Handling the heat: Spicy Chinese cuisine to turn it up

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Handling the heat: Spicy Chinese cuisine to turn it up

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xysoom

Posted 10 July 2023 - 03:46 AM

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Handling the heat: Spicy Chinese cuisine to turn it up

Spicy food is a topic of much intrigue around the food-o-sphere today, especially as people have broadened their culinary horizons in recent decades.To get more news about spicy chinese food, you can visit shine news official website.

People from different countries, regions, or cultures often brag about their tolerance for piquancy, challenging folks from other areas to see who can handle the highest amount of spice. It's a point of pride for many that they can crank up the heat and handle it gracefully while others tap out.
Joking aside, I, even as someone who fancies myself a spice-lover with an abnormally high tolerance – and preference – for foods with high heat levels, must admit that it's a bit of a strange phenomenon, at least on its face. The sensation that spicy food produces can hardly be categorized as anything other than pain, if you really think about it. The feeling produced is a negative reaction caused by the chemical capsaicin, which is present in spicy foods and triggers pain receptors in the mouth. It's a somatic defense mechanism meant to deter us from eating something that can, in some cases, harm us to a certain degree.

So why do some of us love it so much?

Well, there is a physiological reason for that, too, as the chemical's reaction with pain receptors also releases endorphins in the brain, compounds that serve as natural analgesics, to combat the sensation. Endorphins, of course, are also the feel-good compounds that produce feelings of euphoria, so hot foods do give us a rush behind simply the tingling tongue.

The thrill-seeking aspect certainly plays a role as well, taking on the challenge of eating notoriously spicy cuisine as a test of willpower. This can be observed at its extreme via trends on social media, with content creators challenging themselves to eat the most searing peppers and sauces on the planet, often with calamitous results. It also has the added benefit of not actually being truly dangerous. I'd never dream of going base-jumping or skydiving, but I might give the dreaded Carolina reaper – currently the hottest pepper in the world – a go someday.
Studies show that spicy foods can also have health benefits, contrary to popular opinion in some circles. Despite the fact that overconsumption can lead to gastrointestinal issues, studies suggest that the capsaicin in chili peppers has antioxidant and thus anti-inflammatory properties and can aid in boosting metabolism as well.

Capsaicin also has antibacterial and antifungal properties, which is a main reason why people in hotter, wetter climates tend to have a taste for spicier cuisine. It's also hypothesized that people in those areas tend to have developed taste buds over time that are less sensitive to pungency.

This is evident as many of the countries with the spiciest food are indeed located in those regions. Countries like India, Mexico, Jamaica, Ethiopia, and many Southeast Asian countries – and more, sorry to leave anyone out! – are widely known for turning up the heat at the dinner table.

As we all know, this is true in China as well, on a regional level that largely adheres to the same principle. The southerly areas of the country tend to prefer spicier food, whilst up north, the food is more hearty but lacks that peppery kick. Guangdong Province serves as a bit of an exception to this rule, but provinces like Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Jiangxi are famous for their spice, as well as the formerly Sichuanese but now self-administered city of Chongqing.
Shanghainese food, locally referred to as benbangcai (本帮菜), very rarely includes any sort of spiciness at all. It instead is centered around more subtle and fresh tastes combined with the savory flavor of soy sauce and a bit of sweetness as well. But, of course, hotter cuisine from the more southerly regions is available here also.

But nothing food-related can ever be simple in China, can it? Of course not! Each of these southern provinces and regions pride themselves on their specific types of spice. Different types of peppers with varying methods of preparation produce results that differ greatly from place to place. Let's have a closer look at these regional spicy cuisines and, in simple terms, examine some basic differences.