Beads of sweat run down your forehead. Your face is flushed. Your stomach twists and turns. Could you be in love? Or are you reacting to a bite of spicy food? Maybe both. 

Like being in love, the chemical reaction our bodies have to various spices, herbs, and chilies in different cuisines keep us coming back for more. Some people are culinary daredevils, heat-seekers always on the lookout for a mouth-numbing dish. Others shy away from the menu items with the pepper icon next to them. 

If you can stand the heat, these four meals that you can order today will get you hot! Thali of India, Neno’s Gourmet Mexican, and Khong Thai guide us on a flavorful journey around the world, each providing insight and historical context behind their recipes and what they call  “spicy.”


KADAI CHICKEN
Thali of India
3259 S. Winton Road
585-427-8030

At Thali of India, almost every dish starts with tarka, a base of heated oil to which earthy spices such as cardamom, coriander, and cumin are added, which will be used to infuse flavor into the protein, veggies, and starches of the dish.

“This technique brings the spices to life,” said Ajay Singh, the son of Thali owner Sandeep Singh and a co-owner of Naan-Tastic and Rebel Pi. 



A vast array of fresh spices complements every dish at Thali of India, which specializes in recipes from the Northwestern Punjabi region. 

Tarka is used to make Thali’s menu item Kadai Chicken, which begins with a base of coriander, cloves, cardamom, cilantro, garlic, and fresh ginger cooked in oil, before bell peppers and tomatoes sautéed in a caramelized onion sauce, and chicken are added. The spicy heat comes from the addition of ground red pepper from India, which Singh said is far more potent than the flakes you shake onto a slice of pizza.

Singh recalls waking up to the smell of tarka throughout his childhood. He said that though he grew up in India and moved to the United States in 1999, he’s not personally a fan of “spice overload” and is conscious of this with his patrons. But upon special request, the chefs at Thali of India can, and will, turn up the heat. 


CHILI RELLENO with HOT SALSA
Neno’s Gourmet Mexican
642 Monroe Ave.
585-978-7210

Jalapeño, ancho, chipotle, and poblano peppers are known across the culinary world due to their prevalence in Mexican food, and they are no strangers to Neno’s Gourmet Mexican owner Fidelio Rita, Jr. and sous chef Martín Castillo. 

Having grown up in the Mexican state of Guerrero, Castillo remembers having a side of hot salsa as a companion to almost every meal. 

“I grew up loving spicy food and I found some customers do too," Castillo said.

When he came to work at Neno’s, Castillo shared his family’s special spicy salsa recipe.

The flavorful culprit is the chili de árbol — so called for its resemblance to trees — which is actually just a dried Serrano pepper. Serrano peppers are already regarded as hot when fresh, but when they’re dried, the flavor complexity and level of heat increase dramatically. As a reference point, the chili de árbol is six times hotter than a jalapeño pepper. 

The hot salsa is made fresh daily and is popular with customers, who must specifically ask for it as an add-on for the tamer fare on the menu. But diner beware — just a small amount can raise the temperature and have you asking the server for water.

Get the salsa if you dare, to complement the Chili Relleno, a dish that stars another pepper — the poblano. This milder pepper has a wide interior, making it perfect for packing with all kinds of good stuff. At Neno's, the poblano is filled with chorizo, Monterey cheese, salsa roja, crema Mexicana, black beans, white rice, queso fresco, and cilantro. 

KUNG SALAT
Khong Thai
260 N. Winton Road
585-434-2238

Every dish at Khong Thai is artfully made. The fresh herbs, spices, and vegetables make the meals into a vibrant rainbow. 

But while bright colors in nature are pleasing, they also encourage caution, and these pretty dishes may surprise you with their heat. 

The Thai red chili pepper, used in both fresh and powdered form, is what makes much of Thai cuisine spicy, explained Leang Nam, owner of Khong Thai. The pepper is probably best known in America in the form of Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha Sauce, which is on every table at Khong Thai. 

But Nam recommends a sauce made in Thailand that is not as overpowering in flavor and brings just the right amount of heat.

Throwing off the notion that a salad has to be boring, Khong Thai starter dish Kung Salat is a flavor adventure that infuses spicy, salty, and sour all into one platter. Shrimp tossed with roasted chili paste, lime leaves, shallots, mint, and cilantro, are served with a side of sticky rice that you’re encouraged to eat with your hands.

Another star of the menu is Choo Chee Pla, featuring crispy fried swai — a type of catfish with flaky white meat — that’s topped with red curry sauce and kaffir lime leaf, and served with mixed vegetables. This dish pops and the red curry draws its color and spicy flavor from fresh red Thai chilis. (To raise the heat for this dish, Nam suggests the chopped chilies with fish sauce, which she describes as “a bit more pungent for some people but it definitely elevates it and doesn’t kill the taste.”)

Dario Joseph is a freelance food writer for CITY. He co-hosts the podcast “Refined Taste with Dario and Chris” with Chris Thompson, also a freelance food writer for CITY.
Feedback on this article can be directed to CITY's life editor, Rebecca Rafferty, at [email protected].