Spicy Food Thread

[kitten]

apologies if this has been made into a thread on here, but i couldn't find it. i did find a hot sauce thread from two years back, though! nobody did answer that last person as to whether billy mitchell's hot sauce is worth it, and i've certainly been tempted to give it a shot.

what's yer all's takes on spicy food of all manner? post your fav dishes, your heat level preference, how often you choose for your meals & snacks to be spicy, etc.

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i often see more difficult, classic games compared to appreciating spicier foods, but i rarely ever see that comparison made by people who actually like those games so much as people with tepid palettes for both food & game excusing why they don't eat or play either. many parallels tend to get run between the sadomasochistic appeal in both, but i'm curious if there's actually much of a connection and don't consider my indulgence in either to really be in that category of appreciation.

despite not thinking it necessarily means much, i do think there's a superficial connection between my two tastes! i tend to like console games in genres that are considered tough as nails, but still ultimately prefer the easier end of those games. few arcade games tickle my fancy, but i adore compile games like musha aleste, my favorite contra is still the first (last time i played it i quit out of boredom at loop 10), and my all-time favorite game is gimmick! for the famicom. though considered tough by most ("most" e.g. outside of this forum), they're ultimately on the much easier side of things in the grander scope of classically difficult challenges.

likewise, when it comes to spicy food, i'm definitely a bit of an enthusiast, but tend to think i'm on the much milder end of them. i cut a few raw jalapeno slices with their seeds still in 'em on my burger once in a while to give me a runny nose and nice bit of heat, but going much beyond that i tend to start considering it a little too unpleasant. i love milder hot sauces like frank's (i used to be a tabasco gal - my mom's side of the family all is!) or louisiana hot sauce, and i tend to put sriracha on everything people usually consider reserved for catsup. i very frequently toss a little cayenne pepper, chili powder, or hungarian paprika into a lot of my cooking, too! my favorite salsa is mrs. renfro's green sauce, though i occasionally indulge in the habanero when i want a red sauce.

does anyone like crystal hot sauce? there's a couple of people i know who swear by it, but i don't think i've ever had the chance to try it.

[WelshMegalodon]

You certainly picked a great subject for your first original thread.

Far too many people in my area of the US have a hang-up about tofu, so I'll put in votes for 마파 두부 and 김치순두부찌개:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WsFCwCacUw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jrrF2kH2oM

(Videos courtesy of some random YouTube channel.)

[kitten]

i never cook with tofu, maybe i should try these out! thanks for the suggestion. a lot of korean and vietnamese dishes tend to really casually introduce stuff that's considered wildly spicy by american sensibilities. i feel like when i'm eating out at any asian restaurant, i have to clarify to not baby me :[

[opt2not]

Laos food.

Particularly my favourite is Nam khao, or just referred to as "Nam". It's a salad from Laos and is made with deep-fried rice, chunks of Lao-style fermented pork sausage called som moo, chopped peanuts, grated coconut, sliced scallions or shallots, mint, cilantro, lime juice, fish sauce, and other ingredients. Traditionally eaten as a wrap by filling individual leaves of lettuce with a spoonful of the tangy Nam mixture and then topping it with fresh herbs and dried chili peppers.

But in general, the kings of spicy foods is definitely Laos dishes. It's not for the faint of heart though, most of the cuisine is extra hot on the level of ghost chilies, and a lot of it has some sort of fermented ingredient. Most of my white friends are turned off by that.

I do really like the hot-hot spicy foods, but I still sweat and tear up from them. But they hurt so goooood!

[Stevens]

Laos food.

Particularly my favourite is Nam khao, or just referred to as "Nam". It's a salad from Laos and is made with deep-fried rice, chunks of Lao-style fermented pork sausage called som moo, chopped peanuts, grated coconut, sliced scallions or shallots, mint, cilantro, lime juice, fish sauce, and other ingredients. Traditionally eaten as a wrap by filling individual leaves of lettuce with a spoonful of the tangy Nam mixture and then topping it with fresh herbs and dried chili peppers.

I need to eat that. Must find here in NY.

Not looking to take over but is there any possibility of making this a general culinary thread?

[Sumez]

I'd consider myself an enthusiast of spicy foods, in the sense that I enjoy it immensely, and would say that a vast majority of dishes are entirely improved by adding some sort of spicyness to them.

I also enjoy a large variety of the stuff, from the very mellow stuff like good ol' jalapeños on a pizza or in a salad, to "insanity" scale hot sauces, you know the kind where you just drip a few drops into your pot and the entire dish gets super spicy.... or you eat a drop of it on a spoon "just to prove how badass you are" (even if I secretly just enjoy it, and will gladly do it when no one else is around).
When my girlfriend is out and I just cook for myself, I usually make it crazy super spicy like no one would ever serve for anyone else, as those are the only times I get the chance to eat something like that. :3

That said, I never digged any brands at all. I'll enjoy hot sauces for having a great unique taste, but honestly I'll eat it right up simply for the sake of it being "very spicy", so I'm not really picky when it comes to this stuff.

nobody did answer that last person as to whether billy mitchell's hot sauce is worth it, and i've certainly been tempted to give it a shot.

A friend of mine got a bottle of Billy Mitchell's hot sauce when he got his first Donkey Kong killscreen, and according to him it's super good. This coincides with other statements I've heard, no one seems to dislike it. I haven't tried it myself. We actually had Billy on the phone at one time and talked to him a bit about hot sauces - he's super passionate about it, so it makes sense that he tries to make it good.

[Hagane]

Love spices, though I don't make my food super spicy for the sake of burning my mouth. I appreciate how spices reinforce certain foods and make them tastier. One spice I've tried that has been a lifechanger has been Locoto, a Bolivian spice. Add some of it to red meat, or simply drop some on the boiling water for pasta or potatoes or such and you will notice a massive improvement in their taste. Really can't go back to eating without it now.

Another spice from the Bolivian/Perú area is the Panca, which is actually not spicy at all. It comes dried, and you have to liquefy it with oil. If you taste it raw it's not very good as it feels like eating old dried leaves, but marinate your meat with it and it gives it a big boost.