where to find it

& how to make it

Take a taste-bud-tingling tour of the world’s

spiciest cuisines. Explore the culture behind

dishes from Sichuan hotpots and Malaysian laksas

to Mexican salsas and eye-wateringly hot curries.

Bring the world’s spiciest foods to your home

with this compendium of classic recipes!

* 100 authentic recipes with simple, clear instructions

for perfect preparation

* Glossary of exotic ingredients with suggestions for

easy-to-fi nd alternatives

* Evocative profi les of each dish show you where to fi nd the

best examples when you’re on the road

* Written by food writers from around the world with an

introduction by Tom Parker Bowles

lonelyplanet.com

* *

* *

wh

ere to find

it & h

ow to m

ak

e it

the world’s best

spicy food

the w

orld

’s best

the world’s best

spicy food

spicy food

1ST EDITION UK £14.99

USA $19.99

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Introduction 06

* Dishes *

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ContentsKashgar Lamb Kebabs China 80

Katsu Curry Japan 82

Kimchi Jjigae Korea 84

Klobasa Central Europe 86

Kothu Roti Sri Lanka 88

Lahmacun Turkey 90

Laksa Lemak Indonesia, Malaysia

& Singapore 92

Larb Thailand 94

Larb Moo Thailand & Laos 96

Machbous Arabian Gulf 98

Mao Xue Wang China 100

Mapo Doufu China 102

Mirchi ka Pakoda India &

Pakistan 104

Mole Mexico 106

Mosterdsoep The Netherlands 108

Nachos Mexico & USA 110

Nasi Lemak Malaysia & Singapore 112

! Nduja Italy 114

Ostras Picantes Guinea-Bissau 116

Palm Butter Liberia 118

Papas a la Huanca’na Peru 120

Pasta all! arrabbiata Italy 122

Pepperpot Guyana & Caribbean 124

Pica Pau Portugal 126

Pickled Herring in

Mustard Sauce Norway 128

Pig Trotter Curry India & Nepal 130

Pimientos de Padr! n Spain 132

Piri-piri chicken Mozambique 134

Rasam India 136

Ras el Hanout Morocco 138

Rendang Daging Malaysia &

Indonesia 140

Saliva Chicken China 142

Samak Harrah Lebanon, Syria

& Jordan 144

Sambal Udang Petai Indonesia,

Malaysia & Singapore 146

Sambaro Tanzania 148

Samosas India 150

Shakshouka Tunisia 152

Shawayuh Yemen 154

Sichuan Crescent Dumplings

China 156

Contents

Adana kebab Turkey 12

Assam Laksa Malaysia 14

Black-Pepper Crab Singapore 16

Buffalo Wings USA 18

Bunny Chow South Africa 20

Camarones a la Diabla Mexico 22

Caribbean Curry Goat Caribbean 24

Carne Deshebrada en

Salsa Roja Mexico 26

Ceviche Peru 28

Chilli Dogs USA 30

Chongqing Hotpot China 32

Chorizo Spain 34

! iğ Kš fte Turkey 36

Crab with Kampot Pepper

Cambodia 38

Dan Dan Noodles China 40

Devil! s Curry Singapore 42

Doro Wat Ethiopia 44

Ema Datse Bhutan 46

Enchiladas Mexico & USA 48

Fiš Paprikas Croatia 50

Fish Head Curry

Singapore & Malaysia 52

Five-Alarm Texas Chili USA 54

Gaang Tai Plaa Thailand 56

Gado Gado Indonesia 58

Gan Guo China 60

Gong Bao Chicken China 62

Goulash Hungary 64

Groundnut Soup Ghana 66

Hong Shao Niu Rou Mian Taiwan 68

Hot Chicken USA 70

Jambalaya USA 72

Jamaican Jerk Caribbean 74

Jollof Rice West Africa 76

Kak'ik Guatemala 78

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* Condiments *

Singapore Noodles

Everywhere but Singapore! 158

Som Tam Thailand & Laos 160

Souse Caribbean 162

Thai Green Curry Thailand 164

Tikka Masala United Kingdom 166

Tom Yam Gung Thailand 168

Tortas Ahogadas Mexico 170

Tteokbokki Korea 172

Vindaloo India 174

Yam Neua Thailand 176

Yu Xiang Qie Zi China 178

Zahtar Iraq & Palestine 180

Green Chile USA 184

Harissa Tunisia 186

Horseradish Europe & USA 188

Kimchi South Korea 190

Lime Pickle India, Pakistan &

Bangladesh 192

Lutenica The Balkans 194

Muhummara Middle East 196

Mustard England 198

Nam Phrik Thailand 200

Pepper Jelly USA 202

Piccalilli England 204

Pol Sambola Sri Lanka 206

Salsa Xnipec Mexico 208

Sambal Ulek Malaysia &

Indonesia 210

Wasabi Japan 212

Glossary 214

Authors 218

Index 220

01_Front_Matter.indd 5 11/10/2013 3:53:20 PM

brother’s demise. I, though, was in love. One

drop of Tabasco sauce, and I’ve never looked

back since.

Soon, I was splashing this beautiful Louisiana

hot sauce over everything that was put before

me, from toast and egg to steak and shepherd’s

pie. And this was just the start: Tabasco was

the gateway drug of an addiction that would

take over my life. Curries followed, each more

potent than the next, madras fi rst, then the

great leap to vindaloo. I began to cook with

chillies, moving quickly from dull, generic long

green things to the fruity insanity of the Scotch

bonnet. Before long, I was a subscriber to Chile

Pepper magazine, scouring the streets for my

next spicy hit.

Visits to Thailand followed, som toms with

enough bird’s-eye punch to fl oor a rampaging

bull elephant, let alone a rather pasty Brit. Tom

yam gungs, fragrant with heat and fi sh sauce,

nam phrik pla fl owing like monsoon-bloated

rivers. I just couldn’t get enough: it was pain,

It started with a drop, beguilingly red and

devilishly scented, poured from a small,

elegant bottle onto the back of my hand.

‘Go on, try it,’ my sister implored, her eyes

glittering with glee. ‘All the grown ups drink the

stuff . How dangerous can it be?’ So I closed

my eyes tight, and plunged my tongue into the

unknown. The fi rst taste was sharp but not

unpleasant, like the vinegar that we splashed

on our chips. I smiled, and sighed with relief.

Much ado about nothing. And then it hit, a fi erce,

brutally burning sensation that started in my

mouth before spreading, like a raging forest fi re,

across my lips and down into my throat.

My eyes brimmed with tears and I tried to

scream but to no avail. I’d never felt pain like this.

It was worse than stinging nettles and grazed

knees and the slap of a cold football on rain-

drenched fl esh. I fell to the fl oor, clutching my

belly, convinced that this damned liquid, this

evil draught, was noxious poison, the killer of

small boys.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the agony

abated. I opened my eyes and looked about.

The light seemed somehow brighter, every

colour suddenly more vivid. Sure, my tongue

still throbbed and my lips smarted too. But my

whole body was enveloped in a warm glow. My

sister, of course, was sheet-white and trembling,

convinced that she was the architect of her

* Introduction *By Tom Parker-Bowles

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0 80 80 80 80 |||| T HT HT HT HT HT HHHT HH E WOE WOE WOE WOE WOE WOE WOWOE WOO R L D 'R L D 'R L D 'R L D 'R L D 'R L D 'R L DR L D 'L D 'R L DR L D 'R L DDR L DD S B ES B ES B ES B ES B ES BS B ES B EBBBS BBBS BBS BB ST SST SST SST SST SST SSST SST SST ST P I CYP IP I CYP I CYP I CYP I CYP I CYCYCP I CYCI CYYCYY F O OF O OF O OF O OF O OF O OF O OF O OF O OF O OF O OOF O OOOOO DDDDDDDDDDD

sure, but exquisite pleasure too. There were

dhals eaten in India at roadside shops, little

more than ten pence a portion, but thick with

great lengths of dried Kashmiri chilli. And

Indonesian sambals, in every hue and pong.

I visited hot-sauce shows in Albuquerque,

New Mexico: entire conference centres devoted

to fi ery foods. And fell in love with the chile con

carne of Texas, plus the entire cuisine of Mexico,

from birrias and ceviches to tortillas, tacos and

tostadas. I huff ed and puff ed my way through

incendiary, but impossibly crisp, hot chicken

at Prince’s in Nashville, Tennessee, breakfast

burritos smothered with green chile in Santa Fe,

New Mexico. And bought Caribbean hot sauces

bottled in old Lucozade bottles from roadside

stalls in Antigua. Then there’s kimchi in Korea,

harissa-spiked couscous, Sichuan chilli hotpots

and everything else in between.

I love the chilli more than any other fruit,

pretty much more than any ingredient there is.

It’s not all about heat, rather, huge complexities

of fl avour and texture and joy. The smoky heft

of a chipotle chilli, the verdant tang of a fresh

jalapeno. But the reason why the chilli pepper is

so damned addictive lies in its active ingredient,

capsaicin, a nasty little irritant alkaloid. The

hotter the chilli, the more of this chemical it

contains, hitting the taste buds hard, sending

them reeling in pain. So the body reacts, and

sends in the Special Forces (better known as

endorphins). That’s why the agony of really

hot chilli burn is followed by that blissful state

of dreamy joy. As these endorphins fl ood the

system, putting out the fi res, we experience a

truly natural ‘high’.

But this book is not about chillies alone, rather

‘spicy’ food in its every guise. The pungent,

nose-clearing honk of wasabi, mustard and

horseradish; pepper’s pep (black, white, pink and

Sichuan) and paprika’s punch; the warming allure

of cinnamon and mace, the bracing crunch of

piccalilli. These are dishes to make the taste buds

punch the air with elation, fl avours that kickstart

the palate and infuse every sense with joy.

As you’d expect, there are a huge number

of dishes from Thailand, India and Mexico, the

three great chilli cuisines, alongside Sichuan

Chinese and Korean too. But we also feast upon

herrings from Norway, Turkish kebabs, Czech

sausages and African chicken. Trindadian souse

sits alongside Hungarian goulash, katsu curry

shares space with Spanish grilled peppers. This

book is a celebration of spiciness in every form:

ingredients that turn the bland to the brilliant,

the dreary into the divine.

And, like all food, it’s the fi nest way to

experience any foreign culture. Forget the

funereal silence and air-conditioned gloom of

those insipid ‘international’ restaurants, with

their second-rate approximations of dreary

Western fare. This is real food, pulsing with

vibrancy and delight, bringing a truly happy tear

to one’s eye. Best of all, you need nothing more

than a healthy appetite, an open mind and a

handful of the local currency. Spice. One word, a

million diff erent thrills.

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