Hello

[Marlyn]

Hello, my name is Mary from central TX. Thank you all for being here!
I am seeking advice on how to transform a dish that is too spicy, not sure which forum would be the best one to discuss this on...any advice?
TIA

 

[Andy M.]

Welcome to DC.

The only thing you can do to reduce the spiciness of a dish is to add more of the recipe ingredients except for the spice (e.g. make a second batch of the recipe with no spice and combine the two). Adding other ingredients that mask the heat changes the taste of the dish.

 

[Marlyn]

Thank you, not sure if this is the appropriate spot but here's the story - Went to a resturant last night and ordered a burrito that is inedible because it is too spicy (I eat very spicy food regularly - but this took my breath away) I ordered something else and brought home the burrito, thought I might be able to deconstruct it and make a soup or something but not sure the best route to take...thoughts? (I'm ok with changing the dish completely)

 

[creative]

Thank you, not sure if this is the appropriate spot but here's the story - Went to a resturant last night and ordered a burrito that is inedible because it is too spicy (I eat very spicy food regularly - but this took my breath away) I ordered something else and brought home the burrito, thought I might be able to deconstruct it and make a soup or something but not sure the best route to take...thoughts? (I'm ok with changing the dish completely)

The acidity of tomatoes helps to break down the spiciness. (Lemon juice or sugar also help dilute the spiciness; I suppose yogurt or double cream would too if you had in mind a kind of fricasee)

You could do a kind of variation on a bolognese sauce to serve with pasta or mash with veg.

 

[Marlyn]

Thanks! I did not know that about tomatoes - bolognese sounds yummy, never would have thought of it

 

[GotGarlic]

Hi and welcome to Discuss Cooking

Hot spices are fat-soluble, so adding some kind of fat and diluting the dish, as Andy described, will help. Try serving it with a yogurt or sour cream sauce. Adding water or water-based liquids just spreads the spice around; you may have noticed that drinking water doesn't really help mitigate spiciness, but drinking milk does.

 

[Rocklobster]

Welcome to DC.

The only thing you can do to reduce the spiciness of a dish is to add more of the recipe ingredients except for the spice (e.g. make a second batch of the recipe with no spice and combine the two)..

As Andy says...solution by dilution...

 

[Marlyn]

Thanks! I ended up adding tomatoes, beans, broth, a splash of lime juice and a dollop of peanut butter (that was interesting..lol) Actually turned out pretty good

Thanks to you all

 

[creative]

Thanks! I ended up adding tomatoes, beans, broth, a splash of lime juice and a dollop of peanut butter (that was interesting..lol) Actually turned out pretty good

Thanks to you all

Well done - so the acidity from the tomatoes (that I mentioned) worked then!? Your addition of lime juice would also have helped (I suggested lemon juice but of course limes would do the same thing).