have a slow burn at the top and back of my mouth, and hot enough to generate a little sweat on my brow.  But I still want to taste the food.  I don't like to be overwhelmed by the heat.  Incidentally, I can't handle wasabi at all, though.  It makes me a very unhappy person for the rest of the night.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Feb 24, 2010)

Alix said:


> Speaking as someone who recently had a wasabi overload...moderate heat thanks! I got a rather large wasabi chunk in my sushi the other day and it completely ruined an otherwise lovely piece of sushi. My eyes watered, my nose ran (and that is MOST unappetizing) and I could taste nothing but wasabi. I like a bit of heat but I want to taste all the nuance in my food.


 
I did the same thing one-night, it literally took my breath away.  The spike in blood pressure was alarming...we took my blood pressure (it happened at work) because I was close to passing out.  My pulse rate went way up, quite frightening...however I still like my wasabi, but watch much closer to how much I'm getting at a time.  Scared the heck out of my nurses aide...he was the one who gave it to me for a bit of fun.


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## vagriller (Feb 24, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> I like heat in some dishes but I don't want it to be the overpowering flavor of the dish but a compliment to the other flavors.


 
This about the way I feel. If it is something the kids will be eating I back off the spice quite a bit. They other day when I made breakfast tacos I slathered a little of the spicy bbq sauce I had made on them. The beans and rice were already a bit spicy. My son said he wanted one, so I made an extra for him. When I was leaving for work I noticed that he had eaten a little over half. He said the beans were too spicy for him.


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## radhuni (Feb 25, 2010)

velochic said:


> Interesting aside... we're multilingual/multicultural in our house.  In every language spoken by one or more of us, there is a word for "spicy hot" and a word for "temperature hot".  Only in English do we not have that... because spicy doesn't necessarily mean "hot" spicy in English.  I make very spicy dishes, but the spices themselves may be very mild.  Interesting observation, anyway.  So, we use "spicy hot" as a term and "hot hot" as a term.



Yes I agree with you. In Bengali 'spicy hot' means 'jhaal' whereas 'temperature hot' means 'garam'. And as you said "spicy doesn't necessarily mean "hot"".


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## mexican mama (Feb 25, 2010)

I like spict but not the burning sensation that makes you sick


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## Andy M. (Feb 25, 2010)

On a related topic, I've never understood the 'competition' to prove you can stand hotter foods than the other guy.


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## GB (Feb 25, 2010)

It is just like any other competition Andy. It has nothing to do with food or flavor. It is just a test of "strength".


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## Andy M. (Feb 25, 2010)

GB said:


> It is just like any other competition Andy. It has nothing to do with food or flavor. It is just a test of "strength".



I do realize that, GB.  But it's different from other competitions.  You are causing yourself pain (Today and tomorrow) as a direct result of the competition.  Might as well just hold your hand over a burning candle.


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## GB (Feb 25, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> Might as well just hold your hand over a burning candle.


I have done that one too


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## Andy M. (Feb 25, 2010)

GB said:


> I have done that one too



Was that in a competition or were you too drunk to remember?


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## GB (Feb 25, 2010)

Nah I wasn't drinking when I was 12 and my brother challenged me. Well not drinking much at least


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## Selkie (Feb 25, 2010)

Alix said:


> Speaking as someone who recently had a wasabi overload...moderate heat thanks! I got a rather large wasabi chunk in my sushi the other day and it completely ruined an otherwise lovely piece of sushi. My eyes watered, my nose ran (and that is MOST unappetizing) and I could taste nothing but wasabi. I like a bit of heat but I want to taste all the nuance in my food.



It's strange, I suppose, but I terribly dislike eye-watering heat produced from chilis, but wasabe, to me, is more of a "tang" than "heat." It doesn't bother me to the point of distraction, except to make my sinuses run. Very spicy chilis, on the other hand, burn my palate and ruin any pleasure from the taste of the food. 

I'm just glad there are different ways that different people can enjoy spicy, tongue tingling foods.


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## spork (Feb 26, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> You are causing yourself pain (Today and tomorrow).



I love it super hot, am not competitive but I also see no point to spicy dishes without the sweat.  It also depends a lot on its accompanying carbs (i'll scoop anything into my mouth with a two-layered naan).  

And accompanying liquid.  For once and for all, I'd like to know what drink will calm a mouth on fire...


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## GB (Feb 26, 2010)

spork said:


> And accompanying liquid.  For once and for all, I'd like to know what drink will calm a mouth on fire...


Any dairy drink will do the best job. Milk works well as do yogurt based drinks.


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## vagriller (Feb 26, 2010)

GB said:


> Any dairy drink will do the best job. Milk works well as do yogurt based drinks.


 
Yes, I saw an episode of Food Detectives where they tested soda, water, beer, and milk. Milk was the only one that helped. Some of the others actually reacted in some way or other and made the problem worse.


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## GB (Feb 26, 2010)

vagriller said:


> Some of the others actually reacted in some way or other and made the problem worse.


Yes, things like water will give you temporary relief, but can make it worse in the end. The heat comes from oil. Since oil and water do not mix then when you try to extinguish the heat in your mouth with water it can end up just floating the oil to other parts of your mouth and throat exacerbating the problem.


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## velochic (Feb 26, 2010)

GB said:


> Any dairy drink will do the best job. Milk works well as do yogurt based drinks.



Actually, fat, sweet and alcohol (has to be high alcohol content, so beer probably wouldn't help, but a martini would) all bind with the capsaicin to alleviate the heat.  It's the fat in milk and yogurt that help... so if you're drinking dairy, make sure it's not fat-free!  (Found that one out myself, as we only have skim milk in the house.  )  I'm sure there is a reason all Indian restaurants offer full-fat sweet mango lassi on their menu.


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## JohnL (Feb 26, 2010)

I enjoy lots of heat, but don't really like spices to overpower the taste of the dish.


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## Cooking Goddess (Feb 26, 2010)

*How spicy hot?*

Not at all!  My tummy has no issue with spices, but my lips and tongue protest loud and long if I eat _anything_ spicy-hot.  Although there was this time in Santa Fe; lets just say by the time I was done with five of the 15 wings my lips looked like Goldy Hawn's in "Death Becomes Her".  DH does like his spicy, so I keep a nice selection of hot sauces in the pantry for his perusal and use.  But he did meet his match once: company outing to House of Blues, nice bowl of seafood jambalaya...and this cute, miniature red bell pepper on top.  YIKES!  That was a scotch bonnet!!!  Didn't know the "milk" trick at the time so he spent the next ten minutes in the men's room running icy cold water into his mouth.  He's a LOT more cautious with stuff in a restaurant these days.


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## Claire (Feb 27, 2010)

Cucumbers and mint.  I do like my food hot; however, I would like to be able to taste the rest of the meal.  So many young men I know go for heat over anything else.  Roll of eyes.  If you can't taste the next bite, what is the point of eating?  I learned the cukes and mint trick when eating southeast Asian cuisine, and it works better than anything else I've tried for cooling the palate and moving on.


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## Kathleen (Feb 27, 2010)

I absolutely love food that is spicy hot but, in the past few years, my body simply doesn't tolerate it.  In my twenties, if my face didn't sweat, it just was not hot enough.  

As a basis for comparison, in my twenties and thirties, no Thai dish was too hot even when I asked them to turn up the heat.  Food made with scotch bonnets was blissful.  Now I'm somewhere between the jalopeno peppers are yummy and black pepper is too mild.

~Kathleen


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