What's the hottest food you've ever eaten?

[Jenise]

Discussing China's occasionally incendiary food with Duane in another thread just now, this question occurred to me, and I thought I'd pose it to the group. For me it has to be some chicken wings in Alaska that were billed as "Thermonuclear". They were.

One particular meal at Jai Hind in Baltimore while I was in college. My gf at the time and I were pretty regular there, and we asked them one night to really let go and not worry that we were white.

While we were eating, we could see the staff in the kitchen peering out at us to see how we were reacting.

We regretted it, especially the next morning.

Some of Jim Campbell's special "The Bread" recipe.

One night out on the town I found myself in the condition where I needed to get some food in my body. Went to one of my favorite places and ordered a bowl of their gumbo, which was always terrific. This is a place where they prided themselves on their collection of hot sauces and I grabbed the Scorned Woman, "forgetting" it doesn't have the little shaker top like some bottles, and proceeded to load up about 2 tbs of what's basically a habanero puree into a medium sized bowl of gumbo. I tried to get through it but the owners, friends of mine, said they didn't mind replacing it for me when they found me out of breath and sweating profusely. That's the worst I've ever eaten.

On purpose? Either my uncle's chili which he makes with minced Hab's and garnishes with more Hab's, or a vindaloo made on the banks of a float stream in south-central Missouri.

Some of Jim Campbell's special "The Bread" recipe.

Details?

We were eating fish tacos in St. Pete Beach a few years ago. They had a bucket of hot sauce bottles of varying degrees of heat. I don't remember what the one I chose was called - maybe Butt Kicker. Anyway, it was so hot it made me cry, and ruined what would have been a good lunch.

...For me it has to be some chicken wings in Alaska that were billed as "Thermonuclear". They were.

About 15 years ago, when I worked for a large tire and rubber company, a group of about 8 employees, including the plant manager, made the trek to corporate HQ in Akron, OH. The plant manager insisted that we go a bit out of our way and stop on the way home at a place called Quaker Steak and Lube in Sharon, PA (across the state line from Youngstown) because he heard they were famous for their wings. With most of us being Buffalo area natives, we all kind of rolled our eyes. The place had very interesting decor, with the juke box imbedded into the trunk of a '57 Chevy and a '62 Corvette mounted sideways on one of the walls. They had signs bragging about thier wings, such as their honey-garlic wings that won some award at a chicken wing contest in Cleveland . They even had a "Wall of Fame", where if you could eat 10 of their "Atomic" wings you could have your name placed there. We ordered a few varieties of the wings and they did not live up to Buffalo standards. However, the Atomic wings were probably one of the hottest things I ever ate. It was all I could do to force one down with a few drafts while wiping sweat from my brow. However, one of our engineers, of Vietnamese descent, just casually wolfed down nine of them without batting an eye. He said he couldn't eat the 10th one to get his name on the wall because he was full.

Some of Jim Campbell's special "The Bread" recipe.

Not sure of that reference, Cynthia, but it reminded me, when we first moved in a few years ago, the gal that cleaned around our building during the day took a shine to our department. One day she brought in a loaf of jalapeno bread and none of us could get past a couple of bites. That memory jog may actually surpass both my other experiences, posted above; I'd apparently blocked that experience from my memory!

About 15 years I ago, I was on a layover in New Orleans. My crew rounded up about ten other crew members, and headed out to House of Blues for dinner. (And, yes, I know there are a thousand better places to eat in MSY, but it's also a nightmare trying to feed ten potentially picky eaters. House of Blues was a safe choice). A handful of us ordered the Jambalaya. When the waiter delivered our food, it was garnished right in the middle with a little Habanero. He warned us not to eat it, it's only for decoration. Well, the woman next to me shrugged, and proceeded to cut her chile up into tiny bits and munch away. I thought it couldn't be THAT hot if she was sitting there eating it that way. So away my co-worker and I went. Big mistake, and I'll never forget that feeling. It's was horribly and almost scary it hurt so bad. Luckily, we both new to grab bread and not our wine to wash away the taste. But, it completely ruined our dinner.

Now I understand why the smoked red savina on pineapple didn't faze you at all.

Probably my first experience with Thai food. It was at some restaurant called “Thai It, You’ll Like It” or some corny name like that. We ordered off the menu and when the waiter asked about the heat level (on a flame scale of 1-5) we all picked five because we were dumb college kids that did not know any better. About three bites into our meals we started gulping down cold water. The waiter returned and asked, “Mo water?” As we battled to get through the meal we kept emptying our glasses of water and the waiter would return and ask us if we wanted “Mo water”. Finally with half full plates we admitted defeat and asked the waiter for our check. He asked us if we wanted anything wrapped up to take home. We all shook our heads no and told the waiter the food was so hot it was almost inedible. The waiter snatched the check holder off the table and said, “Dat why I tell you NO WATER!!!” Water make it worse but you not listen and keep drinking ice water!”

Oh. Heh, heh, heh. No water.

The first time I orderd Kung Pao Beef I didn't realize (or see) the those little red chilis in it. I chomped down on a whole one hidden with some of the beef. Instant pain. I've had some Thai dishes that were a bit hotter, but nothing so concentrated.

Oh. Heh, heh, heh. No water.

Years ago, some Indian food, some sort of chicken curry at a hole-in-the-wall joint in Suva, Fiji. Now I have a very high tolerance for spicy/hot foods, but I had to admit defeat when I could not see because of the tears running down my face and my hair follicles tingling.

A local Indian does a curry called a "Xacutti", billed as hotter than a Vindaloo, which I had the misfortune to order one night when drunk.

I've never had Thai food or a Vindaloo that I couldn't handle - indeed we had a Vindaloo on the table at the same time which I ate and enjoyed without difficulty. The Xacutti however, defeated me. It basically consisted of pieces of omlette in an onion sauce with whole small chillies thrown in like they were peas or something. There were no other vegetables so almost the entire bulk of the dish consisted of chillies.

My partner managed to eat it though

or a vindaloo made on the banks of a float stream in south-central Missouri.

Was that the Current River? Just curious.

I had a co-worker who used to pickle peppers he grew in his garden. He used to do an Asian pickled jalapeno pepper with garlic and soy. I loved them. One day he brought in a jar of the Asian peppers, but they were orange. Curious, I took one out and popped the whole thing in my mouth. My first experience with a habanero. I thought I was going to die. I’ve had a mental block against habaneros since that day.

Jim

Randy - You sure it was the pepper that put you in the ambulance? Sounds like one of your friends might have slipped a roofie into you meal .

Dave R - That story is hysterical!

The hottest meal I have ever eaten was about 4 yrs ago with my first experience with Indian food. I think I must have ordered a curry or maybe a vindaloo...I can't recall, but I couldn't even get through the meal it was so hot. And I really love spicy food, but this was just brutal!

or a vindaloo made on the banks of a float stream in south-central Missouri.

Was that the Current River? Just curious.

Big Piney

Scarlet.jpg

I have this unnerving feeling that this is not what you meant.

rwj

Habanero. I know, I'm a wuz. But then I started to cry, and then I rubbed my eyes with my hands that had touched cut chilli, and that was a mistake. Hooboy, was it ever a mistake.

The first time I orderd Kung Pao Beef I didn't realize (or see) the those little red chilis in it. I chomped down on a whole one hidden with some of the beef. Instant pain. I've had some Thai dishes that were a bit hotter, but nothing so concentrated.

Doug, the chiles are why I LIKE Kung Pao chicken! I always eat every one of the little buggers.

Hottest thing I ever ate (besides a fresh Red Savina habanero - done it more than once, hehe ) was a pulled pork sandwich with about a teaspoon of Dave's Insanity on it). I regularly buy and eat habanero hot sauces, along with more mundane and wimpy sauces like Tabasco and Cholula. Anything savory is fair game for dosing with the heat.

Years ago when the City of Redding had a run down building for city offices and several trailers, one in which I was housed, the new City Manager came up with the idea that since we are a full service city and have a water utility, he was going to take all the bottled water out of dispenser machines and the trailers who all had the huge bottle type dispensers. I was furious about this as I would have to walk 1/2 block to the nearest drinking fountain. Since I worked mainly for the police dept, that meant I had to lock up my office each time I left. I finally resorted to bringing my own water to work, but one day I forgot.
I bought some dried peppers from the Farmer's Market, soaked them in the morning and added a few to my salad for lunch. I ate my lunch at my desk that day....took a bite of my salad and thought I was going to die. I was burning all the way to my stomach and became nauseous very quickly. I had to run to another trailer and beg someone for some water. Another staff person ran to City Hall and got some milk out of one of the dispensers and ran back to me, saying "drink this".

Later I found out those tiny red peppers are the kind you put into Thai food but DO NOT eat.

I must tell you that we now have a beautiful City Hall, with fountains, walking trails, and everyone has water in their offices...city utility water, of course.

The hottest thing I've ever eaten was a whole, raw habanero, picked fresh off the plant.

Tie (Thai?) for hottest cooked dish I've ever eaten was at Bangkok Oriental Cuisine, Merrimack, NH. I frequented the place, and Mowl Wolfe, the proprietor, knew she could make the dishes at native-heat for me. The menu rated the dishes zero to 3 flames of hotness. There were two three-flame dishes. I'd never had more than a two-flamer. One day I decided to try laab nur (minced beef salad), one of the three-flames. Mowl told me, "Don't worry about the heat. It comes with a soup you can use to cool things down." I knew I was in trouble when there was a whole Thai bird pepper floating in the soup. The laab nur itself was volcanically hot.

Its equal is the Mahogany Fire Noodles dish that I often make for myself. It is fresh wide rice noodles stir-fried with a paste of 30 red bird chiles and 10 cloves of garlic. Delicious, but really brings out the sweat.

-Paul W.

The first time I orderd Kung Pao Beef I didn't realize (or see) the those little red chilis in it. I chomped down on a whole one hidden with some of the beef. Instant pain. I've had some Thai dishes that were a bit hotter, but nothing so concentrated.

Doug, the chiles are why I LIKE Kung Pao chicken! I always eat every one of the little buggers.

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Oh, I love the flavor the chilis impart and even of the chili itself. I just try a small piece now before eating a whole one.