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Dried Chilies

Bangkok, Thailand – Early in my trip, a new friend, who had just found out that I had come to Thailand to eat, commented that he’d like to see me in six months, hinting that all that eating might show.  Of course seven months later after eating anything that looked good, making fried chicken (gai toht) the cornerstone of my diet, and paying no heed to carbs, fat, sugar or msg, I’m still the same size, Thai-sized some say.  If I was starting my own fad diet, I’d make it the chili diet.

Chilies are rumoured to speed up your metabolism, lower your appetite and increase blood circulation.  Some scientists say they make a negligible difference in weight loss, but, on the anecdotal side, I always feel sated with smaller chili-laced portions and I eat them at nearly every meal.  The applications are numerous – dried ones sprinkled over noodle soup at breakfast, sliced ones in fish sauce added to braised pork leg and rice, stir fried with pork and basil, chopped and mixed with garlic and lime juice to accompany fish and so on.  We’ve all sat in front of a plate of bland food continuing to eat it even though it doesn’t taste good, with the vague hope that it will somehow satiate us.  This is never the case after a spicy Thai meal for me, with so much flavor and so much spice, I feel satisfied and happy at the end of the meal, never with that nagging desire that I need something more, as so often happens with disappointing meals.

It’s also been said that eating chilies releases endorphins and the spicier the chili, the greater the release of endorphin.  An addictive quality?  That may prove difficult for a chili regular when I head to New York tomorrow morning.  Let’s hope for the best.

Chilies, Fish Sauce and Lime Juice