What to order if you love spicy food, cuisine by cuisine

If you love spicy food, order mapo tofu or boiled fish at a Sichuan restaurant, larb or som tam at a Thai restaurant, vindaloo at an Indian restaurant, and buldak or jjamppong at a Korean one. These dishes are built around heat rather than topped with it. Different cuisines also deliver different kinds of heat, so knowing which kind you like matters as much as how much of it you can take.

What kinds of spicy are there?

"Spicy" covers several different sensations, and most people prefer some over others:

• Fresh chili heat. Bright, sharp and fast, from fresh bird's eye, serrano or jalapeño chilies. Common in Thai, Vietnamese and Mexican food.
• Dried chili heat. Deeper, rounder and often a little smoky, from chilies that have been dried, toasted or fried in oil. Think Sichuan chili oil, Korean gochugaru and Mexican chile de árbol.
• Numbing heat. Sichuan peppercorn isn't hot on its own. It makes your lips tingle and buzz, and paired with chili it creates the famous "mala" (numbing and hot) flavor.
• Slow, building heat. Curries and stews where spice is cooked into the sauce, so the heat builds over the whole meal instead of hitting at once.
• Sinus heat. Wasabi, horseradish and mustard go up your nose and fade quickly. They're sharp but short.

If you love the tingle of mala, look for Sichuan dishes with peppercorn and chili together. If you prefer heat with lime and fresh herbs, consider larb or som tam. Those flavor descriptions give you a starting point; ask how this kitchen makes the dish before choosing a heat level.

What should you order at a Sichuan restaurant?

Sichuan is the best place to start if you like dried chili and numbing heat together.

• Mapo tofu. Soft tofu in a red, oily sauce with fermented bean paste, ground meat and Sichuan peppercorn. Rich, hot and numbing.
• Boiled fish (shui zhu yu). Tender fish slices served in a big bowl of broth under a layer of chili oil, dried chilies and peppercorns.
• Chongqing chicken (la zi ji). Crispy fried chicken pieces tossed with a pile of dried chilies. You pick the chicken out of the chilies.
• Dan dan noodles. Noodles with chili oil, sesame paste and seasoned pork. Hot, but softened by the sesame.

What should you order at a Thai restaurant?

Thai heat tends to be fresh and bright, paired with lime, fish sauce and herbs.

• Larb. Minced meat salad with lime, fish sauce, chili, toasted rice powder and mint. Sour, salty and very hot when made traditionally.
• Som tam (green papaya salad). Shredded unripe papaya pounded with chili, lime, fish sauce and palm sugar. Crunchy and fiery.
• Jungle curry. A curry without coconut milk, so nothing softens the chili.
• Drunken noodles. Wide rice noodles stir-fried with chili and holy basil.

Green and red curry can both be hot; the color does not tell you which is hotter at this restaurant. Ask about the paste, chili level and what the kitchen can adjust. Tom yum brings chili and sour together in a soup. For the full menu, see our guide on what to order at a Thai restaurant.

What should you order at an Indian restaurant?

Ask how the kitchen seasons the dish and whether its heat can be adjusted. A dish name does not tell you how hot this restaurant makes it, and chili already mixed into a sauce may be difficult to remove.

• Vindaloo. A Goan curry with vinegar, garlic and plenty of dried red chili. Tangy and hot.
• Laal maas. A Rajasthani lamb curry that gets its deep red color from dried chilies.
• Chettinad chicken. A dark, peppery curry from Tamil Nadu with black pepper, dried chilies and roasted spices.
• Chicken 65. Crispy fried chicken tossed in chili, curry leaves and garlic, often served as a starter.

What should you order at a Korean restaurant?

Korean heat comes mostly from gochugaru (chili flakes) and gochujang (fermented chili paste), which add sweetness and depth along with the burn.

• Buldak. "Fire chicken," grilled or stir-fried in a very hot, slightly sweet chili sauce, often with melted cheese to take the edge off.
• Jjamppong. A red, spicy seafood noodle soup.
• Tteokbokki. Chewy rice cakes in a sweet, hot gochujang sauce.
• Sundubu jjigae. Soft tofu stew in a spicy broth, often served still bubbling.

Spicy-glazed Korean fried chicken is a milder, crunchier way in.

What about other cuisines?

• Mexican. Ask which salsa brings the kind of heat you want and whether you can try it on the side. Aguachile often uses raw shrimp dressed with lime juice and chili; confirm this restaurant's preparation. Citrus treatment is not heat cooking: CDC guidance includes seafood treated with citrus or other acids among raw foods to avoid when traveling. Ask for a fully cooked alternative if you need to avoid raw seafood.
• Ethiopian. Doro wat, a chicken stew made with berbere spice, has a deep, slow heat. Kitfo is often served with mitmita, a hotter chili blend.
• Caribbean. Jerk chicken gets its heat from scotch bonnet chilies along with allspice and thyme.
• Southeast Asian. Malaysian and Indonesian dishes often come with sambal, a chili paste, on the side. Khao soi and curry laksa are rich coconut noodle soups with a steady burn.
• American. Nashville hot chicken is fried chicken coated in a cayenne-heavy paste, usually ordered by heat level.

How do you ask for more heat without regretting it?

• Start one step below your limit at a new place. Heat scales aren't standard. One restaurant's "medium" is another's "hot."
• Say what you want in plain words. "I like it as spicy as the kitchen makes it for itself" usually gets you further than "extra hot."
• Ask for chili on the side. Many Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants will bring chili oil, fresh chilies or chili flakes so you can add more yourself.
• Order a cooling side. Plain rice, sticky rice, cucumber, raita or a lassi gives your mouth a break between bites.

How can Palytt help?

Heat is personal, and a dish that's perfect for one person is too mild or too much for another. The Palytt app learns your taste, including how much spice you like, from onboarding food preferences and the dishes you save, post and rate, then can show a 0–100 match score with a one-line reason when it has enough evidence about your taste and a dish. Where enough dish information exists, an order guide groups picks into get this, add on, popular here and maybe skip, and friends' verdicts appear where friends have rated a dish. The browser Palytt pal quiz describes how you eat for fun; taking it does not change dish match scores. If you're eating with a group that has mixed spice tolerance, Rooms let everyone vote on where to go. Palytt is free on iPhone and iPad. Restaurant and dish coverage varies; check whether your place has a useful Order Guide.

For a chain-menu comparison, see what to order at Popeyes and decide whether you want heat in your sandwich or a different chicken format.

On an Indian menu, warm spices do not always mean more chili. Our chicken tikka masala vs butter chicken comparison explains the sauce and heat differences to check with the kitchen.

FAQ

What is the spiciest cuisine to order?

It depends on the kind of heat you like. Sichuan, Thai and some regional Indian cooking are known for very hot dishes, but Sichuan heat is numbing and oily while Thai heat is fresh and sour.

What should I order at a Thai restaurant if I like spicy food?

Consider larb, som tam, jungle curry, green curry or drunken noodles. Ask how hot this kitchen makes each dish and whether it can add chili or serve it on the side; labels such as "Thai spicy" do not define a standard heat level.

What does "mala" mean on a Chinese menu?

Mala means numbing and hot. It describes Sichuan dishes that combine Sichuan peppercorn, which makes your mouth tingle, with dried chili heat.

What Indian dish is the spiciest?

There is no single spiciest dish across restaurants. Vindaloo, laal maas and Chettinad chicken are candidates when you want chili or pepper-forward flavor. Ask which is hottest on this menu and what the kitchen can adjust.

How do I ask a restaurant to make food spicier?

Tell the server you want it as spicy as the kitchen would make it for themselves, or ask for chili oil or fresh chilies on the side. At a new restaurant, start one step below your usual heat level.