I'm not a fan of spicy foods. I enjoy the flavor some chilies or peppers or spices lend to food, but I'm also very sensitive to the heat they bring.
The rest of my family loves spicy foods, but what's mild to them is excruciating to me.
So I don't really have a spicy food story. I avoid eating things labeled anything hotter than mild.
And some of those mild foods are too much for me.
But other people make spicy foods a sport with eating contests and challenges.
Reddit user Competitive_Emu_7689 asked:
"What’s the spiciest food you’ve ever eaten?"
Buldak Samyang x3 Spicy Ramen
"I bought the Buldak 3x spicy in a Korean convenience store thinking it was a joke."
"It was not a f*cking joke."
~ 7N10
"I got a couple packages of those for my ramen/spice loving teenager and I tried one."
"My dude, even with only half the sauce packet AND the greek yogurt I threw in after a few bites I couldn't do it."
"My kid ate a whole one and said it was great."
~ MashedNeeps
Paqui Ghost Pepper One Chip Challenge
"That f*cking Paqui Ghost Pepper One Chip Challenge thing they sell at convenience stores."
"I’ve had some hot food. I’ve tried most of the Hot Ones lineup from various seasons, even Da Bomb."
"That goddamn chip made me puke because it was so unrelentingly hot and I barely ate half of it."
"Wrecked my stomach and throat for the next day and a half. Never again."
~ try_by
Da Bomb Beyond Insanity Hot Sauce
"I tried Da Bomb Beyond Insanity hot sauce (of Hot Ones fame)."
"It is every bit as bad as it seems, if not more so."
~ jekelish3
"So I have a really high tolerance for eating hot stuff after years of getting punched in the face by my food."
"To show off to my coworkers, I ate this stuff by the tablespoon with no reaction."
"Then 20 minutes later, it started with hiccups and turned into excruciating intestinal pain."
"I ended up pouring sweat from my forehead, lying down in the bathroom stall, not sure if I was going to poop or puke."
"I did both."
"Never told anybody. People still talk about that time I ate Da Bomb."
~ DO_NOT_GILD_ME
Carolina Reaper Pepper
"Ate a reaper raw which is always agony, but I’ve done it before—so the second time I did it, I knew how to prep, I knew how to prepare, and I knew it would suck, but I could do it…"
"…then I got one of the seeds caught between my tooth and my gum and couldn’t get it out."
"It was like someone shoving a white hot needle into the root of my tooth."
"0/10—Never doing it again. Irrational fear unlocked."
"I honest to God will never eat a raw reaper again because of that fear… and the remembered pain."
~ UncleCoyote
Last Dab Hot Sauce
"Hot Ones Last Dab sauce on wings."
~ Add_8_Years
Thai Chili Pepper
"I was in an Iranian restaurant in Dubai and the crudites plate had, I think, a sliced onion, carrot, maybe a cucumber, and what looked to me like one green bean. Raw onion, okay, I can go for that, great."
"Huh, why is there only one green bean? Oh well ... I chomped down on it, and it took a second or two, but quickly became overwhelming."
"The room spun, and I couldn't regain my composure for several minutes. A coworker said it looked like I would throw up."
"Eventually I got over it, but whew. That was a memorable experience."
"Can anyone guess what I might have been chomping on? Thai Chili."
~ corvid_booster
Death Nut Challenge 2.0
"I tell my current girlfriend how cool it would be to try the Death Nut Challenge 2.0. So she goes and buys it for me and my brother in law."
"Looking back I think it was her attempt to kill me."
"I completed the challenge and live to tell the tale. It was horrific. 10/10 I recommend once."
"About a year later, she then goes and buys me the new Death Nut Challenge 3.0."
"Fool me once... It sits with my collection of things I will never try."
~ Own-Employee2602
Another One Chip Challenge
"My son and I did the One Chip Challenge one Christmas morning. He bought it for us to do together so I thought what the hell."
"At first it tasted like a burnt chip. You think 'eh this isn’t that hot'. Then you swallow it and it immediately feels like you swallowed lava."
"We were both out in the back yard coughing and gagging and crying like Dumb and Dumber. F*cking snot pouring out of our noses."
"Trying to drink OJ as the label suggests because apparently the acid cuts the burn. Yeah, okay, because we poured a whole gallon on our tongues and we’re grabbing handfuls of snow and shoving it in our mouths."
"I’m a grown man crying outside in my pajamas lying on the cold cement, gagging and crying and scratching my tongue like an a**hole. Dumbest f*cking thing I’ve ever done."
~ OsoRetro
Jalapeño
"It was a simple Jalapeño. I didn't even eat it. I cut it up and used a spoon to remove seeds, without wearing gloves."
"I couldn't get my hands to stop burning. I tried everything everyone recommended and nothing worked to stop the burn."
"My hands were red for hours. The best part was the spoon got washed in the dishwasher and later my kid used it to eat ice cream."
"Her mouth started to burn! We put two and two together eventually, but it must've been the hottest Jalapeño on the planet."
~ ungloomy_Eeyore964
Philippine Street Food
"In the Philippines, it was a street food I don't remember the name of. I think the name meant meat on a stick."
"No idea what kind of meat, but it was the spiciest thing I ever had before or since."
"It was addictive, too—I got it almost every day."
~ AdminWhore
Wasabi
"The one I most remember: I grew up in Kansas and the first time I went out for sushi was in college on a date."
"I hadn’t had wasabi, didn’t know what it was, my date said I should just eat the whole portion provided for both of us and I did."
"She thought it was hilarious. It was not."
~ mastap88
Big Lots Ghost Pepper Sauce
"Was a generic looking ghost pepper sauce I found at Big Lots store. Smothered my burritos with it."
"I love sauce usually. But that sh*t had me in tears."
"Have eaten other ghost pepper salsa and sauces without it hitting me as bad as that one."
~ Beep_Boop_Beepity
Nepalese Food
"Nepalese food. Can't remember what dish it was but they asked me how spicy do u want it 1-10."
"I said like 1 or 2 and holy cow!"
"I thought I liked spicy food. I may be wrong."
~ Original-Owl-1549
Indian Food In London
"My buddy has a pretty high spice tolerance. We had lunch at an Indian restaurant in London and he asked for the spiciest dish they had."
"I looked over at one point and could tell he was struggling badly."
"He finally convinced me to take a bite after I finished my food. Couldn’t taste anything for a week."
~ tizod
Naga Viper Peppers
"A coworker bought some peppers at a farmer's market and gave them to me, a bartender and one of the cooks because she said they were too spicy."
"The cook had to make himself vomit because he couldn't stop shaking and the bartender started coughing uncontrollably. I was barely able to keep my composure only after I downed a glass of milk."
"We looked them up and they were naga viper peppers."
~ negativeyoda
What's the hottest thing you've ever eaten?
@GavinNewsom/X
