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If your food is too spicy, there are a few tips and tricks you can use to neutralize the heat. Which method works best depends primarily on the food itself. Even if you’ve ordered a dish that’s too spicy at a restaurant, fortunately there are various ways to make it enjoyable again.
Food Too Spicy: Emergency Remedies for Cooking
If you accidentally used too much pepper while cooking or the chili pepper is spicier than expected, you can easily salvage your meal. You can also neutralize the spiciness in your mouth quite easily.
- Fat: Spicy compounds like capsaicin, found in chili peppers, are fat-soluble. You can therefore neutralize the heat of a chili pepper by adding fat. Depending on the dish, good options include mascarpone, Greek yogurt, cheese, or even plant-based fats like coconut oil.
- If your dish already contains enough fat, you can still take advantage of its binding properties: Let everything cool slightly so that the fat rises to the surface. Skim it off, and in doing so, you’ll also reduce the spiciness of the dish. This method works well, for example, with soups, curries, or even chili con/sin carne.
- Vary the amount: This approach doesn’t always work, but you can simply add more of the other ingredients so that the overall spiciness is spread out over a larger quantity. This is a particularly useful option if you can freeze your dish. Raw vegetables also help to absorb the heat.
- More liquid: Especially with soups, it’s a good idea to use more milk, tomatoes, broth, or even wine or cream. This also helps spread the heat over a larger volume.
- Sweetening: Sugar, syrup, or honey can tone down the heat slightly. Be careful with the amount, though, or the dish will quickly become too sweet.
- Tip: Next time, you can simply replace some of the chili peppers with bell peppers. The heat is mainly concentrated in the seeds and the membranes—carefully remove these parts while wearing gloves, and be sure to avoid touching your eyes afterward.
If you’ve eaten a dish that’s too spicy at home or at a restaurant—here’s what to do
If you only realize while eating—or even at a restaurant—that your dish is too spicy, all is not lost. Here, too, you have several options to make your meal more enjoyable.
- Rice, sour cream, and yogurt: Opt for side dishes that cut the heat. At a restaurant, simply order them as an additional side dish; staff will usually be understanding if you explain that the dish is too spicy. Depending on the restaurant, rice, sour cream, or full-fat yogurt work well for this.
- Bread: Chewing bread for a longer time also helps to soothe the spiciness in your mouth. Bread with sour cream or mascarpone works particularly well.
- Milk-based drinks: If rice doesn’t go well with your meal at all, certain drinks can also help ease the heat: If the menu offers milk-based drinks and products such as lassis, ayran, milk, or even ice cream, order a serving of one of these. The casein they contain neutralizes the capsaicin. You can usually get a glass of milk without any trouble at any restaurant if you explain your predicament.
- Tea: In some Asian and Middle Eastern countries, tea is drunk with or immediately after a meal. Try, for example, a sweetened peppermint tea.
- Vegan Options: Dairy products like mascarpone are naturally off-limits in a vegan diet, so rely primarily on plant-based fats like coconut oil and sugary foods like bananas and honey to counteract the heat. Bread is also a good option.
- Tip: Most people’s first instinct is to drink water. However, plain water usually only makes the discomfort worse, as it allows the spicy compounds to spread even further throughout the mouth and throat.
