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3 basic ingredients can dial down the spicy taste in your food, says scientist
Autumn is just around the corner. Cooking enthusiasts are busy trying new recipes inspired by seasonal spices, while restaurants have started to drop their special fall menus.
Despite following the perfect recipe, the final dish may need minor adjustments sometimes. If the food turns out to be extra hot from chilis, don’t worry, it’s easy to fix.
3 easily available ingredients can dial down the spice
Chili peppers are a commonly used spice to make food hot while cooking. But its pungency can overpower other flavors of the dish and some tastebuds can’t take the painful sensation.
Food scientist Jessica Gavin shares an easy trick backed by science to reduce the heat in your food without making major changes. She uses three basic ingredients that are already available in the kitchen.
Sugar
Adding a little bit of sugar to your spicy food dials down the heat. It can be refined sugar, honey, or brown sugar.
Chili peppers contain capsaicin, an active chemical compound responsible for the lingering hot or spicy taste.
Adding a small amount of sugar into your “elicits the pleasure centers in your brain and in your tastebuds, which counterbalances the painful sensation from the capsaicin,” the food scientist explains.
She recommends using just half a teaspoon of sugar of your choice for a perfect balance of sweet and savory.
Sour Cream
Capsaicin is hydrophobic and doesn’t dissolve in water. Therefore, adding a large spoon of sour cream to chilis helps reduce the heat in your food.
You can also use butter or fresh cream as the fat dissolves the spicy compound and dulls the receptors. “Not only is it cool, creamy, and tangy, but it’s going to make the chili a little bit less spicy,” the food scientist says.
Milk
If nothing else works, you can always enjoy your spicy food with a glass of milk. “It contains a non-polar protein called casine,” which will cling to the capsaicin and “make it go away,” she explains.
Jessica is a Certified Food Scientist and Certified Culinary Scientist. A teacher at heart , she started her food blog in 2012 after pursuing a career in nutrition product development. She boasts over 10 years of experience as a Senior Research Scientist. She has a bachelors and masters degree in Food Science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California. Jessica also has an Associates Degree in Culinary Arts.
