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I love spicy ethnic foods. Big fan of hot foods within reason as well. My only gripe with either hot or spicy is when any particular ingredient completely overpowers all the other components of a dish and makes it essentially mono-dimensional.
Both spicy and hot can be used to great advantage to give a dish character. Neither should be used to such a degree that the palette of flavors presented by the dish is completely obscured by a single overused component.
I'm a huge fan of Thai as I believe when it's well prepared it does a fine job of combining multiple portions of the spice and flavor spectrum and ultimately offers a dish that tickles your tastebuds in a slightly different way with every bite. In my mind that is a spectacular culinary accomplishment. Combining the creamy sweetness of coconut milk with the tang of citrus, the bite of chili, and the base flavors of vegetable, protein, and starch in such a way that no one component sticks out as the primary ingredient in your mind is not an easy task to accomplish. Done well it never fails to leave me salivating in anticipation of enjoying another plate.
In a perfect world, when I finish a plate of particularly well prepared food, I want my tastebuds and senses to feel like they've just endured a 30min speedbag session from a very talented and versatile boxer. I want them so worn out and confused from a multitude of diverse impacts that no one aspect of any dish sticks in my mind. I want it to leave me wanting more so I can make another futile effort at labeling the hook of the dish that keeps bringing me back for another effort at figuring out what's so enticing about it.
Last edited by outbacknv; 03-12-2012 at 07:26 PM..
I said both or the third choice and the reason: I love all hot and spicey foods for the most part, but I am not a fan of cajun food. I don't like gumbo, I don't know why anyone wants to serve blackened anything and I am not a lover of their spices. rir i alcdo
Probably favorite for ethnic spicy is shui zhu yu, a sichuan colonic destruction dish with flower peppers and fish.
If that's water boiled fish, then I love that dish. It's the perfect example of 'ma la' numbing heat.
I love spicy food hot enough that my nose starts running and my lips burn a little. However, I still want the food to have depth of flavor to it other than 'hot'.
Too hot for me would be the 'nuclear' level of hot wings that most wing joints have. Lots of habanero in anything would be pushing it.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LaoTzuMindFu
Love Thai food. Love souther cajun food as well like gumbo and jambalaya. Spicy food is my favorite.
Most Thai restaurants Ive been in here in the states make their food "Falong" style which means the make a bit more to the tastes of us Americans. Go into a Thai restaurant frequented by Thai people and you'll find it even spicier.
I am not a fan of Ethiopian food and pretty much stay away from African continent food altogether, but boy do I love me some asian food. NOT Korean kimchee though. Yuck. Spicy and yucky.
I seldom find the 'ethnic food' here too hot for me. I often pile on chilli, lol.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,047,835 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by outbacknv
I love spicy ethnic foods. Big fan of hot foods within reason as well. My only gripe with either hot or spicy is when any particular ingredient completely overpowers all the other components of a dish and makes it essentially mono-dimensional.
Both spicy and hot can be used to great advantage to give a dish character. Neither should be used to such a degree that the palette of flavors presented by the dish is completely obscured by a single overused component.
I'm a huge fan of Thai as I believe when it's well prepared it does a fine job of combining multiple portions of the spice and flavor spectrum and ultimately offers a dish that tickles your tastebuds in a slightly different way with every bite. In my mind that is a spectacular culinary accomplishment. Combining the creamy sweetness of coconut milk with the tang of citrus, the bite of chili, and the base flavors of vegetable, protein, and starch in such a way that no one component sticks out as the primary ingredient in your mind is not an easy task to accomplish. Done well it never fails to leave me salivating in anticipation of enjoying another plate.
In a perfect world, when I finish a plate of particularly well prepared food, I want my tastebuds and senses to feel like they've just endured a 30min speedbag session from a very talented and versatile boxer. I want them so worn out and confused from a multitude of diverse impacts that no one aspect of any dish sticks in my mind. I want it to leave me wanting more so I can make another futile effort at labeling the hook of the dish that keeps bringing me back for another effort at figuring out what's so enticing about it.
I get it, you want to challenge your taste bud, like an intellectual challenges their mind, or like you say an athlete their body.
I do enjoy the complex flavours of Thai and other Asian cuisine, but sometimes I like being able to just taste one or two ingredients, prepared simply, which is the philosophy behind say a lot of Japanese and French cuisine.
I get it, you want to challenge your taste bud, like an intellectual challenges their mind, or like you say an athlete their body.
I do enjoy the complex flavours of Thai and other Asian cuisine, but sometimes I like being able to just taste one or two ingredients, prepared simply, which is the philosophy behind say a lot of Japanese and French cuisine.
I don't disagree at all. One or two ingredients prepared really well is an aspect of the culinary spectrum that deserves exploration and embrace. Having said that even dishes that contain few ingredients can still offer a lot of diversity. Varying textures resulting from good technique (think spanning the gamut between seared and steamed in a single dish) can dramatically increase the depth of a dish.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,047,835 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by outbacknv
I don't disagree at all. One or two ingredients prepared really well is an aspect of the culinary spectrum that deserves exploration and embrace. Having said that even dishes that contain few ingredients can still offer a lot of diversity. Varying textures resulting from good technique (think spanning the gamut between seared and steamed in a single dish) can dramatically increase the depth of a dish.
Definitely. A lot of advances in cooking these days are in preparation, not so much new ingredients etc although that's also an aspect.
If that's water boiled fish, then I love that dish. It's the perfect example of 'ma la' numbing heat.
Exactly that, 水煮鱼 = shui zhu yu = water boiled fish. The way they just briefly poach the fish to keep it tender instead of the stir frying more often associated with Chinese cooking just works perfectly with the aggressive spices. Great stuff, I'm drooling just thinking about it.
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