hot and spicy food

What To Do When Your Mouth Is On Fire From Red Hot Chili Peppers

May 5, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

I was in a restaurant that specializes in chili – hot, hotter, and hottest. Four large thirty-something guys were sitting at the table next to mine. One guy ordered, “hottest,” with an “I can handle it, no problem” look on his face.

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

Have you ever had a similar reaction to very spicy food — maybe even from something from your own kitchen when you got a little too heavy-handed with the chili powder? Or perhaps, like this guy, from being a little too macho and ordering “hottest” – despite warnings from the waitstaff.

What Causes The Burn?

Capsaicin is mostly responsible for the “heat” in chili peppers. The amount in different kinds peppers varies widely. Environmental factors and the maturity of the pepper also affect the “burn” factor.

Chiles grown in hot dry climates tend to be a little hotter and the capsaicin content in a pepper is the highest when peppers reach full maturity. Habanero peppers are always extremely hot because of their high capsaicin content but ancho and paprika chili peppers can be as mild as a bell pepper.

How To Tame The Flame

What do you do when your mouth is sending a five-alarm signal, your face is on fire, and you’re sweating enough to water every plant in the room?

To stop the flames in your mouth you need to neutralize the burning heat from the capsaicin that binds to your taste buds. Remember that you want to neutralize the capsaicin, not just make your mouth feel better — although that’s also an objective.

Solutions

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 they’re only a temporary feel-good fix. The burning pain will come roaring back. Capsaicin is soluble in both alcohol and fat so full fat dairy and alcohol are possible solutions.
Neutralizing the capsaicin will be the most effective. How do you do that? The most common things to counteract the heat of chilies are full fat dairy, acids, and sugar. Some people also swear by nut and seed butters (peanut, almond, tahini). They may all have some degree of effectiveness.
Capsaicin is soluble in alcohol and fat, and sometimes beer is suggested as a solution because the alcohol will help to neutralize the capsaicin molecules. Since beer is about 95% water it won’t really neutralize the capsaicin clinging to your tongue. The harder stuff might help but you’d have to drink a lot of it and you’d end up feeling no pain for other reasons.
Acid can cut through the heat so try vinegar, lemon or lime juice, or anything acidic that doesn’t mess with the taste of your food. Now you know why you often see lemon or lime wedges served with spicier food. Gives beer with lime new meaning, doesn’t it?
High fat dairy products like milk, cheese, sour cream, yogurt, and ice cream will coat your mouth and can break the bonds capsaicin forms with the nerve endings – and, since they’re cold, they feel pretty good, too. There’s a reason that spicy Mexican food is often served with sour cream and cheese!
Sugars bind to pain receptors more readily than capsaicin so sweet things might 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 or Lassi (sweet and dairy combination) if you’re in an Indian restaurant. Have some fruit for dessert – it’s cold and sweet and the more acidic fruit, like citrus and pineapple, add another layer of potential pain relief.

10 Ways To Tame A Way Too Spicy Dish

April 22, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

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? Perhaps you very overly brave and ordered the five alarm chili at your local Tex-Mex place.

It happens — but what do you do? You can burn the heck out of everyone’s mouth, sweat profusely, 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, or 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. If you’ve set your mouth on fire in a restaurant, remember to quench it with some dairy!

What To Do and Things To Try

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 – that’s 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.
To change a three alarm dish to a one alarm, dilute the heat. Make another batch of the recipe and omit the “heat” ingredient. Then combine the non-spiced batch 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 the heat, thickens 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 don’t have the time or inclination 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, they’ll absorb some of the spice. 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 other 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.