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Back in the 90s when I was in college, my friend brought back Sambal Asli hot sauce packets from Indonesia after holiday breaks. I think he said it meant "real

Back in the 90s when I was in college, my friend brought back Sambal Asli hot sauce packets from Indonesia after holiday breaks. I think he said it meant "real sauce" but I just looked it up and it might mean "original sauce". The funny thing about it is that you build up a tolerance to how hot it is. So the first time you try it, a few drops feel like your face is burning off. By the end of the semester, we were pouring full packets on each slice of pizza. I just looked and I can't find the (ketchup sized) packets online. So I don't have anything to recognize the brand from. If anyone knows, please share! They are at least as addictive as Sriracha IMHO, should there ever be another shortage.

dyauspitr 1y ago
Sambal Asli is something like 2500 Scoville. That is an extremely mild level of spiciness. If you thought your face was burning off with that your spice tolerance is incredibly low.
- nearting 1y ago
  Sure, but I think the point is that you can build up some level of spice tolerance over time. Doesn't really make sense to judge someone's spice tolerance based on before they built it up.
  - dyauspitr 1y ago
    It’s like someone saying 80F is very cold, it’s jarring.
    - eszed 1y ago
      Funnily enough, my brain went there, too - only to derive opposite lesson. When I was a teenager I spent a summer in central America, living in mostly un-air conditioned spaces. The first few weeks were hellish, but I became gradually used to it. Then I came home, and remember 80° F, with no humidity, feeling distinctly chilly! I think the lesson there is that subjective / comparative judgments are, well, always and irremediably subjective. It's never possible to impose an alternative frame of reference and get to a "true" answer. That's frustrating for those of us who prefer to live in the objective realm - but it's maybe comforting to recognize that these matters are objectively subjective!

dyauspitr 1y ago

Sambal Asli is something like 2500 Scoville. That is an extremely mild level of spiciness. If you thought your face was burning off with that your spice tolerance is incredibly low.

nearting 1y ago
Sure, but I think the point is that you can build up some level of spice tolerance over time. Doesn't really make sense to judge someone's spice tolerance based on before they built it up.
- dyauspitr 1y ago
  It’s like someone saying 80F is very cold, it’s jarring.
  - eszed 1y ago
    Funnily enough, my brain went there, too - only to derive opposite lesson. When I was a teenager I spent a summer in central America, living in mostly un-air conditioned spaces. The first few weeks were hellish, but I became gradually used to it. Then I came home, and remember 80° F, with no humidity, feeling distinctly chilly! I think the lesson there is that subjective / comparative judgments are, well, always and irremediably subjective. It's never possible to impose an alternative frame of reference and get to a "true" answer. That's frustrating for those of us who prefer to live in the objective realm - but it's maybe comforting to recognize that these matters are objectively subjective!