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Posted 1862 days ago by

Taming the Hottest Pepper on Earth

Bhut Jolokia

I love a little spice in my food, but when it gets too hot, I go running for a tall glass of milk. Why not water you ask? Because milk coats your mouth with a protein called casein that helps keeps your nerve receptors from going up into flames. Casein is a lipophilic (fat-loving) substance that surrounds and washes away the fatty capsaicinoids molecules (the stuff that makes peppers so damn spicy and hot) in much the same way that soap washes away grease.

If you ever wondered what the world’s hottest chili pepper is, it’s Bhut Jolokia, according to the Guinness Book Of Records. Bhut Jolokia grows in the Assam region of northeastern India, and it’s name translates as ghost chili.

Bhut Jolokia comes in at 1,001,304 Scoville heat units, a measure of hotness for a chili. It’s nearly twice as hot as Red Savina, the variety it replaces as the hottest. By comparison, a New Mexico green chili contains about 1,500 Scoville units; an average jalapeno measures at about 10,000.

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  • glimmerish

    I can barely handle jalopeno peppers. I can’t imagine what the bhut is like!

  • haz

    i wonder what happen if you eat the Bhut Jolokia raw?
    maybe you will lose the sense of taste in your tongue forever?

  • David

    That would be pretty insane if you’re in India and you tricked one of your friends of eating a whole or a part of the Bhut Jolokia. :D

  • http://thisisjohndoe.blogspot.com duperpok

    Haha, it just so happens that I’m currently working in India now. For a Chinese used to bland flavors, most things they serve here is good enough to knock me out!

  • Kase

    ^^^

    If you’re gonna trick someone to eating a Bhut Jolokia, most likley he’s not your friend. lol XD
    Yeah, if I eat something too hot, I rinse my mouth with milk. Take another bite and repeat.

  • http://www.erapo.szm.sk Lenka

    omFg… i have enough when i eat chilli

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  • Dexter Kanuto

    Excellent for Kimchi, Yakisoba, Pad Thai and Laksa. It would be funny if it’s added in the DR. PEPPER drink recipe, hehehe. Anyways, tongues out!!!

  • Dexter Kanuto

    I’ll tell my Pinoy compadres about nu addition to the Bicol Express food recipe.

  • David

    Along with milk, you can also use Yogurt to cool down your tastebuds. :) And also get a little state from the peaches or strawberries.

  • AllaN

    Looks extremely spicy, looks like it’s shrivelling up from its own heat lol, i wonder if the person who eats the pepper will look like the pepper itself lol

  • Dexter Kanuto

    To tame the heat:
    cheese (tablespoon)
    remove chili seeds
    lime juice (squirt)
    pineapple (bits)
    cilantro (chopped)
    milk is a yes
    Highly sweetened, non carbonated drinks

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  • Monty

    I am from Assam, trust me when I say that it is HOTTTT. Chillies are very important to us and you get a lot of varieties of it, most of us have a habit of eating raw chillies with meals. You cannot eat a whole Bhut Jolokia, period. I remember one of them being used in my family for days on end. I don’t there bite it, I just rub it (a bit) on the rice (our staple diet) and that is more than enough. Distant memories.. haven’t had one for ages as even we don’t use it very often. There are a plenty of other varieties which makes you sweat, but Bhut Jolokia is something else all together.