I find this to be the case for most “spicy” things targeting a western market. Firehouse Subs has a hot sauce bar where they rate the spiciness from 1 to 10. Normally I don’t bother with it because the ones at the higher end tend to either be some spicy vinegar variation (ugh no thx), or pineapple based, which I’m usually not in the mood for.
Last time they had an 8 that wasn’t either of those so I asked them to add a line to my sub as they made it.
It’s like their 10 was targeted at jalapeno spiciness, maybe cayenne. The 8 did add some heat, but it was where I’d call it a medium, and a mild one at that.
Should use a logarithmic scale I guess. Just frustrating that spicy stuff always seems to be marketed for people who don’t really like spice. The less generous side of me thinks it has to do with people wanting to act tough but are actually whiny losers who thinks it’s the seller’s fault they can’t handle the heat they wanted to show off handling.
True, I suspect that the lack of properly spicy options from major/national food establishments has to do with fear of litigation, or risk management for customers who want to be macho but can’t eat the food and ultimately request refunds. Taco Bell had previously come out with a ghost pepper sauce that, while not “hot” compared to the actual pepper, it did have a noticeable heat profile compared to, say, “fire” which IMHO has good flavor but is has a slightly noticeable heat profile at best.
And then there’s Denmark (iirc) that outright banned some of the Buldak ramen flavours for being too spicy. The 2x spicy chicken is pretty spicy, like “I’m going to power through this to not waste any food” spicy, but I lost respect for Denmark’s leadership when I saw that.
Btw, at the risk of making it even harder to find, Buldak’s spicy curry chicken flavour is amazing. The cheese one is decent, too.
My husband immediately bought me a pack right after the huge media blowup, and I actually found it to be mad delicious. I’m wondering if the spice profile was changed after it was banned.
To be clear, I really, REALLY like spicy food and he wasnt doing it to be an ass. He was legit like “Oh! A food she’ll enjoy!”
Ooh, I’ll have to try the curry chicken - it looks delicious! Same with the yakisoba! I think the only Buldak flavors I’ve tried so far are cheddar and carbonara.
Make sure to read the directions, as they aren’t prepared like a typical ramen soup. You drain it after boiling the noodles and then fry them in the sauce, improving the flavour and texture (or your frying skills if you don’t get it right lol).
And my secret improvement (other than adding things like eggs and shrimp): ramen wraps. Something about the combo of textures makes me love this, and since these ramen aren’t soup-based the wrap ends up less messy.
I really wish that “10” would be equivalent to the hottest thing you could eat (and “0” being tap water).
For me, that was a hot sauce that caused my fingertips to go numb for several hours because I wasn’t wearing gloves. He chef told me that a few had been hospitalized from it.
Hence, old El Paso being 0.04 on a linear scale to 10.
Whatever scale we use, I just wish it was consistent instead of everywhere having their own scale with no calibration until you try it, further complicated by your spice tolerance itself varying over time, so you constantly need to recalibrate on any scale that isn’t just “hottest they have still isn’t hot at all”.
I find this to be the case for most “spicy” things targeting a western market. Firehouse Subs has a hot sauce bar where they rate the spiciness from 1 to 10. Normally I don’t bother with it because the ones at the higher end tend to either be some spicy vinegar variation (ugh no thx), or pineapple based, which I’m usually not in the mood for.
Last time they had an 8 that wasn’t either of those so I asked them to add a line to my sub as they made it.
It’s like their 10 was targeted at jalapeno spiciness, maybe cayenne. The 8 did add some heat, but it was where I’d call it a medium, and a mild one at that.
Should use a logarithmic scale I guess. Just frustrating that spicy stuff always seems to be marketed for people who don’t really like spice. The less generous side of me thinks it has to do with people wanting to act tough but are actually whiny losers who thinks it’s the seller’s fault they can’t handle the heat they wanted to show off handling.
True, I suspect that the lack of properly spicy options from major/national food establishments has to do with fear of litigation, or risk management for customers who want to be macho but can’t eat the food and ultimately request refunds. Taco Bell had previously come out with a ghost pepper sauce that, while not “hot” compared to the actual pepper, it did have a noticeable heat profile compared to, say, “fire” which IMHO has good flavor but is has a slightly noticeable heat profile at best.
And then there’s Denmark (iirc) that outright banned some of the Buldak ramen flavours for being too spicy. The 2x spicy chicken is pretty spicy, like “I’m going to power through this to not waste any food” spicy, but I lost respect for Denmark’s leadership when I saw that.
Btw, at the risk of making it even harder to find, Buldak’s spicy curry chicken flavour is amazing. The cheese one is decent, too.
Imo 2x spicy is the perfect spice level.
My husband immediately bought me a pack right after the huge media blowup, and I actually found it to be mad delicious. I’m wondering if the spice profile was changed after it was banned.
To be clear, I really, REALLY like spicy food and he wasnt doing it to be an ass. He was legit like “Oh! A food she’ll enjoy!”
Ooh, I’ll have to try the curry chicken - it looks delicious! Same with the yakisoba! I think the only Buldak flavors I’ve tried so far are cheddar and carbonara.
Make sure to read the directions, as they aren’t prepared like a typical ramen soup. You drain it after boiling the noodles and then fry them in the sauce, improving the flavour and texture (or your frying skills if you don’t get it right lol).
And my secret improvement (other than adding things like eggs and shrimp): ramen wraps. Something about the combo of textures makes me love this, and since these ramen aren’t soup-based the wrap ends up less messy.
I really wish that “10” would be equivalent to the hottest thing you could eat (and “0” being tap water).
For me, that was a hot sauce that caused my fingertips to go numb for several hours because I wasn’t wearing gloves. He chef told me that a few had been hospitalized from it.
Hence, old El Paso being 0.04 on a linear scale to 10.
Whatever scale we use, I just wish it was consistent instead of everywhere having their own scale with no calibration until you try it, further complicated by your spice tolerance itself varying over time, so you constantly need to recalibrate on any scale that isn’t just “hottest they have still isn’t hot at all”.
The only places that are honest about spice levels are Thai. Or places that just let you add your own chili sate