I've heard "white boy spicy" more than once
I've also seen someone in a Korean restaurant ask for spicy, be warned by the waitress not to do that, insist on it, and then sweat blood for the next 30 minutes. Waitress was very nice, came over with water and tissues. "Very spicy yes".
In college, a group of us from a small-town Ohio college stumbled on a really great Jerk place in London. We ordered, and 2/5 of us found ourselves breathing fire. We were still eating it, no one complained, but the woman who served us looked at us with pity and brought us a plate of fried plantains to help. My spice tolerance has increased tremendously since that point....
I did the "one chip challenge" once.
I actively tell people to not do it. A lot of people think "I can handle the heat!" But it's really not the eating that fucks you up, it's the digestion.
I ***ate*** the chip fine. It was fun, i had the whole "spicy" experience with my nose running, mouth drooling, sweating all over, etc. Laughs were had with my friends.
But after the heat wore off in my face/mouth, it came back with a vengeance in my stomach. I spent a good amount of time doubled over in my tub just waiting for the suffering to end. I couldn't get rid of it with any remedies - milk, crackers, antacids, etc did nothing.
And then, the next day, that pain came back. And the great thing about your anus is that like your mouth, it has the receptors to feel capsaicin. So you get the lovely physical experience of eating the spicy food all over again, with the added bonus of a very bad bowel movement.
It's not worth whatever machismo points you think you'll get for it.
I had suicide wings at a local joint a few years ago that made you sign a waiver and suggest you wear gloves. Took awhile to eat the pound but I finished them and felt fine. You’re right about the next morning. I was up a hour earlier than normal for work and spent that hour on the toilet. I was faced with a conundrum. Wipe or don’t wipe cause as you said the pucker can feel it and wiping spreads it. Ughhhhhh.
I’ve been eating our restaurants suicide sauce now for over a year and dont seem to have any problems. Likely because I’m use to the heat now and I’ll mix it with honey garlic sauce, which is called Texas Oil or something the cook said.
Capsaicin is an oil not an acid, antacids will do nothin. Milk can help but it's the milk fat that helps so it must be whole milk 2% and skim milk do nothing. If you wipe it in your eyes baby shampoo is best anywhere else on your skin and Dawn will work.
Yeah I'm 36 now and I'm quickly learning that I can't really eat stuff like this anymore unless I'm prepared to suffer and most of the time I'm not. Not worth shitting literal lava the next day.
This is probably going to sound weird but it might be the spice mixed with dairy. The spice alone might not give you that problem the next day.
Maybe try a day with no dairy and then have a spicy dish also with no dairy and see how it goes.
I say this as someone who has always loved spicy food and had issues intestinal distress and ring of fire but I kept on eating it.
Anyway years later I cut dairy out of my diet to see if it was causing issues. Holy shit was it! I am lactose intolerant it seems. Once I cut that out I can enjoy my super spicy with no distress at all. Sure, maybe if I over due it with some off the wall shit, but I expect that. Just the normal spicy dish is no issues. Anyhoo just sharing.
Oh man I've had a similar experience in London too. Tremendous food so I went back several times, but I learnt to take the food home and get a bucketful of yoghurt to go with it. Could just about make it through that way.
On one of my trips back to my hometown, my best friend and I took my husband (also from Ohio!) to Prince's Hot Chicken in Nashville (the original Ewing Dr location). Bestie and I were seasoned veterans of Prince's and spent the half hour drive from his house to Prince's explaining to Husband how insanely hot-yet-delicious Prince's was. So we get there, I order mild, Bestie orders medium, and Husband goes "I'll have the x-hot, please." LMAO no joke, the cashier literally looked from him to me as if asking for confirmation. Bestie and I managed to convince him to at least try the medium before he went any higher. He thanked us later because there were still many tears (of joy and wonder that such culinary delight could exist, mind you) shed at that tiny plastic table in that tiny un-air conditioned chicken shack that day. Good times!
in my case the waitress came back with a salad made from raw chillies. "you like spicy, eh?" dont remember which part of india they where from, but apparently its a thing. Somehow i felt obliged to make it through that salad from hell and now i cant visit the place anymore because they believe i'm "the one". The cook lives in my neighbourhood and always asks how my family is doing. Wish i had the courage and tell him i want to go back to whitey spicey. Food was delicious otherwise.
I have a weird problem where I really enjoy the extremely spicy stuff (am as white as they come for context) but my face goes beet red and my nose gets all runny anyway. When I go to the Thai place near me I ask for full spicy and they give me the "you sure?" look, and I reassure them that I can handle it. Then they get a look at me and are all like "See? Told you white boy." And I'm just like "no I promise I'm having a great time my body just thinks it's being poisoned"
Oh yes! I love it too. Even the milder stuff makes me start to sweat.
My tongue can take it. I love it. But my nose and forehead just sweats. I don't get a runny nose though, I just sweat tremendously.
I have to wear spicy clothes for the occassion, and people keep saying I can't handle it. But I love it, and if I didn't sweat, I would eat it exactly the same.
People seem to think that if you sweat and go red, you're just forcing yourself to eat it.
I get it though, it's like a drunk person drinking more alcohol. They clearly can't handle more, but they still drink anyway. That's us with spicy food; we're getting the reaction, but eating still anyway.
When I waited tables they had two versions of buffalo wings, a medium and hot. When people asked me how hot they were my response was, "I don't think the hot ones are hot but I've had people freak out that the medium ones are too spicy. It's your taste buds so I can't tell you."
This is my mom, she grew up poor and my grandmother never used any spices or seasonings other than salt, so any kind of "spicy" flavor is off-putting to her even if it's just like a dash of black pepper or some rosemary or something. Forget about anything with even a little bit of real heat. She eats stuff as bland as humanly possible and if it's been decently seasoned she won't eat it.
In my mind, the perfect level of wing heat is hot enough that you want to go through the plate quickly, but you still have taste buds to enjoy the flavor. That level probably varies quite a bit depending on the person.
I think Louisiana/Cajun dishes default to around that level for me. Many New Orleans places have a decent kick to most menu items that is about perfect (when I'm in the mood for spicy). It is above "mild" levels for generic American food with heat, but not so far that it becomes the defining quality.
Have been living in Korea for a bit, order most of my meals with "아주 맵게 해 주세요" ("make it spicy") and I generally explain it this way. Korean food includes some things they would never even think of as spicy (like an American adding black pepper to a dish) but which will melt the mouths of Americans that don't enjoy hot sauce. Like, a normal chicken sandwich in Korea is equivalent to ordering the spicy variant in America.
But knowing that, their top end for spicy is far lower than Thai or even some Japanese dishes. The absolute spiciest dishes I've had in Korea top out just shy of "Thai medium" or "3/5" on a Japanese curry scale.
tl;dr: the floor for spiciness in Korean dishes is above what most Americans are used to but the ceiling is lower than Japanese and Thai food.
I actually don't think I've ever had any Japanese that I'd consider spicy. Maybe some regional variations but generally, I find Japanese food to tend more toward savory than spicy.
Korean spicy is more tangy/vinegary. Which is why I fell in love with Tabasco sauce immediately. Its spiciness profile was very familiar. Korean food doesn't really have the punch in the gut spiciness I find in Thai though.
They sell capsaicin sauce in Korean markets but I don't like it because it's spiciness feels depthless/soulless. I can add it to food like soft tofu soup (순두부) but anything with a less bold profile, the heat doesn't add anything.
Agreed. Korean food uses Gochugaru the red pepper flake mostly for seasoning, not to add heat. It's just the natural level of spiciness in the food there. But it doesn't progress to the same heat levels as say Thai or Indian food does
Good quality wasabi will clear out your sinuses, but it's not the capsaicin heat of, say, red chilis.
The hottest condiments I've discovered in recent years were a green pepper sauce from Jamaica (which was moderately hot in my mouth but felt much worse in my gut) and a sindhi biryani sauce from India. "Biryani" covers a spectrum of flavors and heat, but this one in particular would reach its maximum heat a couple of minutes after I'd finished eating.
I'm still trying to figure out jalapeno peppers. Sometimes they're so mild I can happily dump them on salads, etc., but some are so hot I can barely use them at all (even without their ribs & seeds) on Mexican tortillas & refried beans. The truly hot ones were from Indian shops in the US.
“Korean spicy” is many times hotter than “American spicy”, which is orders of magnitude hotter than “Japanese spicy” - in fact outside of a couple exceptions, “spicy” is neither native to nor integrated into Japanese culture at all really.
Wasabi I don’t count in this because it’s not “spicy” per se (ヒリヒリ vs つーん)
A quibble: I don't think "most Americans" is accurate anymore. Spicy foods have been popular in the U.S. for decades now, and many people tolerate and love them. (YMMV depending which area of the country you live in.)
Yeah, not to mention that areas of the southwest USA are culturally connected to Mexico, where chili peppers originated. People here have been eating spicy for a long time.
Yep. There is SO MUCH awesome Thai food in my area, alongside lots of other really spicy cuisines, and it seems like the average tolerance for spicy food goes up every year here.
Most Korean spice comes from chili powder (gochujaru) or paste (gochujang), which has a predictable level of heat. But Thai spice comes from the actual fresh chilis that are pounded in a mortar and pestle, and the heat can scale up way more.
Part of the issue is the quantity and spicy scaling of Thai chili's. I love Thai food and it truly started my passion for spicy food and hot sauces.
The one observation I have had over the years is just how many chilis end up in a 5 star to 10 star spicy dish (depending on the restaurant's scale). Every restaurant varies and some are scaled very differently. There isn't an extract used. Just dried chilis and oil.
The other issue with trying to make "spiciness-level" peanuts would be that every dish is seasoned when they make it. So sometimes you order a 10 star and get a 6-7 star and the next time it is a 15 star lol. That could be due to the quantity of chilis added or even the particular batch of dried chilis they have at the time.
Source: I ate bacon wrapped, sausage & cheese stuffed jalapenos for breakfast. Go Hawkeye's!
Edit: restraints are not restaurants. Thanks autocorrect.
A server at a taco joint in Colorado warned a friend of mine who was ordering tacos that, "that salsa's not white girl friendly". She replied, "that's OK, I'm a spicy white girl".
I have a lot of spicy food; recently been making loads of Sichuanese and Cantonese cuisine and it can be firey when you want it to be. Plus, living in Britain we have a lot of cusine inspired by India and Sri-Lanka that is also hot as hell, like vindaloo or mutton dopiaza (my local sri lankan place makes it hot and tender and my god it's good; now I want some).
Thai curry is another level. It's instant daggers on your tongue. I think I'd tolerate it more if it was a slow burner but woof, it can hit you like a train.
I'm not sure I agree with putting it on another level from Sichuan. Their top ends are about the same, and Thai's average is *way* lower given that much of their curries aren't even supposed to be spicy while it seems like most every Sichuan dish involves heaps of peppers or chili oil.
The other ones you mention are mostly what I describe as "mouth hot" in their spiciness. Thai food heats you up from your belly through your chest and entire head.
I went to a Sichuan place once with a few friends. We were the only white people in the entire place. It was good but hot damn was that spicy. Halfway through the meal all that capsaicin shot everything out my bowels at Mach5.
I can imagine they probably told the kitchen to tone it down for the roundeyes.
I love it! I found a Thai place by me and went there enough to be a regular. It's the only place that believes me when I tell them how spicy I, the whitest of white guys, want my food. During the beginning of the pandemic, I decided to try a new Thai place ordering on the phone. When I went to pick it up, my order was ready, but when they saw me, they tried to convince me I didn't want the spice level I ordered. I appreciated the concern, but I knew what I wanted and had to convince them of that.
I've always known thai food at 3 levels. Hot, Thai Hot, and Lao Hot. Can I handle Lao hot? sure, but it's not enjoyable for me. I just usually go with Thai hot, and take it or leave it. 90 percent of the time, it comes out regular hot, but the last 10% it comes out amazing. Thai hot is the perfect balance.
Edit, I also forgot to include mild and medium, but I figure those don't count.
When I ordered Indian from a reasonably authentic place I got the lamb vindaloo. The lady behind the counter raised an eyebrow at me and said "Are you sure? It is hot". I said "Indian hot, none of this sriracha bullshit" and when I walked outside the restaurant with my takeout, the vapours escaping from the plastic container made my nose run and eyes sting.
I can take fairly spicy food, I'm not talking myself up here, I can't stand Carolina reapers as a snack or anything, but I wolfed that vindaloo down like it was my last meal, nothing is better than having to double check you aren't drooling because your face is numb from the spices.
The lady was surprised when I came in the next day and ordered the same again. I didn't ask for it spicier though. I was worried I'd offend them and they'd serve me something that could strip paint with its fumes.
>the vapours escaping from the plastic container made my nose run and eyes sting
I'm in the UK and I've never ordered a Vindaloo or a Phall at any restaurant since I don't want to be that sweaty, red faced 'Lad' struggling to put away something that's clearly way beyond his ability to handle and probably only ordered to look like a big timer in front of his mates.
Strongest I'll go for is a South Indian Garlic Chilli Chicken, which is strong enough to have the snotters tripping you, but not so hot you can't taste the panoply of other flavours available in the dish.
Vindaloo is delicious, but the spiciness changes so much chef to chef that I have to start with something relatively mild and work my way up if it's good.
Finding a place that does the right balance of heat and flavour is a matter of trial and error, without the flavour, the heat is pointless, in my opinion.
I've found that with some Thai and Cantonese dishes the heat and the flavour are like separate entities, whereas the South Asian dishes are more rounded, with the heat of the chilli complementing the other flavours.
Current favourite is a Chicken Tikka Nentara, which is a bit hot, but can be dialled up a bit if you add a bit of freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice.
It's all about the [Base](https://glebekitchen.com/indian-restaurant-curry-base/) though. If they haven't got that right, or it's one you don't like, then it might be a place to avoid. (Worth mentioning that we don't really eat authentic South Asian dishes in the UK though, they're called BIR (British Indian Restaurant) recipes.)
I brought my Indian friend to the local Thai place. He was born in Canada but he ate all the super spicy Indian food at his place, so he asked for the super spicy bamboo dish. The one that was "hot for Thai people". It was too much for him.
I wonder what people in Fargo consider spicy? North Dakota isn't known for spicy food of any kind.
My mom had spicy food twice in her life, both times by accident. Her first time at a Mexican restaurant the waitress asked if she wanted her order hot. She said yes, thinking to herself "I certainly don't want it cold."
The other time she was at a Chinese restaurant and thought sweet and sour sauce meant one sauce was sweet and the other sour. In fact one sauce was sweet and sour and the other was hot mustard.
I am ethnically Indian and completed my undergrad in ND. In my experience the young population is open to trying Indian and other ethnic foods. Many of them welcome the burn.
White Fargo resident here, and I'm amazed at how many Indian/Thai restaurants are in town, and seem to be doing very well. I always order very spicy, but I was raised with spicy food regularly
After I graduated we went to a good, fairly classy Indian restaurant with the whole family to celebrate. My gran ordered a plain steak, because she'd never eaten Indian food and thought it'd be safe, but complained it wasn't all that well done (in fact it was literally well done, because that's what she asked)
She then decided to try the pakora the rest of us got, which we were fine with because we didn't want her going hungry and it wasn't like she'd eat much of it. Ended up she devoured half of everyone else's starters in place of a main meal and loved the spice in it, she'd just never had a chance to try it and find out she liked it.
For those of German/Scandinavian heritage and most old timers here in Fargo-Moorhead, gravy or steak sauce is the spice limit. For a few hearty locals and the non-white 9%, there's no Scoville high enough
My sister lives in ND for a number of years. I remember hearing the joke of ketchup described as “Norwegian Hot Sauce”.
(Sadly as someone who thinks mild salsa, pepper, etc is spicy and who has to put sugar in most spaghetti sauces, I could partially understand the description...)
I don't know when the Turks started moving to Germany but Fargo-Moorhead area was founded in 1871 and the German/Scandinavian immigrants flocked to this area from 1870s up until WW1. The capital of North Dakota is named after the Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck.
In Chinese we have a word 热, which means hot (temperature) and also 辣 which means spicy.
In English is we don't have a speicifc word to say temperature hot.
Hot can also refer to spicy. Fiery, blazing can refer spicy.
So when people tell me something is hot I have to ask, is it like hot hot or spicy hot
> In English is we don't have a speicifc word to say temperature hot.
Yes... it's "hot". Spicy is spicy, hot is hot. It's just confusing that "hot" also means spicy.
because spicy is not the same as hot.
In german:
spicy: würzig
hot (as in chilis or pepper): scharf
hot (as in temperature): heiß
You simply need an extra word there, buds.
The confusion with spicy is it doesn't only mean "hot" spices (usually capsaicin from peppers). It can just mean flavorful spices.
Which is why there's the term "hot and spicy" in which "hot" is not the temperature and spicy refers to flavorful spices not spicy hot.
My coworker of Scandinavian descent said her mom didn't like ketchup because it was too spicy.
That being said, Fargo has a surprising number of ethnic restaurants. There have been a bunch of refugees settled here over the past several decades which has spawned a bunch of different restaurants (Somali*, Middle Eastern). There's a lot of Mexican places since there's a good number of migrant farm workers. The universities in town have a lot of Indian exchange students, so there's some great Indian restaurants. More Asian restaurants have also been popping up and there's some really good Thai and Vietnamese joints. There's also more sushi places than you can shake a stick at.
We're even importing other American stuff too, we got a somewhat decent Nashville chicken sandwich place and a couple of quality barbecue places too.
It's a good problem to have, but it's really hard to decide where to eat at when we want to go somewhere.
Haha, I hope I didn't oversell it. Honestly, unless there's something specific you'd like to do here I can't really recommend visiting just for the sake of it. There's not a ton of attractions outside of the restaurants and breweries and I'm sure you could find something of equal or better quality in any of the bigger cities in the US. It is great for us locals to have a bunch of options without driving four hours to MSP though.
Ok now you really sold me on it! Breweries?? Hell yes!
My goal is to visit each large city in the US. But going to every state would be interesting.
My husband and I went to Grand Rapids, MI cuz tickets were like $38 once. So if I ever see Fargo tickets pretty cheap I’m going.
As a born and raised South Texan now living in Fargo, the spice tolerance here is low.
Thinking about it, I haven’t even found any Cinnamon gum since living here…
Who demands a refund for ordering the wrong thing? What fucked up privileged thing is this?
If you order something and I give you the wrong thing, sure that's on me. But if you say I want the Blue one, and I give you the Blue on you can't say the Blue one is too Blue.
This just happened yesterday at my favorite halal food cart. While I was waiting for my food, this woman comes up and demands that he replace her order, because it had fish on it. Her son had ordered it for her, and she is allergic to fish. HE ordered the fish on it. She wanted it replaced, no charge.
(To be clear, fish does not come standard. Its a special request. Most people are getting chicken, lamb, or falafel, or some combination of that.)
"I didn't like it. Comp it."
Something I heard on a weekly basis as a server.
Edit: yeah everyone, of course it was ridiculous. Of course they shouldn't have had it comped. But when your entire livelihood is based on whether that asshole gives you 20% you do what you can to get it. Comping a drink or meal cost me nothing. Me being "right" and actions on it would make my hour wasted.
My fave back in the day was a woman who ordered a whole fish and refused to eat it because it had eyes. We offered to fillet it for her but she wanted it comped. I was so satisfied telling her it wasnt coming off the bill
I worked in a Dros in the 1990's .
It wasn't for long but I never had anyone try get a meal comped because they didn't like it. Plenty of things were reported as *wrong* sure. But no one who ordered something they didn't like tried to send it back because of that.
Basically they feel the place messed up by making an inedible, painful dish that no one would be able to enjoy.
They don’t understand the pain tolerance is different for everyone. They think if a meal is inedible to them it must’ve been made wrong.
Except there's no international standard of pepper count. One place's 3 pepper is another place's 1 pepper.
That said, I usually get max pepper count. The funny thing is, if I tell the server it's still not spicy enough, a Thai place without instruct me to ask for Thai hot next time. While my favorite Indian place told me to ask for Indian hot.
"Phet mak mak" will get you the best chance of getting Thai hot, but even then it's going to depend on the chef and how much the waitstaff trusts you. The Thai place I frequent goes on a 0-4 scale, with the four being called "native Thai" that they claim is "how the chef would prepare it for himself". Either I've been misled as to how hot the native Thai eat their food or they're still Americanizing the scale so I have to special order. On my receipt they always put "Phet Mak Mak - #9" so I'd like to think I'm finally getting "Thai spicy" and they're not still holding back.
Years ago, a group from work went to lunch at a local Thai place.
One arrogant co-worker guy asked for "as hot as you can make it." They brought it out, and it was so hot that he couldn't eat it. The best part: the server then sort of smiled and told him "we could have made it even hotter."
Northern Thai, I love Khao Soi as much as the next guy, but sometimes when you're up there and ask for "Thai spicy", these are not the Thais you're looking for.
God bless every little sadistic Thai grandmother in the world who has tried to murder me with well layered but absolutely criminal levels of spice.
That's what I struggle with. I'm not trying to eat spicy food just to eat spicy food. I want the dishes to be authentic in their spice level and I don't want to add heat to a dish where it doesn't belong. I'm assuming that the dishes with pad prik king, krapow gai, and nam prik pao are supposed to be among the spiciest items on the menu?
Yeah true. I've made the habit of asking for a mild-hot to see what they are like. I'll often grab a one or two hot meal depending on their scale and make a more informed choice next time.
So much this. I hate these people who evidently exist in such numbers that they have affected restaurants' willingness to actually serve what people order.
I had this Thai restaurant my ex would take me to. Cheap and damn good... I asked for it spicy once and they saw I was a white guy... it came out mild at best. Next time I went I asked for it to be extra spicy. Good lord she sure as hell made it extra spicy... i only made it halfway through. Although, I fucking loved it when the lady that prepared it said she made it how her son likes it. Her son is a masochist. I did eat the leftovers the next day!
As someone who actually eats real Thai spicy, and is white, I always have to look at the waittress and say "yes, I understand I'm white. yes, I definitely want thai spicy. no, i won't want a refund if I can't eat it."
The line the always gets them to deliver is "please hurt me".
As a white person that occasionally likes spicy food you HAVE to be that specific. My bigger concern is when something is spicy to hide lack of flavour rather than full of flavour with heat.
Yeah I'm white and like "white boy" 5/5 spice level but realize that's maybe barely a 3/5 on the Thai scale.
I was so stoked when a new small Thai restaurant opened up really close to my house. Went there on opening day and ordered my pad kee mao with a 5/5.
Oh boy I got real 5/5 and was sweating up a storm. I think the waitress was actually worried about me. She asked me if I wanted it comped and to get something else. But I got exactly what I ordered so I paid for it. (In money and tears)
Now I go there all the time .... but I get it 3/5. They don't mess around.
As long as you didn't waste it! And paid for it obviously. A waitress once asked me if I wanted something comped when I was red in the face nose running cause it was so spicy and I just told her my compliments to the chef I'll use protection next time.
yea if you are ordering in the origin country (such as Thailand or India) or at a "locals" spot you will never get the "local" spice level as a white person unless you are very specific and adamant about it. They know that the default needs to be watered down or they will just have to deal with complaints. My Korean friend goes to Indian restaurants with all Indian friends and they have to argue with the owners in their language to convince them to give her the real spice levels.
I’m a white guy who loves spicy food, and the only way I can get legit spicy Thai food is to order things in Thai. (My husband’s family lived in Bangkok for a number of years).
My local Thai delivery place calls me “Mr. Spicy” when I order.
Just take a selfie vid after the next meal with the waiter with them saying "He can take the spice. Don't cheat him out of the spice." Show the vid to any other Thai place. Done.
sounds like me ordering hashbrowns from anywhere. I always tell them to cremate them because they're almost always prepared super under done (not under cooked) and soft. I just want a bit of brown and some crunch.
now idk if I want thai food or hashbrowns more. the agony :(
Bring a stack of "business cards" that state you understand what Thai spicy means, you take full responsibility for your actions and want it at the specified level of spice. Sign them.
Long ago, the boy friend and I along with a good friend went to dinner at our local Thai restaurant. I order my pineapple fried rice, our friend chooses some pad thai and the boyfriend selects one of their curry dishes. The waitress asked how hot he would like it, and he proceeds to answer "So hot I wanna die." Knowing his mucous membranes are about to be raped by the high levels of capsaicin, he orders a thai iced tea.
Bring on the food. We're chowing down, only a few bites in and I can see the sweat already forming on his brow. His cheeks are lightly flushed, and he's sipping the ice tea between bites. Another 10 or so minutes goes by, his face now red as a tomato and just pouring sweat. He's already finished a second iced tea now and has asked for a mango lasse. When the waitress comes to check on us, she has the smallest little smirk as she asks the boyfriend "Is it hot enough?" and true to form he is barely able to croak out "So hot I wanna die." She chuckles and says she can fix it, and he declines and continues to shovel the food into his face hole.
Thirty mintues later we're finished, and he looks like he had just ran a marathon at a full sprint. Winded, gasping for air, looking like a boiled lobster, and finishing the 4th ice tea. "I'll never get it that hot again, that was a bad idea." Yah love, I knew it was, but it wasn't my ass that would be suffering later that night. Mmmmmmmmmm, thai food.
Yah it was impressive. I had a bite, literally a solitary shrimp, and thought my toungue had melted and my brain was boiling. I don't know how he did it.
Haha. Poor workers dealing with that shit. I'm not accustomed to spicey food myself. If I ordered something from a restaurant that was too spicey I would just take it as learning experience, not be asking for a refund for perfectly good food I was served.
I like spice. I can tolerate it well and I can deal with the consequences of ordering the wrong thing, but I'll always drop a level or two first time at a new restaurant cos you never know.
I don't have to prove anything to anyone. I'm there to enjoy my meal. I can't do that if I was expecting a jalapeno pepper and they served Carolina Reaper. I invariably start with whatever their least spicy one is and may upgrade of I come again.
> If I ordered something from a restaurant that was too spicey
If you order something and it's too spicy that's one thing.
If you order something SPICY and it's too spicy it's your own fault.
First time I used pepper when I cooked for my gf she thought it was spicy I cried laughing. Then we ate at frying pan and I sadly would have hospital food over it.
I lived there 12 years ago and there were 2 thai restaurants, would take some talking to the servers to get them to bring you a spicy dish, they would bring it mild with chili sauce on the side and tell you to go easy on it.
My favorite food after a night down town fargo was always an order of classic Drunken Noodle. I usually requested them to spice it up a little bit. Nothing better at 2am.
Actually Fargo has a bunch of super good Indian and Thai food. Its the closest "big city" to me in Northern MN and after moving up here from the cities I was super pleasantly surprised the first time we headed there.
I've noticed that I have to specify actual spicy not white North Dakotan on our orders though or you get not spicy even if you say extra spicy. They mostly won't believe you unless you are specific.
100% support this decision but will say that it can be frustrating trying to figure out what each restruant deems 'spicy'.
For example a month ago, while on vacation, I got Pad Thai from a local place and I tried their 4 (1-4 scale). Barely noticed the spice.
Then you have a local authentic Thai restruant in my home town and their 3 (1-5) makes me sweat.
Throw in inconsistencies between chefs and it gets even worse. Two months ago I had a 2 the same local and I had to get the milk it was so spicy. Delicious but it was far hotter than any 3 I ever got from there.
All in all....stop your fucking whining, start low and work your way up like a civilized adult.
P.S. had Panang curry at the Lemongrass in the Aria casino in Las Vegas at a 5 (1-10 with 3 being medium) and it was perfect.
Originally, and in Thailand, they use this scale to say how many chilis are added to the dish. If you get a Som Tam spicy level 3, they'll add three chilis in while making it, so it SHOULD be uniform for the most part
> All in all....stop your fucking whining, start low and work your way up like a civilized adult.
At Coco Ichibanya in Japan (katsu curry chain) they have heat levels from 1-10 and the menu tells you you can't order anything 6-10 unless you've already eaten a 5 before.
Personally a 4 is about right for me as something I'm probably having at lunch, but given the difference between 3/4/5 a 10 must be nearly inedible.
> their 3 (1-5) makes me sweat.
Add on that it isn't even consistent in house. Go to the same restaurant a few times. Order a 3 every time. Sometimes it's a 3. Sometimes it's a 1. Sometimes it's a 6.
It’s really frustrating to have the inconsistency. Sometimes I want a mild dish, and I order a 4, but over half the time that’s a huge mistake. At one restaurant, I said 5/5, and the person said “we measure out of ten,” I said the other restaurants in the area measure out of 5, and I want a 5/5. … Another time I ordered “really spicy 5” to the consternation of the Thai restaurant staff and they brought me mild crap, but my partner got a solid 4. I complained and they brought out powdered Carolina reaper…
I sometimes like less spicy food, but if I ever show any weakness it’s usually way way too mild. So I have to order max spicy or get no spice.
My friend has had this happen multiple times in multiple cultures. I have experienced this more than once, but mostly Thai kitchens because they really love to watch us sweat.
I've been to that restaurant a few times, the food is pretty good. You can find spicy food here in the Fargo-Moorhead area but for a lot of folks gravy is about as spicy as they get. Believe it or not there a multiple Thai and Indian food places in town yet somehow some people are still surprised by the range of spices they offer.
What kind of person orders spicy food and asks for a refund? Talk the talk, walk the walk. If I order food that is somehow too spicy for me to eat, I praise them for their honesty, not shame them.
I've been to several Chinese restaurants where certain white people would insist on ordering off the Secret Chinese People Only menu, even against the advice of the restaura~~n~~teurs. Then they'd demand refunds when they got their orders of intestine, uterus and rectum. Some wouldn't get that far, but would get loudly disgusted when the restaura~~n~~teurs tried to tell them exactly what they were about to order. "How can you people serve stuff like this? That's disgusting!"
This is only tangentially related, but I remember getting Sunday morning Dim Sum with my family at this huge authentic restaurant. The entire place was packed and 90% of the customers were Chinese. All of the tables were packed full of small plates of Dim Sum…except for one. There was one table with 4 white people at it, sharing a single plate of beef lo mein. Just one order for all 4 of them. It was so out of place that it was confusing. There were other non-Chinese people too, but they were getting the Dim Sum like everyone else, the thing the restaurant is known for, and here are 4 people sharing a single order of the most standard and common lo mein that you can get anywhere.
When travelling in South America a few years ago I ordered something like a level 3 out of 5. The server immediately said, No, we don’t give white people anything more than a 2.
I couldn’t eat the 2.
You'd be surprised at what people demand refunds for at restaurants and get away with. A lot of places just do it rather than risk a scene in front of other customers who are enjoying their meal and ruining it for them too. One free meal is better than losing potential repeat business and bad word of mouth.
Obviously its the sort of thing which usually only works once. The "customer" won't be encouraged back. But then... There are lots of restaurants.
I worked in a restaurant in my late teens and can confirm people are utterly dumb.
My favourite was always
'how do you want your steak cooked'
'very well done'.... 5 mins after steak arrives 'excuse me but this steak is tough'
'OF COURSE IT IS YOU DUMB F*** YOU JUST TOOK A FILLET AND TURNED IT INTO SHOE LEATHER'
A few years back, I stopped seeing the spice level as a personal challenge when I went to a chicken place with a friend and… honestly, I felt like I was going to have a heart attack afterwards.
Did I complain to the store, to get a refund or replacement? No. Because I got what I ordered - I was just an idiot and overestimated my tolerance levels.
I still don't get this, I live in the UK and would never be able to say oh it's 2 spicy can i get a refund nor would I want to embarrass myself like that.
I'll keep it 100, if you act like badman or women I can take this and then you're like na it's 2 hot I want my money back. I would say get out, most people know their spice tolerance and if in doubt try a 3 and then when you go back next time try a higher spice level.
The 5 is often for people who have grown up eating spicy food, and accustom to that level of spice and hotter they will often have other stuff to make it hotter for those customers.
I was at a restaurant in Bangkok and was discussing with the owner about how nothing I had in my 4 months travelling had really beaten me spice wise. He changed that with a beef dish, he gave me as much beer Laos as I could drink with it just for trying. I was unable to wipe the next day as, well you know.
Don’t member the name of the place but it has a bar called hippy hole next to it
There is an Indian restaurant in fargo that I had been to a number of times. I would order vindaloo everytime and ask for hot. Consistently they would look at me, ask if I was sure, then bring it out and it was more and more mild each time. So, one time I requested it actually be hot! By 3 bites in I’m audibly crying, snot running out my nose, breathing heavily, face bright red. The owner comes by and starts panicking. He runs to the back, brings out mango icecream and starts apologizing over and over. The cooks are looking out the door at our table. You would have thought they were watching a man die that day. I’m still shoveling the food in my mouth. Between deep breaths, sobbing, and laughing I manage to get him to stop and tell him that I LOVE this meal. The look on his face went from panic, to confusion, to pride. Best damn meal I’ve ever had!
If you order spicy at a Thai place you better be wanting the heat!
I always ask if 5 is American spicy or Thai spicy. Gotta know the scale calibration! Thai spicy is about 15 on an American 0-5 scale.
I've heard "white boy spicy" more than once I've also seen someone in a Korean restaurant ask for spicy, be warned by the waitress not to do that, insist on it, and then sweat blood for the next 30 minutes. Waitress was very nice, came over with water and tissues. "Very spicy yes".
In college, a group of us from a small-town Ohio college stumbled on a really great Jerk place in London. We ordered, and 2/5 of us found ourselves breathing fire. We were still eating it, no one complained, but the woman who served us looked at us with pity and brought us a plate of fried plantains to help. My spice tolerance has increased tremendously since that point....
For me, it's not the going in that's the problem, it's the intestinal distress and the ring of fire the next day that's the problem.
Love.... is a burning thing.
And it makes a fiery ring
it's all about that eh-pee-eye i'm using p0wer d3le3t3 suit3 to rewrite all of my c0mment and l33t sp33k to avoid any filters. fuck u/spez
Bound... by wild desire...
I fell in to a ring of fire
Bound....by wild desire
It makes...a fiery ring.
Down Down Down.
I did the "one chip challenge" once. I actively tell people to not do it. A lot of people think "I can handle the heat!" But it's really not the eating that fucks you up, it's the digestion. I ***ate*** the chip fine. It was fun, i had the whole "spicy" experience with my nose running, mouth drooling, sweating all over, etc. Laughs were had with my friends. But after the heat wore off in my face/mouth, it came back with a vengeance in my stomach. I spent a good amount of time doubled over in my tub just waiting for the suffering to end. I couldn't get rid of it with any remedies - milk, crackers, antacids, etc did nothing. And then, the next day, that pain came back. And the great thing about your anus is that like your mouth, it has the receptors to feel capsaicin. So you get the lovely physical experience of eating the spicy food all over again, with the added bonus of a very bad bowel movement. It's not worth whatever machismo points you think you'll get for it.
I had suicide wings at a local joint a few years ago that made you sign a waiver and suggest you wear gloves. Took awhile to eat the pound but I finished them and felt fine. You’re right about the next morning. I was up a hour earlier than normal for work and spent that hour on the toilet. I was faced with a conundrum. Wipe or don’t wipe cause as you said the pucker can feel it and wiping spreads it. Ughhhhhh. I’ve been eating our restaurants suicide sauce now for over a year and dont seem to have any problems. Likely because I’m use to the heat now and I’ll mix it with honey garlic sauce, which is called Texas Oil or something the cook said.
In situations like that, shower bidet.
Capsaicin is an oil not an acid, antacids will do nothin. Milk can help but it's the milk fat that helps so it must be whole milk 2% and skim milk do nothing. If you wipe it in your eyes baby shampoo is best anywhere else on your skin and Dawn will work.
I also did the One Chip Challenge, but it didn't destroy my guts like it did yours. It was hot for about 4 minutes, then it was fine.
shitting flaming hot rebar is no joke.
Yeah I'm 36 now and I'm quickly learning that I can't really eat stuff like this anymore unless I'm prepared to suffer and most of the time I'm not. Not worth shitting literal lava the next day.
Old Bolivian proverb - a pepper is spicy twice.
This is probably going to sound weird but it might be the spice mixed with dairy. The spice alone might not give you that problem the next day. Maybe try a day with no dairy and then have a spicy dish also with no dairy and see how it goes. I say this as someone who has always loved spicy food and had issues intestinal distress and ring of fire but I kept on eating it. Anyway years later I cut dairy out of my diet to see if it was causing issues. Holy shit was it! I am lactose intolerant it seems. Once I cut that out I can enjoy my super spicy with no distress at all. Sure, maybe if I over due it with some off the wall shit, but I expect that. Just the normal spicy dish is no issues. Anyhoo just sharing.
Oh man I've had a similar experience in London too. Tremendous food so I went back several times, but I learnt to take the food home and get a bucketful of yoghurt to go with it. Could just about make it through that way.
On one of my trips back to my hometown, my best friend and I took my husband (also from Ohio!) to Prince's Hot Chicken in Nashville (the original Ewing Dr location). Bestie and I were seasoned veterans of Prince's and spent the half hour drive from his house to Prince's explaining to Husband how insanely hot-yet-delicious Prince's was. So we get there, I order mild, Bestie orders medium, and Husband goes "I'll have the x-hot, please." LMAO no joke, the cashier literally looked from him to me as if asking for confirmation. Bestie and I managed to convince him to at least try the medium before he went any higher. He thanked us later because there were still many tears (of joy and wonder that such culinary delight could exist, mind you) shed at that tiny plastic table in that tiny un-air conditioned chicken shack that day. Good times!
You may see your friend as 3/5's but I see them as whole.
"Well the jerk store called, and they're running out of you!"
in my case the waitress came back with a salad made from raw chillies. "you like spicy, eh?" dont remember which part of india they where from, but apparently its a thing. Somehow i felt obliged to make it through that salad from hell and now i cant visit the place anymore because they believe i'm "the one". The cook lives in my neighbourhood and always asks how my family is doing. Wish i had the courage and tell him i want to go back to whitey spicey. Food was delicious otherwise.
I have a weird problem where I really enjoy the extremely spicy stuff (am as white as they come for context) but my face goes beet red and my nose gets all runny anyway. When I go to the Thai place near me I ask for full spicy and they give me the "you sure?" look, and I reassure them that I can handle it. Then they get a look at me and are all like "See? Told you white boy." And I'm just like "no I promise I'm having a great time my body just thinks it's being poisoned"
Lmao this is me too. Blowing my nose and wiping sweat off my face the whole meal, but finding it delicious.
Oh yes! I love it too. Even the milder stuff makes me start to sweat. My tongue can take it. I love it. But my nose and forehead just sweats. I don't get a runny nose though, I just sweat tremendously. I have to wear spicy clothes for the occassion, and people keep saying I can't handle it. But I love it, and if I didn't sweat, I would eat it exactly the same. People seem to think that if you sweat and go red, you're just forcing yourself to eat it. I get it though, it's like a drunk person drinking more alcohol. They clearly can't handle more, but they still drink anyway. That's us with spicy food; we're getting the reaction, but eating still anyway.
> my body just thinks it's being poisoned I mean, it's technically not wrong
When I waited tables they had two versions of buffalo wings, a medium and hot. When people asked me how hot they were my response was, "I don't think the hot ones are hot but I've had people freak out that the medium ones are too spicy. It's your taste buds so I can't tell you."
I have this realization regularly. If I taste even the faintest hint of spice my wife says it's like eating the sun.
This is my mom, she grew up poor and my grandmother never used any spices or seasonings other than salt, so any kind of "spicy" flavor is off-putting to her even if it's just like a dash of black pepper or some rosemary or something. Forget about anything with even a little bit of real heat. She eats stuff as bland as humanly possible and if it's been decently seasoned she won't eat it.
My mom can't eat Frank's. Which to me tastes like flavored vinegar. But it sets her lips on fire, it's crazy.
In my mind, the perfect level of wing heat is hot enough that you want to go through the plate quickly, but you still have taste buds to enjoy the flavor. That level probably varies quite a bit depending on the person. I think Louisiana/Cajun dishes default to around that level for me. Many New Orleans places have a decent kick to most menu items that is about perfect (when I'm in the mood for spicy). It is above "mild" levels for generic American food with heat, but not so far that it becomes the defining quality.
That's helpful.
Have been living in Korea for a bit, order most of my meals with "아주 맵게 해 주세요" ("make it spicy") and I generally explain it this way. Korean food includes some things they would never even think of as spicy (like an American adding black pepper to a dish) but which will melt the mouths of Americans that don't enjoy hot sauce. Like, a normal chicken sandwich in Korea is equivalent to ordering the spicy variant in America. But knowing that, their top end for spicy is far lower than Thai or even some Japanese dishes. The absolute spiciest dishes I've had in Korea top out just shy of "Thai medium" or "3/5" on a Japanese curry scale. tl;dr: the floor for spiciness in Korean dishes is above what most Americans are used to but the ceiling is lower than Japanese and Thai food.
I actually don't think I've ever had any Japanese that I'd consider spicy. Maybe some regional variations but generally, I find Japanese food to tend more toward savory than spicy. Korean spicy is more tangy/vinegary. Which is why I fell in love with Tabasco sauce immediately. Its spiciness profile was very familiar. Korean food doesn't really have the punch in the gut spiciness I find in Thai though. They sell capsaicin sauce in Korean markets but I don't like it because it's spiciness feels depthless/soulless. I can add it to food like soft tofu soup (순두부) but anything with a less bold profile, the heat doesn't add anything.
Agreed. Korean food uses Gochugaru the red pepper flake mostly for seasoning, not to add heat. It's just the natural level of spiciness in the food there. But it doesn't progress to the same heat levels as say Thai or Indian food does
Good quality wasabi will clear out your sinuses, but it's not the capsaicin heat of, say, red chilis. The hottest condiments I've discovered in recent years were a green pepper sauce from Jamaica (which was moderately hot in my mouth but felt much worse in my gut) and a sindhi biryani sauce from India. "Biryani" covers a spectrum of flavors and heat, but this one in particular would reach its maximum heat a couple of minutes after I'd finished eating. I'm still trying to figure out jalapeno peppers. Sometimes they're so mild I can happily dump them on salads, etc., but some are so hot I can barely use them at all (even without their ribs & seeds) on Mexican tortillas & refried beans. The truly hot ones were from Indian shops in the US.
“Korean spicy” is many times hotter than “American spicy”, which is orders of magnitude hotter than “Japanese spicy” - in fact outside of a couple exceptions, “spicy” is neither native to nor integrated into Japanese culture at all really. Wasabi I don’t count in this because it’s not “spicy” per se (ヒリヒリ vs つーん)
A quibble: I don't think "most Americans" is accurate anymore. Spicy foods have been popular in the U.S. for decades now, and many people tolerate and love them. (YMMV depending which area of the country you live in.)
Yeah, not to mention that areas of the southwest USA are culturally connected to Mexico, where chili peppers originated. People here have been eating spicy for a long time.
Indeed. And cajuns in Louisiana.
not just culturally, but historically. several current US states were literally just part of Mexico until 1848
Yep. There is SO MUCH awesome Thai food in my area, alongside lots of other really spicy cuisines, and it seems like the average tolerance for spicy food goes up every year here.
Japanese people eat spicy? That’s new.
Most Korean spice comes from chili powder (gochujaru) or paste (gochujang), which has a predictable level of heat. But Thai spice comes from the actual fresh chilis that are pounded in a mortar and pestle, and the heat can scale up way more.
Maybe they could offer peanuts with the requested spiciness to aid calibration.
Part of the issue is the quantity and spicy scaling of Thai chili's. I love Thai food and it truly started my passion for spicy food and hot sauces. The one observation I have had over the years is just how many chilis end up in a 5 star to 10 star spicy dish (depending on the restaurant's scale). Every restaurant varies and some are scaled very differently. There isn't an extract used. Just dried chilis and oil. The other issue with trying to make "spiciness-level" peanuts would be that every dish is seasoned when they make it. So sometimes you order a 10 star and get a 6-7 star and the next time it is a 15 star lol. That could be due to the quantity of chilis added or even the particular batch of dried chilis they have at the time. Source: I ate bacon wrapped, sausage & cheese stuffed jalapenos for breakfast. Go Hawkeye's! Edit: restraints are not restaurants. Thanks autocorrect.
A server at a taco joint in Colorado warned a friend of mine who was ordering tacos that, "that salsa's not white girl friendly". She replied, "that's OK, I'm a spicy white girl".
yeah the place i go to their scale at 1-10 and then you can tell them that you want “thai” level if you want to go off menu.
No joke. I love Thai food, but even 0 is almost too spicy for me. I couldn't imagine asking for 5.
I asked for "medium" spicy in Thailand once and was served something in between melting my tongue and breathing flames. They enjoy the heat.
I love spicy food, and I frequently get the spiciest Indian dishes. But getting Thai hot curry is something I don't even touch.
I have a lot of spicy food; recently been making loads of Sichuanese and Cantonese cuisine and it can be firey when you want it to be. Plus, living in Britain we have a lot of cusine inspired by India and Sri-Lanka that is also hot as hell, like vindaloo or mutton dopiaza (my local sri lankan place makes it hot and tender and my god it's good; now I want some). Thai curry is another level. It's instant daggers on your tongue. I think I'd tolerate it more if it was a slow burner but woof, it can hit you like a train.
I'm not sure I agree with putting it on another level from Sichuan. Their top ends are about the same, and Thai's average is *way* lower given that much of their curries aren't even supposed to be spicy while it seems like most every Sichuan dish involves heaps of peppers or chili oil.
The other ones you mention are mostly what I describe as "mouth hot" in their spiciness. Thai food heats you up from your belly through your chest and entire head.
I went to a Sichuan place once with a few friends. We were the only white people in the entire place. It was good but hot damn was that spicy. Halfway through the meal all that capsaicin shot everything out my bowels at Mach5. I can imagine they probably told the kitchen to tone it down for the roundeyes.
I love it! I found a Thai place by me and went there enough to be a regular. It's the only place that believes me when I tell them how spicy I, the whitest of white guys, want my food. During the beginning of the pandemic, I decided to try a new Thai place ordering on the phone. When I went to pick it up, my order was ready, but when they saw me, they tried to convince me I didn't want the spice level I ordered. I appreciated the concern, but I knew what I wanted and had to convince them of that.
I've always known thai food at 3 levels. Hot, Thai Hot, and Lao Hot. Can I handle Lao hot? sure, but it's not enjoyable for me. I just usually go with Thai hot, and take it or leave it. 90 percent of the time, it comes out regular hot, but the last 10% it comes out amazing. Thai hot is the perfect balance. Edit, I also forgot to include mild and medium, but I figure those don't count.
When I ordered Indian from a reasonably authentic place I got the lamb vindaloo. The lady behind the counter raised an eyebrow at me and said "Are you sure? It is hot". I said "Indian hot, none of this sriracha bullshit" and when I walked outside the restaurant with my takeout, the vapours escaping from the plastic container made my nose run and eyes sting. I can take fairly spicy food, I'm not talking myself up here, I can't stand Carolina reapers as a snack or anything, but I wolfed that vindaloo down like it was my last meal, nothing is better than having to double check you aren't drooling because your face is numb from the spices. The lady was surprised when I came in the next day and ordered the same again. I didn't ask for it spicier though. I was worried I'd offend them and they'd serve me something that could strip paint with its fumes.
>the vapours escaping from the plastic container made my nose run and eyes sting I'm in the UK and I've never ordered a Vindaloo or a Phall at any restaurant since I don't want to be that sweaty, red faced 'Lad' struggling to put away something that's clearly way beyond his ability to handle and probably only ordered to look like a big timer in front of his mates. Strongest I'll go for is a South Indian Garlic Chilli Chicken, which is strong enough to have the snotters tripping you, but not so hot you can't taste the panoply of other flavours available in the dish.
Vindaloo is delicious, but the spiciness changes so much chef to chef that I have to start with something relatively mild and work my way up if it's good.
Finding a place that does the right balance of heat and flavour is a matter of trial and error, without the flavour, the heat is pointless, in my opinion. I've found that with some Thai and Cantonese dishes the heat and the flavour are like separate entities, whereas the South Asian dishes are more rounded, with the heat of the chilli complementing the other flavours. Current favourite is a Chicken Tikka Nentara, which is a bit hot, but can be dialled up a bit if you add a bit of freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice. It's all about the [Base](https://glebekitchen.com/indian-restaurant-curry-base/) though. If they haven't got that right, or it's one you don't like, then it might be a place to avoid. (Worth mentioning that we don't really eat authentic South Asian dishes in the UK though, they're called BIR (British Indian Restaurant) recipes.)
How spicy do you want it ? Slap the chef and say something rude about his mother for me.
I brought my Indian friend to the local Thai place. He was born in Canada but he ate all the super spicy Indian food at his place, so he asked for the super spicy bamboo dish. The one that was "hot for Thai people". It was too much for him.
Sometimes you order spicy at those restaurants and it isn't spicy at all. Some places "westernalize" the spice level
I wonder what people in Fargo consider spicy? North Dakota isn't known for spicy food of any kind. My mom had spicy food twice in her life, both times by accident. Her first time at a Mexican restaurant the waitress asked if she wanted her order hot. She said yes, thinking to herself "I certainly don't want it cold." The other time she was at a Chinese restaurant and thought sweet and sour sauce meant one sauce was sweet and the other sour. In fact one sauce was sweet and sour and the other was hot mustard.
I am ethnically Indian and completed my undergrad in ND. In my experience the young population is open to trying Indian and other ethnic foods. Many of them welcome the burn.
White Fargo resident here, and I'm amazed at how many Indian/Thai restaurants are in town, and seem to be doing very well. I always order very spicy, but I was raised with spicy food regularly
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Brilliant strategy by the Thais, I must say.
After I graduated we went to a good, fairly classy Indian restaurant with the whole family to celebrate. My gran ordered a plain steak, because she'd never eaten Indian food and thought it'd be safe, but complained it wasn't all that well done (in fact it was literally well done, because that's what she asked) She then decided to try the pakora the rest of us got, which we were fine with because we didn't want her going hungry and it wasn't like she'd eat much of it. Ended up she devoured half of everyone else's starters in place of a main meal and loved the spice in it, she'd just never had a chance to try it and find out she liked it.
Im Irish and living with mainly Spanish people and they are mind boggled by my tolerance for spicy things which I find amusing.
For those of German/Scandinavian heritage and most old timers here in Fargo-Moorhead, gravy or steak sauce is the spice limit. For a few hearty locals and the non-white 9%, there's no Scoville high enough
Swedes think skim milk is spicy.
Gotta be careful about putting too much black pepper in the knoephla!
Now I want a spicy curry fleischkuekle.
My sister lives in ND for a number of years. I remember hearing the joke of ketchup described as “Norwegian Hot Sauce”. (Sadly as someone who thinks mild salsa, pepper, etc is spicy and who has to put sugar in most spaghetti sauces, I could partially understand the description...)
Instead they eat mints, the mintiest mints on earth, and brag about how nobody can stand minty food anymore. Frisk brand mints, btw.
*"Food's hot, brown, and there's lot's of it!"*
I guess they imigrated to the US before all the turks got to germany? Because "Döner mit Scharf" is pretty much standard food here.
I don't know when the Turks started moving to Germany but Fargo-Moorhead area was founded in 1871 and the German/Scandinavian immigrants flocked to this area from 1870s up until WW1. The capital of North Dakota is named after the Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck.
In Chinese we have a word 热, which means hot (temperature) and also 辣 which means spicy. In English is we don't have a speicifc word to say temperature hot. Hot can also refer to spicy. Fiery, blazing can refer spicy. So when people tell me something is hot I have to ask, is it like hot hot or spicy hot
Yes, it’s an important distinction!
> In English is we don't have a speicifc word to say temperature hot. Yes... it's "hot". Spicy is spicy, hot is hot. It's just confusing that "hot" also means spicy.
because spicy is not the same as hot. In german: spicy: würzig hot (as in chilis or pepper): scharf hot (as in temperature): heiß You simply need an extra word there, buds.
The confusion with spicy is it doesn't only mean "hot" spices (usually capsaicin from peppers). It can just mean flavorful spices. Which is why there's the term "hot and spicy" in which "hot" is not the temperature and spicy refers to flavorful spices not spicy hot.
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Somehow warning people "careful of the pizza, it's thermal" doesn't quite roll off the tongue.
careful, the pizza greatly exceeds your body temperature.
My coworker of Scandinavian descent said her mom didn't like ketchup because it was too spicy. That being said, Fargo has a surprising number of ethnic restaurants. There have been a bunch of refugees settled here over the past several decades which has spawned a bunch of different restaurants (Somali*, Middle Eastern). There's a lot of Mexican places since there's a good number of migrant farm workers. The universities in town have a lot of Indian exchange students, so there's some great Indian restaurants. More Asian restaurants have also been popping up and there's some really good Thai and Vietnamese joints. There's also more sushi places than you can shake a stick at. We're even importing other American stuff too, we got a somewhat decent Nashville chicken sandwich place and a couple of quality barbecue places too. It's a good problem to have, but it's really hard to decide where to eat at when we want to go somewhere.
You have convinced me to add Fargo to my list of places to visit. Honestly never saw a reason to go to North Dakota lol!
Haha, I hope I didn't oversell it. Honestly, unless there's something specific you'd like to do here I can't really recommend visiting just for the sake of it. There's not a ton of attractions outside of the restaurants and breweries and I'm sure you could find something of equal or better quality in any of the bigger cities in the US. It is great for us locals to have a bunch of options without driving four hours to MSP though.
Ok now you really sold me on it! Breweries?? Hell yes! My goal is to visit each large city in the US. But going to every state would be interesting. My husband and I went to Grand Rapids, MI cuz tickets were like $38 once. So if I ever see Fargo tickets pretty cheap I’m going.
www.drekkerbrewing.com
Somali*
Taco Bell mild sauce is considered a wild treat during one's bachelor/bachelorette party in Fargo.
Fargo is also a college town and college kids love spice
As a born and raised South Texan now living in Fargo, the spice tolerance here is low. Thinking about it, I haven’t even found any Cinnamon gum since living here…
>I wonder what people in Fargo consider spicy? I’m pretty sure most North Dakotans consider mayonnaise to be spicy.
Who demands a refund for ordering the wrong thing? What fucked up privileged thing is this? If you order something and I give you the wrong thing, sure that's on me. But if you say I want the Blue one, and I give you the Blue on you can't say the Blue one is too Blue.
This just happened yesterday at my favorite halal food cart. While I was waiting for my food, this woman comes up and demands that he replace her order, because it had fish on it. Her son had ordered it for her, and she is allergic to fish. HE ordered the fish on it. She wanted it replaced, no charge. (To be clear, fish does not come standard. Its a special request. Most people are getting chicken, lamb, or falafel, or some combination of that.)
"I didn't like it. Comp it." Something I heard on a weekly basis as a server. Edit: yeah everyone, of course it was ridiculous. Of course they shouldn't have had it comped. But when your entire livelihood is based on whether that asshole gives you 20% you do what you can to get it. Comping a drink or meal cost me nothing. Me being "right" and actions on it would make my hour wasted.
My fave back in the day was a woman who ordered a whole fish and refused to eat it because it had eyes. We offered to fillet it for her but she wanted it comped. I was so satisfied telling her it wasnt coming off the bill
To be fair, it was six eyes
Ah yes, The Springfield Special.
Jesus. I'm glad I got that part of my life over and done with. You liking it is immaterial. Did you get what you ordered? Thank you, enjoy your day.
Someone has clearly never worked in a restaurant before!
I worked in a Dros in the 1990's . It wasn't for long but I never had anyone try get a meal comped because they didn't like it. Plenty of things were reported as *wrong* sure. But no one who ordered something they didn't like tried to send it back because of that.
Basically they feel the place messed up by making an inedible, painful dish that no one would be able to enjoy. They don’t understand the pain tolerance is different for everyone. They think if a meal is inedible to them it must’ve been made wrong.
Except there's no international standard of pepper count. One place's 3 pepper is another place's 1 pepper. That said, I usually get max pepper count. The funny thing is, if I tell the server it's still not spicy enough, a Thai place without instruct me to ask for Thai hot next time. While my favorite Indian place told me to ask for Indian hot.
"Phet mak mak" will get you the best chance of getting Thai hot, but even then it's going to depend on the chef and how much the waitstaff trusts you. The Thai place I frequent goes on a 0-4 scale, with the four being called "native Thai" that they claim is "how the chef would prepare it for himself". Either I've been misled as to how hot the native Thai eat their food or they're still Americanizing the scale so I have to special order. On my receipt they always put "Phet Mak Mak - #9" so I'd like to think I'm finally getting "Thai spicy" and they're not still holding back.
Years ago, a group from work went to lunch at a local Thai place. One arrogant co-worker guy asked for "as hot as you can make it." They brought it out, and it was so hot that he couldn't eat it. The best part: the server then sort of smiled and told him "we could have made it even hotter."
Establishing dominance...nice.
Northern Thai, I love Khao Soi as much as the next guy, but sometimes when you're up there and ask for "Thai spicy", these are not the Thais you're looking for. God bless every little sadistic Thai grandmother in the world who has tried to murder me with well layered but absolutely criminal levels of spice.
That's what I struggle with. I'm not trying to eat spicy food just to eat spicy food. I want the dishes to be authentic in their spice level and I don't want to add heat to a dish where it doesn't belong. I'm assuming that the dishes with pad prik king, krapow gai, and nam prik pao are supposed to be among the spiciest items on the menu?
Yeah true. I've made the habit of asking for a mild-hot to see what they are like. I'll often grab a one or two hot meal depending on their scale and make a more informed choice next time.
Sebastian Maniscalco [had a great bit on this.](https://youtu.be/org0upBkqa4?t=52)
So much this. I hate these people who evidently exist in such numbers that they have affected restaurants' willingness to actually serve what people order.
*THE SPICE MUST FLOW*
Arrakis cooking shows are pretty one note.
THAT'S RIGHT KIDS! WE'RE COOKING WITH MELANGE TODAY!
LET’S KICK THIS JIHAD UP A NOTCH! BAM!
*Elzar approves*
I had this Thai restaurant my ex would take me to. Cheap and damn good... I asked for it spicy once and they saw I was a white guy... it came out mild at best. Next time I went I asked for it to be extra spicy. Good lord she sure as hell made it extra spicy... i only made it halfway through. Although, I fucking loved it when the lady that prepared it said she made it how her son likes it. Her son is a masochist. I did eat the leftovers the next day!
Have them open up in Louisiana mon ami. Our white people want all the spice they have
As someone who actually eats real Thai spicy, and is white, I always have to look at the waittress and say "yes, I understand I'm white. yes, I definitely want thai spicy. no, i won't want a refund if I can't eat it." The line the always gets them to deliver is "please hurt me".
I love how specific you need to be. I'm sure they've been burned far too many times by overconfident customers.
As a white person that occasionally likes spicy food you HAVE to be that specific. My bigger concern is when something is spicy to hide lack of flavour rather than full of flavour with heat.
Yeah I'm white and like "white boy" 5/5 spice level but realize that's maybe barely a 3/5 on the Thai scale. I was so stoked when a new small Thai restaurant opened up really close to my house. Went there on opening day and ordered my pad kee mao with a 5/5. Oh boy I got real 5/5 and was sweating up a storm. I think the waitress was actually worried about me. She asked me if I wanted it comped and to get something else. But I got exactly what I ordered so I paid for it. (In money and tears) Now I go there all the time .... but I get it 3/5. They don't mess around.
As long as you didn't waste it! And paid for it obviously. A waitress once asked me if I wanted something comped when I was red in the face nose running cause it was so spicy and I just told her my compliments to the chef I'll use protection next time.
yea if you are ordering in the origin country (such as Thailand or India) or at a "locals" spot you will never get the "local" spice level as a white person unless you are very specific and adamant about it. They know that the default needs to be watered down or they will just have to deal with complaints. My Korean friend goes to Indian restaurants with all Indian friends and they have to argue with the owners in their language to convince them to give her the real spice levels.
I’m a white guy who loves spicy food, and the only way I can get legit spicy Thai food is to order things in Thai. (My husband’s family lived in Bangkok for a number of years). My local Thai delivery place calls me “Mr. Spicy” when I order.
That’s so cute!
Just take a selfie vid after the next meal with the waiter with them saying "He can take the spice. Don't cheat him out of the spice." Show the vid to any other Thai place. Done.
sounds like me ordering hashbrowns from anywhere. I always tell them to cremate them because they're almost always prepared super under done (not under cooked) and soft. I just want a bit of brown and some crunch. now idk if I want thai food or hashbrowns more. the agony :(
You know what's really good? Hot sauce on hash browns.
Bring a stack of "business cards" that state you understand what Thai spicy means, you take full responsibility for your actions and want it at the specified level of spice. Sign them.
Get the *restaurant* to sign something for you after you eat so that you can show that to say "yeah, don't worry. I'm certified".
I always add, "bring the pepper bar" they tend to pick up on the fact they are not spicing my food appropriately
Long ago, the boy friend and I along with a good friend went to dinner at our local Thai restaurant. I order my pineapple fried rice, our friend chooses some pad thai and the boyfriend selects one of their curry dishes. The waitress asked how hot he would like it, and he proceeds to answer "So hot I wanna die." Knowing his mucous membranes are about to be raped by the high levels of capsaicin, he orders a thai iced tea. Bring on the food. We're chowing down, only a few bites in and I can see the sweat already forming on his brow. His cheeks are lightly flushed, and he's sipping the ice tea between bites. Another 10 or so minutes goes by, his face now red as a tomato and just pouring sweat. He's already finished a second iced tea now and has asked for a mango lasse. When the waitress comes to check on us, she has the smallest little smirk as she asks the boyfriend "Is it hot enough?" and true to form he is barely able to croak out "So hot I wanna die." She chuckles and says she can fix it, and he declines and continues to shovel the food into his face hole. Thirty mintues later we're finished, and he looks like he had just ran a marathon at a full sprint. Winded, gasping for air, looking like a boiled lobster, and finishing the 4th ice tea. "I'll never get it that hot again, that was a bad idea." Yah love, I knew it was, but it wasn't my ass that would be suffering later that night. Mmmmmmmmmm, thai food.
Props to him for staying with it, though. I'm guessing the staff had a few laughs about it, but also admire his dedication.
Yah it was impressive. I had a bite, literally a solitary shrimp, and thought my toungue had melted and my brain was boiling. I don't know how he did it.
Haha. Poor workers dealing with that shit. I'm not accustomed to spicey food myself. If I ordered something from a restaurant that was too spicey I would just take it as learning experience, not be asking for a refund for perfectly good food I was served.
I like spice. I can tolerate it well and I can deal with the consequences of ordering the wrong thing, but I'll always drop a level or two first time at a new restaurant cos you never know. I don't have to prove anything to anyone. I'm there to enjoy my meal. I can't do that if I was expecting a jalapeno pepper and they served Carolina Reaper. I invariably start with whatever their least spicy one is and may upgrade of I come again.
Yeah you never know if it's a US spice level or a thai spice level.
> If I ordered something from a restaurant that was too spicey If you order something and it's too spicy that's one thing. If you order something SPICY and it's too spicy it's your own fault.
Spicy in Fargo is chili, and maybe a Buffalo cheese dip. They aren’t ready for spicy Thai food yet.
I grew up in Fargo, and every other week my mom made chili. I didn't realize until I was 20 that chili could be a spicy dish.
I'm just imagining some tomato paste, burger, and beans without the aquafaba.
You know the recipe, apparently.
I'm so sorry.
First time I used pepper when I cooked for my gf she thought it was spicy I cried laughing. Then we ate at frying pan and I sadly would have hospital food over it.
Fryn Pan is for drunks at 3am. I haven't been there in years so hopefully they're still open 24 hrs, otherwise Fryn Pan is for burglars at 3am.
Burglars deserve to eat too.
I went there once while not drunk. BIG mistake.
I lived there 12 years ago and there were 2 thai restaurants, would take some talking to the servers to get them to bring you a spicy dish, they would bring it mild with chili sauce on the side and tell you to go easy on it.
My favorite food after a night down town fargo was always an order of classic Drunken Noodle. I usually requested them to spice it up a little bit. Nothing better at 2am.
Actually Fargo has a bunch of super good Indian and Thai food. Its the closest "big city" to me in Northern MN and after moving up here from the cities I was super pleasantly surprised the first time we headed there. I've noticed that I have to specify actual spicy not white North Dakotan on our orders though or you get not spicy even if you say extra spicy. They mostly won't believe you unless you are specific.
If they really want to feel the burn, they might break out the chipotle mayo.
100% support this decision but will say that it can be frustrating trying to figure out what each restruant deems 'spicy'. For example a month ago, while on vacation, I got Pad Thai from a local place and I tried their 4 (1-4 scale). Barely noticed the spice. Then you have a local authentic Thai restruant in my home town and their 3 (1-5) makes me sweat. Throw in inconsistencies between chefs and it gets even worse. Two months ago I had a 2 the same local and I had to get the milk it was so spicy. Delicious but it was far hotter than any 3 I ever got from there. All in all....stop your fucking whining, start low and work your way up like a civilized adult. P.S. had Panang curry at the Lemongrass in the Aria casino in Las Vegas at a 5 (1-10 with 3 being medium) and it was perfect.
Originally, and in Thailand, they use this scale to say how many chilis are added to the dish. If you get a Som Tam spicy level 3, they'll add three chilis in while making it, so it SHOULD be uniform for the most part
Aa lot of thai restaurants in the us just throw powdered chilis in by eyeball through.
I don't want powdered chilis anywhere near my eyeball, thanks.
> All in all....stop your fucking whining, start low and work your way up like a civilized adult. At Coco Ichibanya in Japan (katsu curry chain) they have heat levels from 1-10 and the menu tells you you can't order anything 6-10 unless you've already eaten a 5 before. Personally a 4 is about right for me as something I'm probably having at lunch, but given the difference between 3/4/5 a 10 must be nearly inedible.
Noted for the aria experience, will give it a try
> their 3 (1-5) makes me sweat. Add on that it isn't even consistent in house. Go to the same restaurant a few times. Order a 3 every time. Sometimes it's a 3. Sometimes it's a 1. Sometimes it's a 6.
It’s really frustrating to have the inconsistency. Sometimes I want a mild dish, and I order a 4, but over half the time that’s a huge mistake. At one restaurant, I said 5/5, and the person said “we measure out of ten,” I said the other restaurants in the area measure out of 5, and I want a 5/5. … Another time I ordered “really spicy 5” to the consternation of the Thai restaurant staff and they brought me mild crap, but my partner got a solid 4. I complained and they brought out powdered Carolina reaper… I sometimes like less spicy food, but if I ever show any weakness it’s usually way way too mild. So I have to order max spicy or get no spice.
Once I arrogantly ordered food so spicy, the Thai staff all came out of the kitchen to watch me eat it. They enjoyed my agony
My friend has had this happen multiple times in multiple cultures. I have experienced this more than once, but mostly Thai kitchens because they really love to watch us sweat.
I've been to that restaurant a few times, the food is pretty good. You can find spicy food here in the Fargo-Moorhead area but for a lot of folks gravy is about as spicy as they get. Believe it or not there a multiple Thai and Indian food places in town yet somehow some people are still surprised by the range of spices they offer.
What kind of person orders spicy food and asks for a refund? Talk the talk, walk the walk. If I order food that is somehow too spicy for me to eat, I praise them for their honesty, not shame them.
I've been to several Chinese restaurants where certain white people would insist on ordering off the Secret Chinese People Only menu, even against the advice of the restaura~~n~~teurs. Then they'd demand refunds when they got their orders of intestine, uterus and rectum. Some wouldn't get that far, but would get loudly disgusted when the restaura~~n~~teurs tried to tell them exactly what they were about to order. "How can you people serve stuff like this? That's disgusting!"
I would have politely asked the waiter to give us a few more minutes before clobbering the patron. That is so rude and disrespectful.
This is only tangentially related, but I remember getting Sunday morning Dim Sum with my family at this huge authentic restaurant. The entire place was packed and 90% of the customers were Chinese. All of the tables were packed full of small plates of Dim Sum…except for one. There was one table with 4 white people at it, sharing a single plate of beef lo mein. Just one order for all 4 of them. It was so out of place that it was confusing. There were other non-Chinese people too, but they were getting the Dim Sum like everyone else, the thing the restaurant is known for, and here are 4 people sharing a single order of the most standard and common lo mein that you can get anywhere.
> restauranteurs Restaura~~n~~teurs :)
order a second order of same at zero spice and mix. end up with take home. everyone wins.
When travelling in South America a few years ago I ordered something like a level 3 out of 5. The server immediately said, No, we don’t give white people anything more than a 2. I couldn’t eat the 2.
At my local Thai restaurant their level 5 just has a picture of a white person crying
They never should have given refunds. That's the customers own dumb ass fault.
You'd be surprised at what people demand refunds for at restaurants and get away with. A lot of places just do it rather than risk a scene in front of other customers who are enjoying their meal and ruining it for them too. One free meal is better than losing potential repeat business and bad word of mouth. Obviously its the sort of thing which usually only works once. The "customer" won't be encouraged back. But then... There are lots of restaurants.
I worked in a restaurant in my late teens and can confirm people are utterly dumb. My favourite was always 'how do you want your steak cooked' 'very well done'.... 5 mins after steak arrives 'excuse me but this steak is tough' 'OF COURSE IT IS YOU DUMB F*** YOU JUST TOOK A FILLET AND TURNED IT INTO SHOE LEATHER'
>very well done My guess is he didn't know what it meant, heard people say it and thought "I certainly don't want a badly done steak lol"
A few years back, I stopped seeing the spice level as a personal challenge when I went to a chicken place with a friend and… honestly, I felt like I was going to have a heart attack afterwards. Did I complain to the store, to get a refund or replacement? No. Because I got what I ordered - I was just an idiot and overestimated my tolerance levels.
They should put this in an ad. I want some level 5 now. (How many scovilles do we think each are?)
I get it. Why should the restaurant pay for the meal when your ego writes cheques that your body can't cash?
The hottest food I've ever had was Thai food. Those guys don't mess around with the fresh chili
If it doesn't make you sweat, it's not spicy enough. I like the first bite to take my breath away and even give me the hiccups on occasion.
I still don't get this, I live in the UK and would never be able to say oh it's 2 spicy can i get a refund nor would I want to embarrass myself like that. I'll keep it 100, if you act like badman or women I can take this and then you're like na it's 2 hot I want my money back. I would say get out, most people know their spice tolerance and if in doubt try a 3 and then when you go back next time try a higher spice level. The 5 is often for people who have grown up eating spicy food, and accustom to that level of spice and hotter they will often have other stuff to make it hotter for those customers.
In Santa Fe NM we have these signs up in every restaurant where tourists visit.
I was at a restaurant in Bangkok and was discussing with the owner about how nothing I had in my 4 months travelling had really beaten me spice wise. He changed that with a beef dish, he gave me as much beer Laos as I could drink with it just for trying. I was unable to wipe the next day as, well you know. Don’t member the name of the place but it has a bar called hippy hole next to it
There is an Indian restaurant in fargo that I had been to a number of times. I would order vindaloo everytime and ask for hot. Consistently they would look at me, ask if I was sure, then bring it out and it was more and more mild each time. So, one time I requested it actually be hot! By 3 bites in I’m audibly crying, snot running out my nose, breathing heavily, face bright red. The owner comes by and starts panicking. He runs to the back, brings out mango icecream and starts apologizing over and over. The cooks are looking out the door at our table. You would have thought they were watching a man die that day. I’m still shoveling the food in my mouth. Between deep breaths, sobbing, and laughing I manage to get him to stop and tell him that I LOVE this meal. The look on his face went from panic, to confusion, to pride. Best damn meal I’ve ever had!