It surprises me to no end, that in such a small office as ours, I would have the rare opportunity to be aquainted with not one, but TWO pals who can't handle spicy food, not even a teeny weeny bit.
Kooki Shiokness and Mr Shiok Sendiri are two very special people who will not stand for anything spicy, and if force fed, the effects on them would be terrible.
To confirm the claims, I was treated to a reality show of Kooki's adverse effects to chilli:
Kooki Shiokness had as usual bought fried rice from her favourite vegetarian foodstall, and told the cook to keep chillis out of her food, as usual. Sitting at her workstation and tucking in to good warm food has always been a welcoming break for Kooki, and sometimes it teases our nostrils (once, rock chick, foxy and me went to grab fried rice cos of that, too tempting!).Suddenly, she started coughing, with a slow muffled throat throttle, and her eyes started to water. She could only mutter her complaint on the silly cook who put the sambal in...and she struggled to get a hold of herself. Rock Chick came to the rescue(happily) and finished up the sambal.As Kooki was fighting for her life(or so it seems), she hobbled to the water dispensor for warm water to douse the fire in her mouth, to little avail. Her coughs got more intense, as she threatened to cough out her lungs. And, as sudden as it came, the coughs started to hush to the throat throttle it started with.........And she only had a taste of chilli.Talk about spices and one of the finest cuisines to embody its richness would have to be the colourful and tantalising dishes of India. From its spicy hot curries to its "sweeter than sugar" desserts, there is always a type of spice in every dish.
Most Singaporeans would be shioking their way to enjoyment with that good ol' sambal, acha or even that mean little chilli padi. Without the fiery hot spike to tickle the tastebuds, local delights like nasi lemak, vadeh and even char kway teow would lose that kick. And don't even get me started on how we are going to re-establish our signature Chilli Crab or Fish Head Curry.
Chilli brings every meal to another level of shiokness...and just when I thought that I've reached my chilli resistance limit, Rock Chick and I take the ultimate chilli challenge, downing tom yam soup and the spiciest Thai noodles on the menu. It was magnificent! The red smoke felt like it was coming out of my ears and nose, and I was breathing out fire. With teary eyes, sniffling noses and red swollen lips, Rock Chick and I were taken beyond firedom with a smile.
That's all from Spicy Hot Me!