chili

How To Tone Down The Heat In A Too Spicy-Hot Dish

November 7, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN 2 Comments

Have some chili planned for dinner? You know it’ll be a crowd pleaser – until you taste it. All you can think of is that a stray chili pepper that made it’s way into your recipe was at it’s peak of hot, hot, hot – or the lid popped off the jar of chili pepper spice – or you double dosed the pot while you were texting, tweeting, or talking.

After a few choice words escape from your scorched mouth, other than tossing the whole dish into the garbage or feeding the compost pile, what can you do to make it palatable?

What To Do To Dial Down The Blazing Heat

There are ways to calm down an over-spiced dish. These tips (in no particular order) might or might not work for your dish depending on your taste and the other ingredients in the recipe. They’re frequently used solutions and are definitely worth a try before you’re accused of starting a 5-alarm fire.

Know your peppers – they vary in the amount of heat they have. You can always decrease the amount you use. Be sure to remove the inner membranes and seeds, which is where the majority of the heat resides. The amount of capsaicin, the active component in chili peppers, varies with the variety and maturity of the pepper. Habanero peppers are always extremely hot while ancho and paprika peppers can be as mild as a bell pepper.

Try One Or More Of These “Fix-Its”

To ratchet 5-alarm hotness down to around 3-alarm, you can try to dilute the heat. Make another batch of the recipe and omit the the “heat” ingredient and combine it with the over-spiced batch. Now you have a double recipe that should be just about right, half of which you can freeze. You can also add more stock, broth, canned tomatoes, or beans depending on the recipe – just make certain there is no added seasoning. A can or two of refried beans or mashed canned beans helps to dilute spiciness, helps thicken chili, increases the fiber and protein content, and gives you more servings without the higher cost of more meat.

Dairy helps neutralize the spice in a dish (and in your mouth). You can use milk (full fat is best), sour cream, or yogurt to mix into or to top the spicy stuff. Other possible dairy ingredients to add are whipping cream or evaporated milk. If you can’t or don’t have time to incorporate dairy into the dish, offer some sour cream or yogurt on the side – some cheese helps, too.

Serve the chili or curry over rice. The rice tones down the spices and adds bulk to the recipe. Bread and other grains may also help.

Add some potatoes or another starchy vegetable, like corn. You probably won’t even notice the corn in chili. If you use potatoes, peel and cube a couple and mix them in. Leave them in until they’re cooked through. Remove them (or not, depending on taste) and serve.

Try stirring in a couple tablespoons of peanut butter (you could also use almond or other nut butters or tahini) to cut the heat. Depending on the dish it won’t really alter the taste but might give a little more depth to the flavor and make chili seem a little creamier. Because it may not be an expected ingredient, be certain that nobody has nut or peanut allergies.

Add some lime, lemon, vinegar or something acidic that won’t mess with the other flavors. Acid cuts through heat.

You don’t want to turn your dish into dessert, but sugar goes a long way toward neutralizing spiciness. So does honey. Add one teaspoon at a time and keep tasting. Some people use sweet or semi-sweet chocolate to mask the spice, but not so much that the dish ends up tasting like chocolate. Sugar combined with an acid like vinegar or lemon or lime juice works particularly well.

Any number of additions can help tame the heat without radically affecting flavor. Add a can of crushed pineapple to your chili — it will essentially disappear but will also helping to counteract the heat. Adding other kinds of fruit and carrots may work, too, because of their sugar content.

Try These To Tame A Way Too Spicy Dish

February 1, 2011 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN 3 Comments

Have you ever gotten a little too overzealous with the chili powder – or with the amount of peppers you’ve added to that fantastic dish you’re cooking?

It happens — but what do you do? You can burn the heck out of everyone’s mouth, toss the whole dish into the garbage, feed the compost pile, or maybe somehow salvage what you’ve made.

There are those of you who routinely look for the spiciest food around and are probably thinking – so what’s the problem? But, for those of you – like me – who would prefer not to have your mouth on fire – there are ways to calm down an over-spiced dish. After some research, here’s a bunch of suggestions (in no particular order). Maybe some will work for your dish, and maybe not, but file them in your memory and give one or two a try when you’re staring at a pot of over-spiced food.

First, know your peppers — they vary in the amount of heat they have. You can always decrease the amount you use. Be sure to remove the inner membranes and seeds which is where the majority of the heat resides. Capsaicin is the active component in chili peppers and the amount varies according to the variety and maturity of the pepper. Habanero peppers are always extremely hot while ancho and paprika peppers can be as mild as a bell pepper.

For three alarm dishes, one prime suggestion is to dilute the heat. Make another batch of the recipe and omit the “overly used” or the “heat” ingredient and combine it with the over-spiced batch. Now you have a double recipe with diluted heat and you can freeze the extra. You can also add more stock, broth, canned tomatoes, or beans depending on the recipe – just make certain there is no added seasoning. A can or two of refried beans or mashed canned beans helps dilute spiciness, helps thicken chili, increases the fiber and protein content, and gives you more servings without the higher cost of more meat.

Dairy helps neutralize the spice in a dish (and in your mouth). You can use (full fat is best) milk, sour cream, or yogurt. Other suggestions are whipping cream or evaporated milk. If you can’t or don’t have time to incorporate dairy into the dish, offer sour cream or yogurt on the side.

Serve chili or curry over rice. The rice tones down the spices and adds bulk to the recipe. Bread and other grains also help.

Add some potatoes or another starchy vegetable like corn. You probably won’t even notice the corn in chili. If you use potatoes, peel and cube a couple and mix them in. Leave them in until they are cooked through. Remove them (or not, depending on taste) and serve.

Try stirring in a couple tablespoons of peanut butter (you could also use almond or other nut butters or tahini) to cut the heat. Depending on the dish it won’t really alter the taste but might give a little more depth to the flavor and make chili seem a little creamier. Because it may not be an expected ingredient, be certain that no one has nut or peanut allergies.

Add some lime, lemon, vinegar or something acidic that won’t mess with the other flavors. Acid cuts through heat.

You don’t want to turn your dish into dessert, but sugar goes a long way toward neutralizing the spiciness. So does honey. Add a teaspoon at a time and keep tasting. Some people use sweet or semi-sweet chocolate to mask the spice, but not so much that the dish ends up tasting like chocolate. Sugar combined with an acid like vinegar or lemon or lime juice works particularly well.

Any number of additions can help tame the heat without radically affecting flavor. Add a can of crushed pineapple to your chili — it will essentially disappear but will also helping to counteract the heat. Other kinds of fruit and carrots may work, too.

When Your Mouth’s On Fire From Red Hot Chili Peppers

January 28, 2011 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

I was recently in a restaurant that specializes in chili – hot, hotter, and hottest. I happened to be facing a table of four large thirtyish guys. One guy cherrily ordered, “hottest.”

Shortly after this big, burly guy dug into his chili – with gusto, I might add, he was sitting glassy eyed, rivulets of sweat dripping off of his bald head, practically unable to speak. The waitress, obviously having seen this reaction before, came running over with a glass of milk with orders to, “Drink up.”

Have you ever had this reaction to very spicy food — maybe from that dish you made when you got a little too zealous with the chili powder? Or perhaps, like this guy, from being a little too macho and ordering “hottest” after assuring everyone that you love really hot and spicy food. Or maybe when you accidentally grabbed the wings known as red hots at a Superbowl party.

What Causes The Burn?

Capsaicin is mostly responsible for the “heat” in chili peppers. To stop the mouth flames you need to neutralize capsaicin’s burning heat that binds to your taste buds. Capsaisin is soluble in both alcohol and fat so full fat dairy and alcohol are solutions.

What To Do To Tame The Flame

What do you do as your mouth is sending a five-alarm signal, your face is on fire, and you are sweating enough to water every plant in the room? Here are some solutions that are easy – even when you’re in a restaurant or someone else’s home.

The most common flame relievers are full fat dairy, acid, and sugar – although some people also swear by nut and seed butters (peanut, almond, tahini). They may all have some degree of effectiveness.
Ice and water will feel pretty good, but only temporarily. The burning pain will come roaring back. Because capsaicin is soluble in alcohol and fat, sometimes beer is suggested as a solution. The alcohol helps neutralize the capsaicin molecules. But beer is about 95% water and won’t really neutralize the capsaicin clinging to your tongue.
High fat dairy products like milk, cheese, sour cream, yogurt, and ice cream coat your mouth and can break the bonds capsaicin forms with the nerve endings – and, since they’re cold, they feel good, too. Aha! An explanation for why spicy Mexican food is often served with sour cream.
Sugars bind to pain receptors more readily than capsaicin so sweet things may work, too. Sugar, fruit, honey, molasses, even carrots have all been used. Highly sweetened non-carbonated drinks may work. Try some sweet tea. Hoisin may work for Asian dishes, Lassi (sweet and dairy combination) if you are in an Indian restaurant.
Acid can cut through the heat so use vinegar, lemon or lime juice, anything acidic that doesn’t mess with the taste. Beer with lime?

Ever over spice something that you’ve cooked? There are ways to remedy that, too. Check out my next post.