I went to a Thai restaurant today.....

I ordered noodles pad thai. When I asked the waiter, for whom English was clearly not his primary language, whether the dish had any spice he said it did not.

So, I ordered it medium spiced. In St Louis when I normally order something medium spicy it is tolerable.

My noodles pad thai arrived at my table and OY VEY!!! They were SO spicy that my nose was running and my eyes were watering.

WOW! Who needs claritan when there is spicy Asian food around?

I gave it a good try and did finish most of it but I couldn't finish it all.

Your head would burst into flames.

I like hot stuff, but had some larb that damn near peeled the top of my head off.

I order it extra-hot, but it still isn't spicy enough.

Isn't larb more of a Hmong specialty than Thai, though?

It was a Thai restaurant in Anchorage.
I ordered larb just because I thought the name was hilarious.
larb
ha

I love spicy food, but I usually request pad thai medium -- it's really not a dish built for high heat.

And I've never been to a Thai restaurant that had more heat than I can handle, even in the extra-spicy dishes (a nice vindaloo, on the other hand... :evilgrin:)

try an Afghani Phal. It's a curry. It's banned as a CBW agent in some locales. ;-)

you can have it spicy, but I don't, typically. Many of other Thai dishes, like the curries, though, can be pretty hot. Heat can be good for you!

I like my food :grr:

I can't usually get at the computer on Sundays... since the males hog them all. But my so has gone out to a work meeting. He's the one who usually likes the hot food. My sister is the spice junkie though, who used to ask for a 10 at Indian restaurants! I am more of a weenie. I like to be able to taste things!

Yummy!

Actually, that's the art in a good hot curry (like a vindaloo). The trick is to make it superfreakinhot, just like on the Goanese beaches; but still have that depth of flavor shine through. If your mouth feels like it's on fire, but you were STILL able to taste every specific flavor -- THAT's a good vindaloo!

:hi:

The Rajah in Amsterdam, just off the Leidseplein.
Post 5 or 6 beers.
Wanted HOT!
Asked the waiter for "extra spicy chicken vindaloo".
"Are you sure, sir? Extra spicy? It is VERY hot."
"Damn right! Extra spicy!"

Sweet mother-of-god. New-kew-lur! But good!
The most exquisite pleasure-pain experience I've ever had.
With the aid a 3 or 4 more beers, I got through it. The waiter was chuckling every time he brought another. I was laughing (through tears) with him. Should have asked for some yogurt.

After I'd recovered, I asked if I could meet the kitchen staff.
"Certainly sir. Come with me."
My eyes were still red and the tears were still running. They started to laugh.
"You must be the gentleman who ordered the extra spicy."
"That's me. What kind of peppers do you use in that?"
He showed me some tiny (1/2 inch?) red peppers. I don't remember what he called them. He gave me a baggie of them.
I use them...very...sparingly.

Try some vindaloo with lamb (what the Goanese Muslims and Hindus eat) or pork (what the Catholics eat -- Goa is split roughly in thirds by religion).

Chicken Vindaloo is great, but I think pork of lamb hold up better under all that heat.

Have to try it vindaloo.

I don't see a picture of them on this chart http://www1.diamondbullet.com/darren/habanero/scale.html

So I don't know if they're red. But it's a Thai pepper and second to only the Habanero in terms of heat, so that was probably them.

And not to plagarize the phrase that Kerry stole from Bush who stole it from Pat Robertson, but when it comes to hot & spicy, I only have 3 words..... BRING IT ON!!

to every dish i order...never hot enuf for me. and likewise...i've never had a really hot pad thai...it's usually on the sweet side of the flavor spectrum.

They always ask me "are you sure?" and I say "yes!".

They still have yet to be spicy. :-(

Where in St. Louis? I have to go down there for decent Asian food, so I might want to try this place (I looooove spicy food!).

Dirk