Farangs: Choose Your Sauce!

[Jingthing]

I keep running into Thai people who are surprised that a white skinned person like me loves super hot food. It gets a bit annoying to have to train new restaurants, but those are the breaks. Are their stereotypes of our palates based on our skin color true?

[bangla]

if i would ask my wife to make the food extra hot she would only serve rawits.

it's funny though that thai people think they're the only country that eats spicy food

[Jingthing]

It's alright chile wimps, come out, come out, wherever you are!

[beerchang]

Just to bump up my post count, I can honestly say that I can withstand the hottest food that's ever been thrown at me (don't start about food being thrown at me!) I used to put pepper and tobasco sauce on all my meals when I was a kid. It's an individual thing. I have a friend who can't put black pepper on his food!

[Harcourt]

I keep running into Thai people who are surprised that a white skinned person like me loves super hot food. It gets a bit annoying to have to train new restaurants, but those are the breaks. Are their stereotypes of our palates based on our skin color true?

Train new restaurants. I know exactly what you mean. I generally say that I like it "as hot as any Thai takes it"......only once did that result in true pain, and I suspect the cook was taking the piss in an "Oh yeah? lets see if you can handle THIS then" way.

It's not spicy unless your head drips with sweat and your nose runs like a tap.

[PoorSucker]

I gave my wife some fresh habaneros once.

very funny.

[Macx]

I haven't met any Thais who can eat "hotter" than me, but I've met a handful of Mexicans who can.

Spiciest food in Thailand is to be found in the south and not in Issan.

Usually, it's only too hot when I really regret it the next day

[njpski]

by hot, do you mean Thai hot or farang hot?

Unless my head is sweating, the dish is too mild

[Jingthing]

by hot, do you mean Thai hot or farang hot?

Unless my head is sweating, the dish is too mild

Your question annoys me. It falls into the general Thai fallacy that their food is the one truly fiery food in the world and only Khun Thai can eat and LIKE hot food. That is just wrong. Hot is hot. In fact, it can be scientifically measured.

[Macx]

Actually, has anyone here eaten that Indian chili--the hottest one on the planet? Would love to hear your thoughts? Can we get it here in LOS?

[filingaccount]

First, let's identify how spicy Thai chili's are.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale

This places the "Thai pepper" at a quite unimpressive 50-100k scoville units. Compared to the Habanero (100-350k), the Thai chili is quite mild. However, even then the Habanero pales in comparison to the Naga Jolokia at up to a million scoville units.

If you think you eat spicy food, please make your favorite spicy dish with as many habanero's as you would Thai birds eye chili's and see the results. It's quite a different taste.

To give you an example, Somtam seems to be prepared generally with about 8 chili's or so. Double that and swap the Thai chili's to as many habaneros and you begin to understand the start of spicy food.

Some ways to increase spiciness of food is to prepare it with much less sugar and add an extra dose of lime (if the dish calls for lime that is), some mint, and to grind the chili's to as small parts as possible and let them soak in a drop of oil before adding it.

Of course, for you who really want spicy food, I suggest an additive instead of fresh chili's. Personally I prefer the fresh chili's.

Try http://firegirl.com/extreme.html

Has anyone found anything better than habaneros in Thailand?

I can only find habaneros on fairly rare occasions at villa market.

Edit: I forgot about the Wolf hot sauce. Found at Foodland (not all though for some reason).

Make a batch of grilled chicken breasts without skin and bone and add a bottle or two of Wolf and serve.

[PoorSucker]

I you have a STD you can use habaneros.

Just smash them in the mortar and the apply to your private parts.

If it doesn't cure you it will prevent you from transmitting the disease.

[Harcourt]

First, let's identify how spicy Thai chili's are.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale

This places the "Thai pepper" at a quite unimpressive 50-100k scoville units. Compared to the Habanero (100-350k), the Thai chili is quite mild. However, even then the Habanero pales in comparison to the Naga Jolokia at up to a million scoville units.

If you think you eat spicy food, please make your favorite spicy dish with as many habanero's as you would Thai birds eye chili's and see the results. It's quite a different taste.

To give you an example, Somtam seems to be prepared generally with about 8 chili's or so. Double that and swap the Thai chili's to as many habaneros and you begin to understand the start of spicy food.

Some ways to increase spiciness of food is to prepare it with much less sugar and add an extra dose of lime (if the dish calls for lime that is), some mint, and to grind the chili's to as small parts as possible and let them soak in a drop of oil before adding it.

Of course, for you who really want spicy food, I suggest an additive instead of fresh chili's. Personally I prefer the fresh chili's.

Try http://firegirl.com/extreme.html

Has anyone found anything better than habaneros in Thailand?

I can only find habaneros on fairly rare occasions at villa market.

Edit: I forgot about the Wolf hot sauce. Found at Foodland (not all though for some reason).

Make a batch of grilled chicken breasts without skin and bone and add a bottle or two of Wolf and serve.

The hottest chillies I ever bought were these fruit that looked like small bell peppers, about the size of a golf ball, the seeds were black. They were not Scotch Bonnet. I've never seen them again. Were they habaneros possibly?

[richard_smith237]

I you have a STD you can use habaneros.

Just smash them in the mortar and the apply to your private parts.

If it doesn't cure you it will prevent you from transmitting the disease.

I don't know if its your icon (or whatever it's called), your user name or your comments, but I have to thank you.... I chuckled....

There was no vote for... I think I'm hard but my girlfriend eats stuff that makes me cry...

[Rinrada]

SCOTCH BONNET

The habanero is not the same pepper as the Scotch Bonnet

They are of the same species but the Scotch Bonnet is not a Cultivar.

The Scotch Bonnet has a different shape - one which closely resembles a Scot's bonnet - so it is very easy to differentiate the two. The Scotch Bonnet grows mainly in the Caribbean islands while the habanero grows mainly in Latin and North American.

The flavor of the two, however, is very similar as is their heat level.

We tend to use a lot of Peri Per sauce xtra hot+ chilli-pepps-Onions-pineapple-mangos etc ......marinate the pork and chickens and leave in fridge for a couple of days and then whack on a very HOT Bar-B -Q on a Sunday afternoon.....wonder wot the neighbours think..

[Harcourt]

SCOTCH BONNET

The habanero is not the same pepper as the Scotch Bonnet

They are of the same species but the Scotch Bonnet is not a Cultivar.

The Scotch Bonnet has a different shape - one which closely resembles a Scot's bonnet - so it is very easy to differentiate the two. The Scotch Bonnet grows mainly in the Caribbean islands while the habanero grows mainly in Latin and North American.

The flavor of the two, however, is very similar as is their heat level.

We tend to use a lot of Peri Per sauce xtra hot+ chilli-pepps-Onions-pineapple-mangos etc ......marinate the pork and chickens and leave in fridge for a couple of days and then whack on a very HOT Bar-B -Q on a Sunday afternoon.....wonder wot the neighbours think..

You have pictured the scotch bonnet, right? So the "mini bell pepper" (capsicum) that I was talking about must have been habenero? They were HOT.

[kurnell]

I eat with my Chinese-Thai staff and they can't handle chilli at all. Not all Thais love hot food.

[Jingthing]

I eat with my Chinese-Thai staff and they can't handle chilli at all. Not all Thais love hot food.

Obviously, and its not only Chinese Thai. Chile love is of course influenced by culture but it is not a racial trait. My understanding is that Mexican babies are fed hot salsa and most grow up to love hot salsa. You could do the same to Swedish babies and expect the same result. Not that you need to start at infancy, of course.

What continually offends here in Thailand is watching Thai people's brains explode when confronting a white skinned person who likes very spicy food. Frankly, it's kind of racist. I have run into many Thai who only eat bland food. My reaction, here is a human being who likes bland food, totally NORMAL.

[Patsycat]

Especially when a lady gets her tits out on the bus.....

[Jingthing]

Especially when a lady gets her tits out on the bus.....

What's the relation to peppery food?

[fred2007]

Now I do eat realy super hot and none of my thai family can eat my food I just got used to it long time ago when I was young and I had indian friends. Everey time I ask my family to join me for dinner they tell me

no thank you we can not eat that hot

[fabianfred]

I cannot take chillies in my food apart from the tiniest amount.

I do enjoy spreading Coleman's English mustard on my ham sandwiches liberally....a taste the Thais find a bit strange...

I consider most farang who brag about eating food hotter than the thais to be involved in some kind of pecker contest

[Jingthing]

I cannot take chillies in my food apart from the tiniest amount.

I do enjoy spreading Coleman's English mustard on my ham sandwiches liberally....a taste the Thais find a bit strange...

I consider most farang who brag about eating food hotter than the thais to be involved in some kind of pecker contest

I would agree it is not a matter for bragging, it is a matter of preference and taste. I really like to be blown away with hotness. A day without a chile rush is like a day without strong black coffee. It is just annoying not to be believed by service workers here. Sometimes the request for extra hot is met with not hot (the farang is confused) and then some other times it is what they think a typical farang would consider hot. Mustard is lovely as well, especially bold spicy mustards!

[IMA_FARANG]

I will tolerate a medium-hot.

If all you want is hot taste in your food why not just put the hot sauce on a piece pf rice paper and eat it?

I like to at least taste the food and not just the hot sauce.

Not only that, but there are subtle differences between such things as a Louisiana hot sauce and Texas hot sauces that are lost one those who just want the heat.

Not even to mention the difference in raw chilis, fried chillis, and smoked chillis in food.

[mooncake]

Ok am a thai wimp......as I can do only....a medium hot_

Count me in too, coz I can write like a farang

[Naam]

Actually, has anyone here eaten that Indian chili--the hottest one on the planet? Would love to hear your thoughts? Can we get it here in LOS?

the hottest chilis on this planet are grown in southern Sudan, Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. indian and thai chilis are not what i call hot and there is no real difference between the two.

[cashill]

This reminds me of a very hot meal i once had.

A thai woman who run a litle restaurant in holland asked me to come to eat at her place.

One day i showed up in her restaurant whit my ex girlfriend ,sat down and orderd our meal.

While eating i found the meal a tat spicey ,but in the believe this the way it should be i finished the meal and that of my ex .

After that we orderd for the desert (i wondered he why the thai women had that strange look at me)

Later if found out that she spiced up the food a little extra,and why she did it.

[ukrules]

I find the Indian food in Thailand is nowhere as hot as it should be when compared to food sold in the UK.

For example I've had a few Vindaloo curries in Bangkok which weren't even as hot as a Madras is back home, the Madras in Bangkok is like a mild English curry.

I generally don't eat Vindaloo in the UK as it's a bit too hot for my liking.

[blue eyes]

I enjoy some Thai dishs to be very hot,not just spicey.But other ones I like spicey but not hot.It really depends on the dish.I can handle super hot if I am at someone elses home.But that does not mean I like it like that.I have had some Thai people make a dish SUPER hot and watch to see my reaction as I ate it.They would ask "aloay"?I would look at them throiugh my watering eyes and say "aloay"but I not come back.Everyone would get a good laugh out of that.I grew up eating hot and spicey food from living around the world and have come to enjoy the pepper of many different kinds.

Here is a site about peppers that I think many people will find of interest.

http://userwebs.batnet.com/rwc-seed//peppe...ness.scale.html

[wolf5370]

I like it spicy, and often add Tabasco if the food is too bland. However, my Mrs can take spicy food much hotter than I can. There may well be hotter chillies than the usual Popeye Thai chillies, but the Thai ones are hot enough for me (I just add enough to match my taste).

Twenty years ago I ate only mild curries, but as I became more involved with Thais, I slowly worked my way up - not intentionally, but just my tastes changed. I also noticed that now subtle tastes are lost on me - many things I once enjoyed are now just bland to me. I guess tastes changed (and perhaps chillies dumb down our taste buds too).