Posted on by boem

What is the Best Relief When Your Tongue Gets Burnt by Spicy Thai Food?

You would think just drink something cold like chilled water. That is exactly what most people do when their eyes are watering with a fire in their mouth. The result is the opposite. Seconds after sipping the chilled drinks, the fire starts right back in. Then more water gulped down but the heat never goes away. Your stomach stuffs up with water after a while.

What is the correct way to deal with this. Well Thai dishes are always served with rice. So, the trick is don’t enjoy each dish separately. A soothing mouthful of rice once after every a few spoons of dishes will not only enhance the taste of the spicy Thai cuisine but also prevent your tongue from getting bombarded by chillies and other spices. But if you happen to accumulate unbearable heat on your tongue, take some candy or something sweet even a sugar cube. Leave it in your mouth as long as possible. And, remember, no water!

SIDEBAR
A friend of mine told me the other day that chewing banana will help remove the sting of heat from your tongue inferno too. You can find banana everywhere all year round in Thailand, so this may be a more natural cure.

37 Replies to “What is the Best Relief When Your Tongue Gets Burnt by Spicy Thai Food?”

  1. i’ve found the best way is to consume diary products. a glass of milk or a bit of yoghurt works perfectly. even some soy milk (readily availible in thailand) would be fine. happy eating!

  2. The “hot” in all chilis comes from Capsaicin, which is fat soluble.

    I’ve found that a small portion of ice cream, milk, or butter (in that order) work quickly to reduce the burn. Others say avacado or cucumber, but I haven’t tried those.

    Milkfat seems to work best.

  4. Don’t even try to drink alcohol if your mouth is on fire, this will cause the capsaicin to sting even harder. Hot drinks like coffee is never a good solution when it comes to spicy food (Yes I’ve tried it today to get some more sting by some not-so-hot nuts I was chewing)

    Sour cream and milk, preferably whole milk, will reduce the intense heat, but do not remove all capsaicin. I’ve tried milk with a sauce on 357k Scoville Units and it worked as long as I flushed my mouth with it. As soon as I swallowed the milk the heat intensified again. It took 15 minutes to taste anything again.

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