[0:00] Today,
[0:00] I'm tasting the spiciest
snacks in the world!
[0:02] From melt-your-face-off
street food in Thailand...
[0:04] Oh, my God!
[0:06] to this insane creation in Mexico.
[0:08] Because I want to know who has the best,
most addictive spicy snacks.
[0:12] So let's get started in
India with Chef Saransh,
[0:15] who's starting us off with
the hottest chili in India.
[0:18] It is called Naga chili, Raja Mirch,
or ghost pepper,
[0:21] because you might not exist
after you consume this.
[0:27] Oh yeah!
[0:29] That's hot!
[0:30] He's just biting again into it!
[0:33] I think I'm gonna finish it.
[0:34] It just puts me to shame!
[0:35] My God, it's really not bad.
[0:37] Oh!
[0:38] Oh!
Hold on.
[0:41] It's kicking in!
Woo!
[0:42] Oh yeah!
Uh!
[0:43] Honestly spiciness?
[0:44] I'll give it a 7.5 out of 10.
It's hot.
[0:47] In terms of enjoyment, I'll give it a 6.8.
It's really tasty.
[0:50] It actually tastes good.
This is up there.
[0:52] I know you might have been
expecting a bag of chips,
[0:54] or a One Chip Challenge.
[0:55] But every country snacks differently,
and that's exactly what we're doing here.
[0:58] Think about it;
the world's obsessed with spicy snacks.
[1:00] It's a combination of salty, sweet heat...
Ah!
[1:03] that constantly makes you want
to go back for another bite.
[1:05] Although in this case,
I'm not sure I want to.
[1:07] So we'll be eating snacks from the
most famous to the most nuclear
[1:10] that they have to offer.
[1:11] But next up are dumplings known as momos,
[1:13] and I can only pray
they're more forgiving.
[1:15] Probably the best momos you can find.
[1:16] They do a spicy chutney,
but if you ask for the Lama Special,
[1:20] they put the chutney all around the momo.
[1:22] It looks very spicy.
[1:24] If there's a spicy snack...
[1:25] if I've ever seen one,
this is one of them.
[1:27] Oh, my God!
It's so hot.
[1:28] I ate the whole thing.
[1:30] It's hot, but it's not,
like, so aggressive that it kills you.
[1:33] But this is of key, key,
key, key importance:
[1:35] It is a consistent heat.
[1:37] It's not like it hits you and
then it fizzles out right away.
[1:39] This is, like, coating my whole mouth.
[1:40] As you exhale...
[1:41] you feel that heat.
[1:43] As you inhale...
[1:44] you feel that heat.
[1:45] I love this because
it's an addictive spice,
[1:47] not a "kill you" spice.
[1:49] I would give it like a 4.5
out of 10 on the heat level.
[1:52] I think that sounds about good.
[1:53] This is a good heat level, nice and light.
Whoa!
[1:58] Are you...
can you handle this?
[1:59] Are you okay?
[2:00] Clearly, Joshua's winning this one.
[2:02] I see stars!
[2:04] Overall, although they were delicious,
I'd give about a 7.5 out of 10.
[2:07] Woo!
I feel the heat turning up!
[2:08] We got more.
On to the next.
[2:10] Now onto our final dishes in India,
one of which I know I'm gonna regret.
[2:14] Josh,
I have two levels of spice for you here.
[2:16] This is from Andhra Pradesh,
which is down south.
[2:19] This is called Andhra-style chili chicken,
made with lots of green chilies.
[2:23] You might have thought, "Oh,
[2:24] it's spinach," 'cause
that's what I thought.
[2:25] It's not.
[2:26] And your second one is from Maharashtra,
which is essentially called Misal Pav.
[2:30] You dunk this pillowy,
soft pav in the super hot,
[2:33] the spiciest Misal Pav that you can get.
[2:35] Oh,
[2:36] I thought you were saying "missile,"
like it's gonna blow up my mouth...
[2:39] I hope it does!
[2:40] Well, I don't.
[2:41] Shall we start with the chili chicken?
[2:44] Mmm!
That's so good.
[2:46] It's more of a warming heat
than it is like a bang,
[2:48] bang bang.
[2:49] I would put it on a 2 out
of 10 on the spicy scale,
[2:51] but the flavor of the chili is maxed out.
[2:53] My ideal spicy snack is where
it's like a 2 to a 4 on heat,
[2:55] but they're coaxing all the
flavor out of the chili.
[2:58] I hate it when something's just
spicy for the sake of being spicy.
[3:00] Now let's try this one.
[3:01] Take a bit of this namkeen, as we call it.
[3:02] It's like a fried snack that you add to
this before you dunk it with the pav.
[3:06] How about we just scoop it
and have it with the namkeen?
[3:09] Oh sure.
Okay.
[3:09] Oh!
Oh God!
[3:11] Creeps up on you a little bit.
Yeah, it just...
[3:13] it's in your throat.
[3:14] Yeah.
[3:15] The reason why is because
it's in a liquid state.
[3:16] The heat is delayed,
[3:17] so you don't really
get a chance for it to,
[3:19] like,
coat your palate before you swallow it.
[3:21] So you swallow it thinking you're okay,
but then it activates.
[3:22] But this is another
good example of balance,
[3:24] though.
It's not too bad.
[3:25] Hotter!
We've taken it up a step.
[3:26] We're in, like, the four-to-five region.
[3:28] It's getting hot.
[3:29] Okay, so we're done.
Wow!
[3:31] Uh-uh!
I have a small surprise for you.
[3:34] I hope it's a kiss.
[3:35] This was two for you,
and this was four or five for you.
[3:38] I have a 10 for you.
[3:39] Is this like Jolochip,
the Indian version...
[3:41] Yes!
[3:42] of the One Chip Challenge?
[3:43] You know that that's
illegal in America now.
[3:45] It's manufactured in India.
[3:46] Of course it's illegal in America!
[3:49] I did not make that joke.
Holy...
[3:51] Okay, why are you stepping back?
[3:53] Smells kind of good.
[3:54] This smells kind of good, right?
[3:55] It smells like RIP, I think.
[3:57] All right, I'm doing one bite.
I'm just tasting.
[4:03] Yeah.
[4:04] Okay...
[4:05] not so bad.
Oh, yeah!
[4:07] Oh yeah!
Woo!
[4:09] Oh yeah!
Oh yeah!
[4:11] Oh, I feel it.
[4:12] This doesn't taste as bad
as I thought it would.
[4:14] It is extremely hot.
I'm building it.
[4:16] I'm salivating.
[4:17] I've had ghost pepper
intensified hot sauces,
[4:19] and they usually taste terrible.
[4:21] It's all about heat, and this tastes okay.
[4:22] Heat level, probably an 8;
[4:24] flavor, maybe a 3.
[4:25] Not a good example of a spicy snack.
[4:27] Oh, yeah, it's hot.
[4:28] It's a little hot, but I'm resisting.
[4:30] It's like a metaphor for life:
Ups and downs.
[4:32] Things get better, things get worse,
[4:34] but they'll always get
better one way or another.
[4:36] Unless you die.
We move on.
[4:38] It's no surprise India brought the heat.
[4:40] We now make our way to China,
more specifically Chengdu,
[4:44] the heart of Sichuan,
[4:45] where their legendary Sichuan
peppercorns numb the palate.
[4:48] A little something called Mala.
[4:50] There's nothing else like it.
[4:51] And supposedly, it's next level here.
[4:54] Then we have Harry, a local food writer,
[4:56] who claims he's gonna be easing me
in with chili-covered rabbit heads.
[5:00] Honestly, kind of hype about this.
[5:01] This is actually quite a challenge
for any foreigner who tries
[5:04] rabbit head first time.
[5:05] Let's see how you tackle it.
[5:07] I'm gonna get my finger underneath
the meat just so that it's
[5:09] a little loosened up.
Pop the cheek out.
[5:10] There's the cheek.
And then...
[5:11] Mmm!
Mmm.
[5:12] Ah!
Super good!
[5:13] The heat level is very tolerable.
It's got a good umami.
[5:15] It makes me kind of think of, like,
a similar heat level to Lao Gan Ma.
[5:18] Maybe a little bit hotter.
[5:19] Now I'm holding in my hand
is hand-shredded rabbit.
[5:22] It's the body part of the rabbit.
[5:24] This is a perfect snack
because it's spicy,
[5:26] chewy,
[5:27] and you can just enjoy it
while you drink a lot of,
[5:30] like alcohol.
[5:32] So let's try that.
[5:33] FYI, you eat it wrong.
[5:34] I ate it wrong?
[5:35] Yeah.
The steps are all wrong.
[5:37] What was wrong with it?
[5:37] You split the upper and the lower teeth,
yeah,
[5:40] then you suck the meat
out of the lower part,
[5:43] then you will get a very clean jawbone.
[5:46] This is really good!
[5:47] It's juicy,
it's got multiple layers of texture,
[5:49] salted perfectly.
[5:50] It's got just the right
amount of heat where,
[5:52] like,
[5:53] it sticks to your lips and your
lips are tingling a little bit.
[5:55] But it's not, like, overwhelming at all.
[5:56] Overall, I would give this,
like, a nine out of ten.
[5:58] We value, you know,
fragrance more than spiciness.
[6:01] The fragrance should come
before spiciness because
[6:04] pure spiciness is boring.
[6:06] Onto the next!
[6:07] This next spot has got me hyped.
[6:08] A Chinese convenience store.
[6:10] I love a little convenience store snack,
but I know Harry's trying to light me up.
[6:14] Here we got shredded beef bites,
which are quite literally vacuum sealed,
[6:17] like a little spice bomb.
[6:18] And his favorite chips...
[6:21] says "Explosive".
[6:22] Yeah "Explosive"!
[6:24] Hot and spicy.
[6:25] Wow okay.
[6:26] It has all these beautiful dried chilies,
potato chips on the front.
[6:30] And the smell smells strongly
of Sichuan peppercorn.
[6:33] Shall we dig in?
Mmm!
[6:36] No, it's good.
It's very light.
[6:37] It's a light spicy.
[6:38] The one thing I will say is,
as you eat more of these,
[6:41] the oil of the chili slowly begins
to coat your palate more and more.
[6:44] So it starts not so spicy, like a one,
then it builds to a two,
[6:48] three,
[6:49] but it kind of tops out
at a three and a half.
[6:50] This is a very desirable spicy, like,
addictive.
[6:53] And I'm starting to
get that numbing spice.
[6:54] This is lovely.
This is supposedly spicier.
[6:56] It's like a kind of like a jerky almost.
[6:58] Oh!
[6:59] There's a little bit of heat in there.
[7:00] Yeah, it's getting there, right?
[7:02] Whoa!
Okay.
[7:03] Oh,
[7:04] this is so good.
This is rich.
[7:05] This is almost like having, like,
hot pot in the form of jerky.
[7:08] It's like sweet beef, and it's spicy,
and it's numbing.
[7:11] 4 out of 10 on the heat scale.
[7:13] It's better than any jerky I've ever had.
[7:15] For jerky, this is like an 8.
[7:16] It's great because now
I'm getting my protein in.
[7:18] I'm carb loading.
[7:21] Looking for more heat.
[7:22] We stopped for a light street-side snack,
and I have to say,
[7:24] I think Harry might have been baiting me
a little bit here with the first snacks,
[7:27] because these spring
rolls look like trouble.
[7:29] I think...
[7:30] You have already tried
the Vietnam version,
[7:32] right?
[7:33] Yes.
[7:34] But, in Sichuan, we don't fry it.
[7:35] We just wrap it, and then we put some,
like, really good sauce on it.
[7:38] I'm excited to try it.
Let's go in.
[7:40] It's hot.
It is hot!
[7:42] God, that is a...
[7:44] That is a banger!
[7:45] That is so, so good.
[7:47] I don't ever want another spring
roll ever again unless it's this.
[7:49] The texture, it's soft on the outside,
crunchy on the inside.
[7:52] And the way that these are made, they,
like, soak up that chili oil,
[7:55] and there's a little bit
of vinegar in there too.
[7:57] So it's sour, spicy,
[7:58] salty.
[7:59] And then you have these crunchy
vegetables in the middle.
[8:00] Out of all the snacks we've
had in Chengdu thus far,
[8:03] this has been the spiciest and
[8:05] also, in my opinion,
one of the most exciting and flavorful.
[8:08] It beats out any spring
roll I've ever had.
[8:10] Even the crunchy fried ones,
I don't even miss them.
[8:12] It's like a 9 out of 10.
[8:13] If you do not have a spice tolerance,
you might not be able to handle this one,
[8:16] but this is...
It's worth fighting for.
[8:18] It's worth the teary
eyes and the runny nose.
[8:19] Bar none,
[8:20] one of my favorite little spicy
snacks we've had on the video
[8:24] so far.
Onto the next!
[8:26] All right, so Harry wasn't lying.
[8:27] A braised spicy skewer is next.
[8:28] I'm going to be honest,
this sounds right up my alley,
[8:31] but it could also still be deadly.
[8:32] Many skewers, many a snack.
[8:34] It's called "La Lu Chuan-chuan".
[8:36] They put it in a very hot
sauce with multiple flavors.
[8:39] All sorts of offal: duck tongue, tripe,
intestines, stomach lining,
[8:43] heart.
[8:44] Yeah,
[8:45] just try one of them.
[8:46] Oh so...
oh!
[8:48] Oh, it's spicy...
[8:49] Oh, it's so fragrant, though!
[8:53] It's like a perfect example of
a snack because most snacks are
[8:57] small bites, easily eaten,
but powerfully flavored.
[9:00] This is duck's intestine.
[9:03] This is tripe.
[9:06] I don't know what that is.
[9:07] All I know is that my lips are tingling,
my tongue is going numb.
[9:10] But
[9:11] I love it, though.
I love every second of it.
[9:13] So you were biting it before.
[9:14] Now they are biting you, right?
[9:16] Yeah.
[9:17] Yeah!
[9:18] Are you sweating?
[9:19] Yeah that's...
[9:20] Sweating a little bit...
You're sweating.
[9:22] Sorry, I'm the shame of Sichuan!
[9:25] The spice that people
are typically used to...
[9:27] It's the sensation of stinging, burning.
[9:30] This is very different.
[9:31] What you're getting really intensely is
[9:33] numbing,
[9:34] like this almost cooling
effect in your mouth,
[9:36] and it's almost like static electricity.
[9:38] This is taking it a step
up on the spicy scale,
[9:41] but it's not taking it a step down
[9:43] on the flavor and enjoyability scale.
[9:45] And for that, I'm giving it another nine.
[9:47] This is a great little snack.
[9:49] I think everybody can enjoy this,
[9:50] but I do think that those who are wary of
spicy are gonna be pushing the gas pedal a
[9:54] little harder than they were anticipating,
[9:56] which makes it a little fun, right?
[9:58] Or order more beer.
[9:59] Should we get a beer?
[10:00] Yeah, let's have a beer.
[10:01] Ah!
Yeah...
[10:04] Wow, China was a true journey.
[10:06] But now it's time for the nuclear option.
[10:09] It's a stretch to call it a snack.
[10:11] It's as close to a snack as we
could find with a nuclear option.
[10:14] Although this is the Sichuan region,
[10:16] they don't really like
to blow their mouths up,
[10:18] which I can respect.
[10:18] So this place offers five
different levels of spicy.
[10:21] This is level number five.
[10:22] It is the spiciest option they have.
[10:25] So spicy that they force
you to sign a waiver.
[10:28] Oh my God, there's that many?
I don't even know what this says.
[10:30] If there is any trouble
caused by the spiciness,
[10:33] the shop doesn't take any responsibility.
[10:35] I can't fucking read this!
I just signed it.
[10:37] And I explained it to you...
[10:39] After I signed it!
[10:41] All I smell is Sichuan.
[10:43] Why are people walking up to us?
[10:44] We're garnering an audience
for these noodles right now.
[10:47] Oh oh oh perfect.
[10:49] I think the key here is: don't slurp.
[10:51] Cause if you slurp too hard
and it hits your lungs,
[10:54] then you're gonna get fucked up.
[10:59] Oh, it's hitting.
[11:01] Oh, it's hitting!
[11:02] Here's what I'll say:
it's hot and I feel it,
[11:04] and it's increasing in temperature.
[11:05] But out of all the spicy...
good Lord!
[11:11] Okay, it's getting you.
[11:12] It's really hot.
[11:13] On a scale of 1 to 10 on spicy,
I'd give it like a 7.8.
[11:16] It's up there, maybe even an 8.
[11:17] What makes this bad is the oil.
[11:19] Because the oil doesn't go away.
It stays.
[11:21] It lingers.
[11:23] It's an eight.
[11:24] In terms of enjoyability, though,
it is still really good.
[11:28] I'd give it like a 7, a 6.8 out of 10.
[11:31] Because the heat is so much that
it is dragging down the experience.
[11:33] Now, before we left,
for some reason,
[11:35] everybody saw my reaction and thought,
"Oh, yeah,
[11:37] that sounds like a good idea to try."
[11:38] I think what they didn't realize
was I have a bigger spice
[11:41] tolerance than most would think.
[11:42] Okay, it's too much for me.
Sorry.
[11:44] Out of 10, how spicy is it?
[11:46] It's a 12!
[11:50] While everyone's trying to
breathe and Harry's contemplating
[11:52] maybe his life choices,
I'm moving on.
[11:54] Because what's next, I would argue,
[11:56] has been touted as some
of the spiciest food.
[12:00] Of course,
[12:01] I'm referring to ordering
things "Thai spicy."
[12:03] The spicy snack journey
continues here with Mark Wiens.
[12:07] I'm interested to see
where this is gonna go,
[12:08] 'cause I know that you can modify the
spiciness depending on what the dish is.
[12:11] Because a lot of dishes are
cooked after you order them.
[12:14] They're customizable.
[12:15] There's no limits to the
amount of spice you can eat.
[12:17] I would like to survive.
[12:18] That's my one ask.
[12:20] Let's begin.
Of course,
[12:21] Mark's first snack has entire chilies
chopped up and thrown into it.
[12:25] So in Thai It's called Miang Kham,
and it is a wild betel leaf as the base;
[12:28] it's the leaf that she
wraps everything in.
[12:29] She adds in peanuts, toasted coconut,
a whole sliver or chunk of lime, ginger,
[12:34] shallots, and a sweet paste.
[12:35] I like to call it an herbal candy.
[12:37] So you plop the whole thing in your mouth.
[12:38] I'm scared.
You know what?
[12:40] Sometimes you gotta dink it and sink it,
baby!
[12:42] Mm.
Oh, my God.
[12:43] It's amazing.
Amazing!
[12:44] And just when you think
you figured out the flavor,
[12:46] you get hit with a new flavor.
[12:47] The heat is like teasing you.
[12:48] The heat starts to climb,
[12:49] but then the sweetness
brings it back down.
[12:51] Heat starts to climb,
[12:52] and then a little acid kicks
in and knocks it back down.
[12:54] So balanced.
[12:54] This might be the best
way to enjoy a chili,
[12:56] because you get that
unadulterated chili fragrance.
[12:59] But the sweetness and the acidity and all
sort of the other ingredients distract you
[13:02] from the heat in a way that you really
get to appreciate the flavor of it.
[13:05] People think, like,
sometimes Thai food is a chili challenge.
[13:07] But no, it's about whenever there's chili,
there also has to be a counterbalance.
[13:11] Whether that be acidity,
whether that be some sweetness.
[13:13] Everything is taken into consideration
to maximize your taste buds.
[13:17] That was incredible.
Should I just give it a nine?
[13:18] I'll just give it a nine for spice.
[13:20] Frankly, it wasn't that spicy.
[13:21] I'd say about a 3 out of 10.
[13:22] Surprisingly, now,
if we're starting off this good,
[13:25] I cannot wait for what
else Thailand has to offer.
[13:27] So this one's unique
because it's a sausage.
[13:29] This is the fermented sausage
fermented with rice and pork.
[13:32] What you do,
[13:33] because there's no chilies
inside the sausage,
[13:34] you always chase it with a green chili.
[13:36] And also, you gotta get some young ginger.
Definitely.
[13:38] It is a requirement.
[13:39] It's mandatory to eat
this with green chilies.
[13:41] You have to.
[13:42] Cheers.
[13:43] Cheers.
[13:44] Yeah.
Put the whole chili in your mouth.
[13:45] You put the whole chili?
[13:46] Not too spicy.
[13:47] Oh, yeah.
I'm okay.
[13:48] I'm okay.
[13:49] I was really expecting
that chili to be super hot.
[13:50] It wasn't bad at all.
I think it's because of the sausage.
[13:52] The sausage has a lot of
acidity from the fermentation.
[13:54] It's got a sour tartness to it.
[13:56] Almost like a salami in a way that
helps cut the heat a little bit.
[13:59] It's more tolerable.
[14:00] You get to enjoy the fragrance,
[14:01] the fruitiness from the chili
without killing your mouth.
[14:04] Sometimes you gotta
just trust the process.
[14:05] Honestly, this is like an 8.5 for me.
Phenomenal!
[14:08] This would pop off in LA.
[14:09] I'm gonna eat a spicy one here,
and then I'm gonna regret saying that.
[14:11] Moving on.
Woo!
[14:12] I'm scared.
[14:14] There's a lot of chili in here, Mark.
[14:15] Okay,
[14:16] so we're gonna eat
something called nam phrik,
[14:17] which literally is like a chili dip.
[14:18] It's a variety of different
chilies which have been charred.
[14:21] Also some shallots charred in there,
maybe some herbs, maybe some galangal,
[14:24] garlic, and pounded up into a chili dip.
[14:26] And you would choose your fish or
your vegetables to then dip it.
[14:28] You'll find many different varieties,
[14:30] and I think it's actually one of the
lesser-known traditional Thai foods
[14:33] that should be eaten more often.
[14:34] Oh, it smells amazing.
[14:35] They add fish sauce,
usually gives it that extra salty umami,
[14:38] depth of flavor.
The fish chips to go with this?
[14:40] These are fried pieces of fish.
[14:43] Whoa.
The fish chip is amazing.
[14:45] It's so clean-tasting and, like,
unbelievably crispy.
[14:48] I thought it was gonna be hard.
[14:49] It's very wispy and almost like fatty.
[14:50] You crunch and then it just melts.
[14:52] And this is so, so good.
[14:53] It's not too spicy at all, actually.
[14:55] This is like maybe a 2 out
of 10 on the spice scale,
[14:57] but like, on the flavor scale,
it's like a nine.
[14:59] This is better than any
salsa I've ever had.
[15:01] This is really good.
[15:02] Phenomenal, but I know they're spicier,
so let's move on.
[15:05] This is a quick pit stop.
[15:06] I don't know how hot this is gonna be.
[15:07] These are literally whole fried chilies.
[15:08] This became a huge trend a
couple years ago in Thailand
[15:11] and you see them everywhere.
[15:15] There's a little heat in there,
but really it's just like a little fruity,
[15:18] a little almost smoky, earthy.
[15:20] It's a nice little snack, somehow.
[15:22] It's addictively tasty and crispy.
Really good.
[15:24] 8 out of 10.
And for spice score,
[15:25] I'd give it yet another
shocking 3.5 out of 10.
[15:29] It just wasn't that spicy,
but it was delicious.
[15:31] And I did eat the whole
pack and not feel very good.
[15:33] Josh,
[15:34] we're gonna have a dish
which is called laab next.
[15:35] She's selling it right
here within the market,
[15:37] and she has it bagged and ready to go.
[15:39] So most people will get this for takeaway.
[15:40] But we asked her to make us a
special version that's even more
[15:43] spicy than the usual version.
[15:44] He was like,
[15:45] "Can you make it more
spicy?" And she just kind of,
[15:47] like, lightly smiled and then made it.
[15:48] There's always a little bit of
hesitation because they're like,
[15:51] "Are you sure you want it extra spicy?"
[15:53] Shall we?
[15:54] Yeah.
[15:55] You can see the tons of
little chilies in here.
[15:57] She definitely amped it up.
[15:58] There's so much chili flake in this,
so many chili seeds,
[16:00] that when you bite it,
not only are you crunching on crispy rice,
[16:03] you're crunching on chili seeds.
[16:04] That's, like, the majority of the bite.
[16:05] But I think the chilies here are
more about the actual fragrance.
[16:08] Like, it's a little bit of heat,
not much, but it's that toasty,
[16:10] smoky fragrance that the
chilies really provide.
[16:12] But the laab itself is so flavorful.
[16:14] This is almost like a perfect spicy dish.
[16:16] And it's one of those dishes that
there's so many different variations.
[16:18] You can make it with so
many different proteins.
[16:19] Everyone has a little bit of a different
recipe and a different balance of flavor.
[16:22] 8.8.
It's a banger.
[16:23] 3 out of 10 on spicy.
[16:24] I can feel the heat, but I'm not dying,
though it's balanced.
[16:27] A lot of people will say, "Oh,
Thai food is so spicy.
[16:29] Thai food is so spicy."
[16:30] But if you have a spice tolerance, like,
really,
[16:31] it's not about blowing your mouth up.
[16:33] It's just balance.
[16:35] Balance aside, for our final stop,
Mark decided I didn't have enough pain,
[16:39] so he made sure to light me up
before I left Thailand with a true,
[16:42] high-spicy snack.
[16:43] Khot phet khrap!
[16:45] Sai yi-sip met.
[16:46] Why is he laughing about it?
[16:47] He's like,
"Do you really want it spicy!?!" Like,
[16:49] really spicy.
[16:54] So we made it to the nuclear option.
[16:56] We asked for the spiciest papaya
salad we could possibly get.
[16:59] Som tam.
I mean,
[17:00] you can tell by looking at it there's
more chili than there is shreds of papaya.
[17:04] There's a lot of chilies in there.
[17:05] Dry chilies, fresh chilies.
[17:06] All right.
[17:07] Okay, Mark,
if you're gonna get all the chilies,
[17:08] I'll do it too.
[17:09] Come on, Josh.
We're going all in, man!
[17:11] All right.
All right, all right.
[17:12] I am nervous.
But you know what, though?
[17:13] Because Mark is here,
I feel protected by an angel.
[17:16] Cheers.
Cheers.
[17:17] Here we go.
Oh, it's kicking in.
[17:19] It's kicking in!
Mark doesn't care.
[17:22] Let me get another bite there.
[17:23] Mark, if you're doing it, I'm doing it.
[17:25] Oh, my God!
[17:26] How do you keep going, man?
You're a monster!
[17:29] It's spicy, but it's really good.
[17:31] It's so bouncy, salty,
just a hint of sweetness.
[17:33] That fermented complexity.
Yep.
[17:35] Also has this great acidity to it, too.
[17:37] I love the lime juice.
[17:38] He adds in a little bit
of tamarind water as well,
[17:40] give it some sourness.
[17:41] Is that the part hitting me in the face?
But you know what, though?
[17:43] I still want to go back
in for another bite.
[17:45] It's not so hot that I'm like, "Oh,
I can't keep eating this."
[17:48] It also has an addictive sort of umami
to it from that fermented fish sauce.
[17:51] A little bit of funk.
[17:52] Oh, my God, it hit the back of my throat!
[17:53] How is it getting hotter, though?
[17:55] I don't understand salads like this.
[17:56] I think because of the mix of chilies,
because they pound them up,
[17:59] it takes a few minutes for the
real power of the chili to kick in.
[18:01] Out of all the som tam I've had—I've
had a lot—and this is better than
[18:05] 90% of the ones I've had in America.
[18:07] Solid 9 out of 10.
[18:07] But there is a lot of pain.
[18:09] I was kind of surprised that they didn't
have the outright spicy snacks here,
[18:12] but at the end of the day,
[18:13] Thailand had me coming back
for more and more and more,
[18:16] and maybe that's how spicy
snacks are supposed to be.
[18:18] It's not just about
lighting your mouth up.
[18:20] But we still have two countries to go.
[18:21] Now we're on to Seoul, Korea.
[18:23] But before our guide arrived,
[18:24] I did some solo heat hunting at a street
food market right outside our hotel.
[18:28] Spicy tteokbokki.
It's like a rice cake, basically.
[18:30] This is also hot, by the way,
by the looks of it.
[18:33] Cheers.
Oh.
[18:34] A lot of the tteokbokkis I've
had prior are a lot more,
[18:36] like, savory,
very garlicky, very rich,
[18:38] very salty.
The tteokbokki is more like spicy-sweet.
[18:40] Like heavy, heavy,
heavy on the sugar,
[18:42] which I have no problem with.
I'm a fan.
[18:44] Umami's good.
The garlic's nice.
[18:45] The texture of the actual rice cake—so
much better than what you would get in
[18:49] the US—it's so soft and luscious and
pillowy and chewy and just banging.
[18:52] Dude, this is an addictive bite.
[18:54] Flavor is maximum.
[18:55] I think it's like a solid 7.5.
[18:56] And for spice,
I'd give it a solid 6.5 out of 10.
[18:59] The more I ate it, the hotter it got.
[19:00] It's not my first pick,
but it is a delicious one.
[19:03] Moving on...
further down,
[19:04] I found some grilled chicken
skewers advertising a spicy bomb.
[19:07] Yeah, that should do.
[19:08] I'm a little nervous about this one.
[19:09] They're calling this "Spicy
Bomb" chicken skewer.
[19:11] We were just walking.
We found this.
[19:13] Cheers.
Oh, God, that's hot!
[19:15] Whew!
[19:16] Okay, first bite,
you get that crispy,
[19:17] sort of nice chicken thigh.
[19:19] It's seasoned pretty well.
Cooked nicely.
[19:21] It's not dry.
It's moist, sweet, garlicky, salty umami.
[19:23] And then just this churning
heat building up in my mouth.
[19:26] I don't know what the heat is coming from,
but it's like a sharp, stabbing...
[19:29] spicy pain.
[19:30] It's not, like, debilitating.
[19:32] It's verging the edge of
not being comfortable.
[19:34] I do like this one a little
more than the tteokbokki.
[19:36] I'll give it a 7.9.
Moving on.
[19:38] Still recovering from that chicken skewer,
[19:40] we started the next day with the goal
of trying the spiciest convenience
[19:44] store ramen in the world.
[19:45] However, we encountered one problem.
[19:47] It's actually finding the damn thing.
[19:48] I just keep seeing meat snacks.
[19:50] I don't know where to find it.
Found it!
[19:55] Yes.
Joining us in Korea is our friend Kim.
[19:58] Now listen,
[19:59] I know a lot of people would
consider instant ramen a meal,
[20:01] but we heard a little bit of debate.
[20:02] Some people would call it a snack,
so we might as well count it.
[20:05] Plus,
it's also extremely spicy here in Korea.
[20:08] You're scaring me.
You said,
[20:09] "I don't think you can handle
this." Should we just dive in?
[20:12] Okay.
[20:17] My throat is burning.
[20:18] It's spicy.
[20:19] The broth has a building heat,
but I'm not, like,
[20:21] dying though.
Honestly
[20:22] I thought that those chicken skewers
were like three times hotter than this.
[20:26] For overall enjoyment,
I'd give it a nice 6.8 out of 10.
[20:28] On the spiciness scale,
I would give it like a 5 out of 10.
[20:31] Moving on...
[20:32] I really felt like there was
something spicier here in Korea.
[20:35] When we did a little research,
[20:36] we found a little thing
called ambulance tteokbokki.
[20:39] While it didn't smell that spicy,
[20:40] I was quickly hit directly
in the mouth with chili.
[20:44] Definitely makes my mouth water.
[20:46] Despite the heat,
I thought it was a super craveable dish.
[20:49] I love that about spicy Korean food.
Heat pushed,
[20:51] but never surpassing the
quality of the flavor.
[20:53] Overall, I really like this.
An 8 out of 10.
[20:55] But the spicy score...
[20:56] I wouldn't say nuclear,
but a good 7 out of 10.
[20:59] Pretty hot.
[21:00] Asia still shocked me with how
different spice was in each country.
[21:03] Now on to our next stop, Mexico City,
a place that always delivers on flavor.
[21:07] But are they really going to be
able to get me with their heat?
[21:11] Joining me again is my
good friend Gabby Renteria,
[21:13] who'll be taking us to the
spiciest places she could find,
[21:17] starting with an esquites filled to the
brim with Takis and habanero hot sauce.
[21:21] There are these gorgeous,
massive clay pots set over charcoal,
[21:25] steaming away.
This is some old world sh*t.
[21:27] It's so beautiful.
[21:28] The most beautiful thing is that...
[21:30] it's totally fresh.
[21:31] You have the esquite.
[21:32] It's cooked with habanero
and chile de árbol seco,
[21:34] like dried chile de árbol.
It's already...
[21:36] spicy.
Like, the preparation is already spicy.
[21:39] And then they add habanero.
[21:40] Spicy chile piquín, we call it,
but habanero-based.
[21:43] And this beautiful sauce
that makes my mouth water.
[21:46] So it's a homemade preparation.
[21:47] Are you eating this with
me or am I by myself here?
[21:49] I'm worried about my
gastritis later today.
[21:52] Ha!
[21:54] This is spicy.
[21:56] That is phenomenal.
[21:57] Acidity is perfect.
[21:58] I love that she added more salt.
[22:02] It's a woman after my heart.
[22:03] When she was putting the salt on,
I was like, "She knows,
[22:05] she gets it."
[22:06] She can dance.
[22:07] Oh sh*t!
Oh sh*t, hey!
[22:12] She was teaching me a few moves.
This is great.
[22:14] Oh, my God...
I think...
[22:15] Oh
[22:16] it's hitting me.
[22:17] This is spicy.
This powder is crazy.
[22:20] You're not making a face.
[22:21] I told you.
I have a high spice tolerance.
[22:23] First of all,
the flavor of the habanero is so fragrant.
[22:26] It's seasoned perfectly too.
[22:27] What I love about this is it's
not just like a fire bomb.
[22:30] It's also, like,
got the creaminess from the mayo.
[22:32] Whatever, you know,
as in the US, this is like 10x that.
[22:34] This is a different varietal of corn that
they're cooking fresh and serving like
[22:38] this is unbelievable.
[22:39] 5.5 out of 10 on spicy.
[22:40] Perfect level of heat.
[22:41] It stings and it bites,
and then it goes away pretty quickly.
[22:44] It's really well balanced.
[22:45] The flavor, the salty acidity.
Overall, easy.
[22:47] Eight and a half for me.
[22:48] Crazy that this is a snack because
I could eat this all day long.
[22:50] But we have to move on.
Honestly, it looks more deceiving.
[22:52] It's a crazy dish.
[22:54] An incredible bite.
[22:55] Not really a challenge on heat for me.
[22:57] Maybe a more classical
Mexican dish can change that.
[23:00] We're here in Propio,
a restaurant with two very
[23:03] close
[23:04] amazing young chefs.
[23:04] So I asked them to prepare, like,
a very classic aguachile.
[23:07] Aguachile is one of the most
amazing preparations from the
[23:11] north part of the country.
[23:12] It's gonna be shrimp with lime,
spicy and amazing chile
[23:15] that is the chiltepin.
[23:16] A lot of people will say
that this is a whole meal.
[23:18] It is a snack.
[23:19] Like normal people in their daily life,
they will grab these very fresh...
[23:22] ingredients and put it together, you know,
like a snack.
[23:25] I think this is, like, a shareable snack.
Yeah.
[23:27] You could sit down with this whole plate,
but I've always felt like
[23:29] this is a snack where you sit down
with two or three people and you
[23:32] all nibble at it for a little bit,
[23:33] and then you go f*ck off and do something.
[23:35] So you were saying we should try
[23:36] this by itself?
[23:37] I think by itself.
We can start like that.
[23:40] I hope he suffers with this.
¡Buenisimo!
[23:45] I want to hug you, Alex!
[23:46] That's insane.
That's so good!
[23:48] This is the best aguachile I've ever had.
[23:50] It's spicy!
[23:52] After we took our first bites,
[23:54] Chef came in and asked me to
try it with tostadas and mayo.
[23:57] Oh, my God,
[23:58] it's so good.
[23:59] When the mayonnaise, the sauce,
the juice,
[24:01] the aguachile combines
with the mayonnaise...
[24:03] creates its own sauce that lacquers
the entire thing beautifully.
[24:06] Flavors are so fresh.
[24:07] At the end of the day,
if you're gonna make something spicy,
[24:10] fine, make it as hot as you want,
but it should be balanced.
[24:12] And this is perfectly balanced.
[24:13] I'm not trying to kiss your ass.
[24:15] I mean, this is,
like,
[24:16] one of the best aguachiles I've ever had.
It kinda, like,
[24:18] resonates back and forth
between a 3.5 and a 4 on heat,
[24:21] but on flavor, it's like it's...
10.
[24:23] Do you wanna cry?
He gave you a 10.
[24:25] Chefs, thank you so much.
Unbelievable.
[24:27] We could end the video now,
but we're not going to.
[24:30] Moving on.
[24:31] Although I'm left speechless,
it left no burn.
[24:33] That said,
[24:34] Gaby got a little crazy and brought
me to a local bartender friend who
[24:37] literally invented a spicy taco that's
supposedly too spicy for the locals.
[24:41] Okay, Joshua, you're ready to suffer.
[24:43] This is spicy for me, for him,
for everybody.
[24:47] What the [bleep] is this?
[24:48] Why are you recording me?
What is this?
[24:50] Chile de agua, quesillo,
pickled onion,
[24:51] and a macha with chile de árbol,
[24:53] a little bit of toasted
cinnamon and peanuts.
[24:55] This is amazing.
[24:56] He's gonna cry.
[25:00] It is spicy, but it's like, well balanced.
It's acidic.
[25:02] It's got good texture.
[25:04] The cheese is fatty, but also refreshing.
[25:06] It's a beautiful taco.
I have zero issues with it.
[25:08] Spice level?
5.
[25:09] Flavor wise?
9.
[25:10] He never cried.
What am I gonna do?
[25:12] Gabby's not giving up without a fight.
[25:14] She said the bartender has a
little trick up his sleeve,
[25:16] making me a margarita
laced with chiltepin.
[25:18] I don't know what they're
trying to do to me here.
[25:21] That's
[25:22] that's hot.
It's hotter than this.
[25:23] Smells really spicy.
[25:30] [coughs] I'm fine.
[25:31] Yeah, that's right.
Gabby got a taste of her own medicine.
[25:33] You see,
[25:34] that's what you get
when you play with fire.
[25:35] She still has not knocked me out yet.
[25:37] So she resorts to her...
[25:38] last snack: tortilla chips
with a gauntlet of the hottest
[25:41] salsas she could find.
[25:43] The last one being a surprise
that she has not shown me yet.
[25:46] This looks like I'm supposed
to clean my car with this.
[25:49] They're not even trying
to make this look good.
[25:52] Oh, God!
It's on my lip!
[25:53] Even though some sauces look scary,
none really lit me up,
[25:56] which I think they were getting
a little bit annoyed at,
[25:59] frankly.
[26:00] I've never seen someone
so determined to hurt me.
[26:02] But okay,
now we move on to the supposed surprise.
[26:05] Her friend Chef Alejandro makes an
insanely spicy homemade salsa macha.
[26:08] Oh, my God.
Look at that!
[26:10] Should I just put this
whole thing in my mouth?
[26:12] Yes.
[26:13] I doused my chip in salsa.
I'm not scared.
[26:15] Gabby did not partake.
Woo!
[26:17] Yes!
We got it!
[26:19] Woo!
Oh, my God, it's hot!
[26:21] It's like falling in love
and then breaking up.
[26:23] First you get lured in,
and then you're like, "Oh,
[26:25] wow,
love couldn't be any better than this."
[26:27] And then all of a sudden,
they break up with you, and you're like,
[26:29] "Oh, why does it hurt so much?"
[26:30] I cannot believe you ate that.
[26:33] We survived it.
Wow.
[26:35] So good.
This is at the top of the pyramid for me.
[26:38] This is so good.
[26:39] This is exactly what I've been
looking for this whole time.
[26:41] The whole point of a spicy snack is it
should be pushing the levels of heat
[26:45] while still maintaining the enjoyability
of what it is that you're eating.
[26:49] If it's so hot, you can't enjoy it,
there's no point.
[26:51] The level of flavor should
surpass the level of heat.
[26:54] And the closer you get to that apex,
the better off you're gonna be.
[26:57] And this is meeting that.
[26:58] It's crunchy, it's spicy,
it's slightly sweet.
[27:00] You have the building heat in it.
[27:02] 7 on heat, 9.8 on flavor.
[27:04] Gabby succeeded,
[27:05] and all it took was a whole
spoonful of homemade salsa macha.
[27:09] And that's just in one city in Mexico.
And after this,
[27:11] I think Gabby has some sort of new
determination to hurt me on our next trip.
[27:14] So that's great.
Really looking forward to that.
[27:16] We flew the entire circumference of
the earth just to try spicy snacks.
[27:21] And what we learned was it's not
always about melt-your-face-off heat.
[27:25] Spicy snacks and spicy
food is all about balance.
[27:27] The heat should make you
go back for another bite.
[27:29] The heat should lift up the experience,
not pound it down into the ground,
[27:33] including yourself and
possibly your toilet.
[27:35] But arguably the biggest takeaway
is a great spicy snack really
[27:38] does not come from a bag.
[27:40] It might come from the side of a...
street.
[27:41] Subscribe.
Love you.
[27:42] See you.