Top 10 Countries That Use Chilies Around the World (Good Paprika Burns Twice…)

With summer in full swing the days just seem to get hotter and hotter. So what better way to cool down than by engulfing a handful of chilies while removing Scar Tissue to the Red Hot Chili Peppers? This seemingly outrageous claim defies all logic, yet have you noticed the correlation between local temperature and chili consumption? Simply put, chili are more often consumed in hotter climates, especially in countries near the equator. Really, how often do you hear of European countries using chili? There are a few exceptions such as Hungary and Spain, but is paprika really that spicy? Probably if snorted up the nose.

Chili peppers have been used for thousands of years and originated in South America. It wasn’t until Christopher Columbus brought them back to Spain did chili peppers become globally cultivated. Thanks in part to Muslim traders and Spanish controlled commerce in Asia, chili was traded and quickly incorporated into local cuisines from the Philippines, India, China, Korea, to Africa and Japan. It’s fascinating how chili was so quickly adopted around the world. So without ado, here is Food Trotter’s list of the top 10 countries around the world that use chili.

Spain/Hungary (Paprika)
“Good paprika burns twice”, an old Hungarian adage that explains the burning sensation that occurs first in the mouth and as it exists the anus. Lovely… Produced first in Spain in many variations of taste, color, and aroma, Spanish paprika (Pimentón) is considered the highest quality and most expensive, especially pimentón ahumadothe or oak smoked paprika. It’s a key ingredient in chorizo sausages and other Spanish dishes. Hungarian paprika, in all its variety, is much cheaper and explains why it’s more commonly used.

Thailand
Most of us are familiar with Thailand’s infamous Sriracha sauce, ruthlessly used like ketchup in Vietnamese Pho and any other Asian items that need spicing up. But chili is also served in a variety of ways besides Sriracha sauce, especially as table condiments used while eating dishes or as grounded curry pastes for curries. The standard set of condiments include: phrik nam pla (fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, and chopped chilies), prik dong (chopped red chilies in vinegar), and prik phom (red chili powder). I’ve used a variation phrik nam pla many times in Malaysia, though fish sauce was substituted with soya sauce.

Mexico
Tacos, tamales, enchiladas, and tortillas… what do they all have in common? Besides a hurried trip to the washroom, they all contain chilies. Traditional Mexican cuisine contains many permutations and preparations of chilies with other frequenly used spices like cumin, oregano, and cilantro. Chipotle, a smoked-dried jalapeno chili is also commonly used, though now made famous by Chipotle-Away in South Park, Mexican fusion, and Mexican-American cuisine known as Tex-Mex.

Indonesia
Sambal is so good it brings tears to my eyes. It’s a mix of green and red chili peppers, fermented shrimp paste, sugar, salt, and lemon/lime juice traditionally made with a stone mortar. It’s so tangy and flavorful that it’s used in many dishes. When fried, the shrimp paste is enhanced, especially when mixed with nuts or other spices.

Malaysia
I’m more familiar with Malaysia’s version of sambal, otherwise known as balacan (pronounced balachan) or sambal balacan. Similar to Indonesian sambal, balacan uses a lighter version of fermented shrimp paste made from krill and is then fried with garlic and shallots. It’s great on its own as a condiment or served in many Malay dishes, especially my favorite Nasi Lemak. My uncle often attemps to make this on his own, but it is no way similar like back home in Malaysia.

Vietnam
Similar with Thai chili condiments, Vietnamese use chilies as a table additive to their dishes. Vietnamese food isn’t normally known for its spiciness, but it does enhance the fresh raw ingredients like coriander, basil, mint, and green leaf veggies found in most dishes like shrimp rolls, Bánh mì, and Bún. However, chilies are more often mixed with fish sauce, pickled sliced daikon/carrots, and sugar. Poured or dipped into, it’s an invaluable condiment to most Vietnamese dishes.

India
India is known for its uses and assortment of spices and herbs, where they are mixed together to make many popular spice mixes such as garam masala. Besides cumin, turmeric, ginger, and a whole array of others, chili peppers are frequently used fresh or dried in explosive amounts. Often fried to bring out the aromatics and pungency, you’ll find all kinds of dried chilies mixes of all colors of the rainbow.

Korea
Ubiquitous to all Korean meals and dishes, kimchi contains dried chili peppers fermented with Chinese cabbage, and a mix of other seasonings. There are countless varieties of kimchi made of many different vegetables like daikon, napa cabbage, and cucumbers. But common to all kimchi is the dried chili that provides the necessary oomph in stews like kam ja tang and soondubu.

Japan
I’m not sure why I added Japan as wasabi doesn’t really count as spicy and doesn’t even contain a trace of chili. Don’t be confused with its fiery sensation from your nasal cavity all the way up to your brain, it’s not the same as a mouth tingling spice. However, the Japanese do seem to use chili as a condiment for soups and noodle soups. As a child, I’m familiar with Shichimi tōgarashi, pouring spoonfuls just to provide the right amount of spiciness in my udon noodles.  Made with a typical blend of red chili pepper, roasted orange peel, black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds, hemp seeds, ground ginger, and nori (seaweed), Shichimi tōgarashi (七味唐辛子) is literally translated as “seven flavor chili pepper”.

China
Much of Chinese cooking isn’t very spicy, particularly the northern and southern provinces. Central China’s Sichuan provice, however, is another story, where chilies are used in such furor that its become leading cause of stomach and throat cancers. Used in astonishing amounts, dried chilies are fried in hot oil until browned, with the flavored oil used to prepare stir-fries. What’s particularly unusual about Sichuan cooking besides the obsessive uses of chili and oil is the common accompaniment of Sichuan peppercorn, an indigenous peppercorn that provides fragrant mouth-numbing sensations. As if dishes weren’t hot enough, they take it one step further by providing a tingly-numbing sensation similar to the freezing feeling dentists leave you before and after cavity fillings. With such bold flavours and pungent spiciness from a mixture of chili peppers, peppercorns, and garlic, China’s use of chili is definitely my most memorable and favorite. I still remember eating an outdoor Sichuan hot pot, sitting in 30 degree weather with my mouth tingling and sweat dripping into my bowl. It was a moment to remember…..

[Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia and flickr: Kat n Kim, mdanys]

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