5 ms·

A bunch of us Westerner looking types went to a Thai restaurant in Mountain View. This was many years ago and I don't recall the restaurant. We ordered some sha

by js2 8y ago

A bunch of us Westerner looking types went to a Thai restaurant in Mountain View. This was many years ago and I don't recall the restaurant. We ordered some shared dish and were asked how spicy we wanted it, 1-10. We said 10. The whole "are you sure?" thing a few times. They brought the dish out. We said "this really isn't 10 spicy." The server said, "next time say you want it 10 on the Thai scale". Sigh. I live in NC now. There's an ice cream place here that has you sign a release form before they'll let you try their "Cold Sweat"[0] made with habanaro, ghost pepper oil, etc, ice cream. I tried it. It was pretty amazingly hot, but while eating it I noticed they had a flavor called "Exit Wound." I asked what it was. "Oh, that's even hotter." Didn't try it... the Cold Sweat was really hot. There's something wrong with an America where the spiciest food I can get is ice cream. :-) [0] Cheesy food network video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8oy_zYRTZ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8oy_zYRTZ0

tptacek 8y ago
I think this may be a thing with Thai restaurants in general; it's not just spiciness but also level of fish sauce and even the way the dish is prepared. There's a thing in Chicago about "secret menu" Thai restaurants, which are often written in Thai language (food nerds in Chicago have translated and published them). It might be possible to order things "Thai style" in any good Thai restaurant and get a different, better dish.
- cbhl 8y ago
  Anecdote: Had a (caucasian) friend who spent a four-month co-op term as a student in India, and when they came back they also had to insist to the local Indian restaurants "yes, I want it extra spicy, like you would serve to an Indian person". (Like, I realize this is frustrating, but how is the waiter going to know -- from your appearance -- that you spent four months eating Indian food in India?)
  - magic_beans 8y ago
    Several of my colleagues find buffalo wing sauce to be unbearably spicy... Most white people in the US aren’t as adventurous as those on HN.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
  - faragon 8y ago
    Indians are caucasian, too.
    - YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
      More to the point, "caucasian" is an obsolete and ill-defined term that was interpreted in various ways throughout its history: The Caucasian race (also Caucasoid[1] or Europid)[2] is a grouping of human beings historically regarded as a biological taxon, which, depending on which of the historical race classifications used, have usually included some or all of the ancient and modern populations of Europe, Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa.[3] Since the second half of the 20th century, physical anthropologists have moved away from a typological understanding of human biological diversity towards a genomic and population-based perspective, and have tended to understand race as a social classification of humans based on phenotype and ancestry as well as cultural factors, as the concept is also understood in the social sciences.[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race
      - faragon 8y ago
        Sure, I forgot the quotes, thank you. The whole "race" thing is ridiculous, in my opinion.
        ThomasRedstone 8y ago
        Is white not an acceptable term? In Britain, on government forms that's the term used.
- shostack 8y ago
  My photo is on the wall of a Chicago Thai restaurant for their spicy food challenge. They had a scale of: mild, medium, hot. From there they had a second scale of: Thai hot 1x-10x. If you cleared your plate at Thai hot 7x or higher you got your meal comped and your photo on the wall. My friend and I did it one day. He ordered a curry and had no problem. I ordered pad thai that was the biggest plate of noodles I'd ever seen and failed because my stomach wasn't large enough vs it being from the heat. Went back and did the curry no problem. The thing with very spicy foods is at a certain point your tongue checks out and flavors just get muted. Personally I love the Sichuan approach since the peppercorns numb your tongue to the heat a little which for me lets me more fully experience the flavors of the chiles.
zachberger 8y ago
I've found at Thai restaurants I have better luck telling them how many chilies I want added. I learned this trick when in Thailand. I would order something "very spicy" or "Thai spicy" and I would always be questioned. One waitress asked me how many chilies and I've been using that ever since. I've settled on 4-5 chilies for Som Tam.
hueving 8y ago
Why haven't we started calling out this racism and shunning it? It's better if everyone is on the same page for spiciness levels and judging peoples' tastes based on their skin color is inaccurate and offensive.
- dang 8y ago
  Please don't needlessly jack up the flame levels here. Restaurant workers trying to figure out what their customers will be happy with is hardly "racism" that needs "calling out". Moreover the online trope of "calling out" is something HN can do without. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - soonat11 8y ago
    Your account was created August 18th 2007, you are soon at eleven, Sir.
  - hueving 8y ago
    Positive racism ("I'm trying to help the stereotypical image of what I think you are") is still racism. There is no such think as 'hardly racism'. That's an excuse for racist behavior you agree with. It definitely needs to be called out because it's the same level as suggesting that a black person wants fried chicken despite the fact that they ordered grilled chicken. "I think you actually want X despite asking for Y because of your skin color." I'm honestly surprised that you are defending this behavior given your otherwise neutral positions. It's disgusting.
jeswin 8y ago
I went through the same experience once; instead of 1-10 I told them I wanted the "Thai spicy" maximum. I thought being an Indian it should be something I could handle; I couldn't have been more wrong. That thing burnt my intestines and "exit wound" was literally true. Took two days to feel completely alright. "Indian spicy" is not really that hot - it's more about the strong flavor that comes with mixing spices of multiple varieties.
pacificleo11 8y ago
Was it Amron Thai On Castro Street ?
- js2 8y ago
  No. My recollection is that it was a block or two off Castro on either Villa or Dana. This is over 5 years ago though.
zoltanse 8y ago
Same experience here. Learned to order "Thai-hot" while working in Frankfurt (Germany) and frequenting a Thai food truck. Nearby was "Best Worscht in Town". Try it when in Germany - http://bestworschtintown.com http://bestworschtintown.com They sell sausages and fries. You have to choose a flavour and the level of spiciness for the sauce/relish. Latter ranges from A to F. I can manage D (333,000 SCU according to web site). For F (short for FBI or Fking Burning Injection, 1,200,000 SCU) I heard that they require to sign an indemnification agreement.

by js2 8y ago

tptacek 8y ago

I think this may be a thing with Thai restaurants in general; it's not just spiciness but also level of fish sauce and even the way the dish is prepared. There's a thing in Chicago about "secret menu" Thai restaurants, which are often written in Thai language (food nerds in Chicago have translated and published them). It might be possible to order things "Thai style" in any good Thai restaurant and get a different, better dish.

cbhl 8y ago
Anecdote: Had a (caucasian) friend who spent a four-month co-op term as a student in India, and when they came back they also had to insist to the local Indian restaurants "yes, I want it extra spicy, like you would serve to an Indian person". (Like, I realize this is frustrating, but how is the waiter going to know -- from your appearance -- that you spent four months eating Indian food in India?)
- magic_beans 8y ago
  Several of my colleagues find buffalo wing sauce to be unbearably spicy... Most white people in the US aren’t as adventurous as those on HN.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- faragon 8y ago
  Indians are caucasian, too.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
    More to the point, "caucasian" is an obsolete and ill-defined term that was interpreted in various ways throughout its history: The Caucasian race (also Caucasoid[1] or Europid)[2] is a grouping of human beings historically regarded as a biological taxon, which, depending on which of the historical race classifications used, have usually included some or all of the ancient and modern populations of Europe, Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa.[3] Since the second half of the 20th century, physical anthropologists have moved away from a typological understanding of human biological diversity towards a genomic and population-based perspective, and have tended to understand race as a social classification of humans based on phenotype and ancestry as well as cultural factors, as the concept is also understood in the social sciences.[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race
    - faragon 8y ago
      Sure, I forgot the quotes, thank you. The whole "race" thing is ridiculous, in my opinion.
      - ThomasRedstone 8y ago
        Is white not an acceptable term? In Britain, on government forms that's the term used.
shostack 8y ago
My photo is on the wall of a Chicago Thai restaurant for their spicy food challenge. They had a scale of: mild, medium, hot. From there they had a second scale of: Thai hot 1x-10x. If you cleared your plate at Thai hot 7x or higher you got your meal comped and your photo on the wall. My friend and I did it one day. He ordered a curry and had no problem. I ordered pad thai that was the biggest plate of noodles I'd ever seen and failed because my stomach wasn't large enough vs it being from the heat. Went back and did the curry no problem. The thing with very spicy foods is at a certain point your tongue checks out and flavors just get muted. Personally I love the Sichuan approach since the peppercorns numb your tongue to the heat a little which for me lets me more fully experience the flavors of the chiles.

zachberger 8y ago

I've found at Thai restaurants I have better luck telling them how many chilies I want added. I learned this trick when in Thailand. I would order something "very spicy" or "Thai spicy" and I would always be questioned. One waitress asked me how many chilies and I've been using that ever since. I've settled on 4-5 chilies for Som Tam.

hueving 8y ago

Why haven't we started calling out this racism and shunning it? It's better if everyone is on the same page for spiciness levels and judging peoples' tastes based on their skin color is inaccurate and offensive.

dang 8y ago
Please don't needlessly jack up the flame levels here. Restaurant workers trying to figure out what their customers will be happy with is hardly "racism" that needs "calling out". Moreover the online trope of "calling out" is something HN can do without. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- soonat11 8y ago
  Your account was created August 18th 2007, you are soon at eleven, Sir.
- hueving 8y ago
  Positive racism ("I'm trying to help the stereotypical image of what I think you are") is still racism. There is no such think as 'hardly racism'. That's an excuse for racist behavior you agree with. It definitely needs to be called out because it's the same level as suggesting that a black person wants fried chicken despite the fact that they ordered grilled chicken. "I think you actually want X despite asking for Y because of your skin color." I'm honestly surprised that you are defending this behavior given your otherwise neutral positions. It's disgusting.

jeswin 8y ago

I went through the same experience once; instead of 1-10 I told them I wanted the "Thai spicy" maximum. I thought being an Indian it should be something I could handle; I couldn't have been more wrong. That thing burnt my intestines and "exit wound" was literally true. Took two days to feel completely alright. "Indian spicy" is not really that hot - it's more about the strong flavor that comes with mixing spices of multiple varieties.

pacificleo11 8y ago

Was it Amron Thai On Castro Street ?

js2 8y ago
No. My recollection is that it was a block or two off Castro on either Villa or Dana. This is over 5 years ago though.

zoltanse 8y ago

Same experience here. Learned to order "Thai-hot" while working in Frankfurt (Germany) and frequenting a Thai food truck. Nearby was "Best Worscht in Town". Try it when in Germany - http://bestworschtintown.com http://bestworschtintown.com They sell sausages and fries. You have to choose a flavour and the level of spiciness for the sauce/relish. Latter ranges from A to F. I can manage D (333,000 SCU according to web site). For F (short for FBI or Fking Burning Injection, 1,200,000 SCU) I heard that they require to sign an indemnification agreement.