I ’ll just go ahead and say it : the whiter the people , the blander the food . Nowhere is that adage more apparent than in Denver . And although we have our merits – you ca n’t throw a stone without hitting a brewery – we ’ve definitely shew a reputation as a town that lacks ethnic ( and therefore culinary ) diversity .
It ’s true that , with the exception of our belovedgreen chile , the dining scene here was moderately much built on meat and spud . But that ’s been interchange for some time now . My question is , by how much ? Enough to prove this city finally has an international - food scene deserving exploring ? I decided to find out , and my commission was unclouded : I ’d set out to find spiciest dishes around town .
Here ’s to brass balls , nervousness of steel , and an smoothing iron tum …
YumYumSpice | Ruth Tobias/Thrillist
The boring and the neutral
There were some places I did n’t even gravel to face – in most Latin American restaurants , for instance . That may fathom crazy considering South America ’s the birthplace of the Capsicum genus ( to use the scientific name for chile white pepper ) , but the fact of the matter is they be given to wager a supporting part in the continent ’s food , appearing mainly as accents in salsas and other condiments . Peruvian culinary art ’s the only exclusion , and a soft one at that . And the same go for Central America . Do n’t conceive me ? Here ’s a regular tiffin special atLos Parceros Restaurante , a Colombian kitchen on East Colfax .
It ’s no smash on Denver or its ( admittedly humble ) cadre of Salvadoran , Venezuelan , Brazilian , and Argentine cooks to disregard them out of hand – it ’s just the nature of their tradition . The smasher just are n’t that spicy .
In fact , I did n’t even sudate too much , literally or figuratively , over Mexican food . Do n’t get me awry : the raiment of chili pepper and their uses across Mexico are staggering . But they ’re more likely to contribute complexity and piquant demarcation than downright hellfire . Think about it : how many of your favorite Mexican cup of tea are hot without the addition of salsa ? Just in case , I tested a few mantrap know for their destructive potential drop along the means , includingEl Valle’sbirria de chivo – or goat stew – and the ceviche - esque aguachile atTorres Mexican Food . Que rico ? Sí . Killer ? No .
Los Parceros | Ruth Tobias/Thrillist
But other culinary art that I counted on to slit through me with spice did n’t even come in close . Take my foray into what short Caribbean food we ’ve catch .
Considering the West Indies grow some of the mankind ’s most incitive peppers , including the Trinidad Scorpio the Scorpion and the Scotch cowl , I harbored high hopes for break into flames over the island fare . ButJamaican Grill’scurry goat , while yummy and plenteous , break off little more heat than sens roast in gravy . And if the chicken I had atCaribbean Bakeryand Catering was jerk , it was the most lay - back , pleasant jerk imaginable , causing little more than a prickle star on my sass and spit that just sort of hung around like a client that was teetering on outstay its welcome .
So I move on to the kitchens specify in China ’s most magnificently perfervid regional cuisine , Sichuan . My first stop wasChina Jadein Aurora , where in the past I ’d survived the electric shocks of its dry - electrocute light-green beans and ma po tofu . But the preserved pepper fish that sounded so bright petered out on me . So did the boil fish slices I had to order from Golden’sNew Peach Gardena day in forward motion . When traditionally prepare with a atomic pile of dried chiles , the dish is as notoriously brutal as its name is innocuous , so by the time the proprietor delivered it with worried expressions and strict serving instructions , I think certainly it would have me in teardrop within a few bite . It did n’t .
Caribbean Bakery | Ruth Tobias/Thrillist
While redolent and filled with numbing Sichuan peppercorns and herb , the stock was no more than zesty . AtYum Yum Spice , a purveyor of Sichuan dry hot toilet near DU , I hardly broke a sweat wolfing down the contentedness of a sizzling wok loaded with lamb , potatoes , slice lotus root , attic sprout , and other veggies , plus more peppercorns but precious few chili pepper .
That ’s not to say Denver ’s regional Chinese - food biz sucks . In fact , it hold on improving . But you ca n’t blame Sino - American cooks for their hesitancy – after decennary of being practically forced to help nothing but pupu platters and gripe with broccoli while enduring joke about dog meat – to ready for Anglos the style they cook for themselves .
Despite my wearisome dashing hopes , I was n’t quick to wave my # DenverSoWhite sword lily just yet .
China Jade | Ruth Tobias/Thrillist
The better
After all , there ’s one matter that I know Denver ’s principally bloodless universe stats do n’t show : our surprising range of African cuisines . I could take you for Sudanese fatta fool , Nigerian Kuki chin , South African biltong , Maroc b’stilla , and Somalian spaghetti with a infernal banana on the side all in one daylight . Want more ? I ’ll show you the brand - newAfrikMallwith a newbie intellectual nourishment court that include Ivorian and Congolese marketer and manoeuver you ( again ) to the Ghanian - runAfrican Grill & Barwhere a blistering condiment called shito is requisite on a number of dishes . And I can head you straight towards an Ethiopian community whose cooks do n’t skimp on berbere and mitmita – a scarlet - pepper - base spice mixture essential to their platters .
And because that salmagundi is reasonably stock from restaurant to restaurant , I wo n’t lie about what invariably brought me toAxum : the full barroom . Just a niggling swimming courage helped me handle the cherry-red - blooded attack of kitfo – think beef tartare - meets - sloppy joe mix – as it vanish scissor kicked the back of my throat like Kurt Sloane attempt retribution for his murdered crony . The Elia fret called awaze tibs did the magic trick too , its warmth building as slowly as the flack under the proverbial simmering frog , which in this scenario happened to be my oral cavity .
However , the effect wore off as quickly as it took . But at least I was finally getting fired up after a small reassurance that not everyone in this townspeople ’s so agile to dumb ( and benumbed ) it down .
Axum | Ruth Tobias/Thrillist
Encouraged , I made my elbow room to Aurora ’s Koreatown . Granted , Koreans could n’t dumb down their food if they tried – it ’s nothing if not fundamentally pungent . exclude the garlic , the Pisces sauce , the fermented soybeans , the vinegar , and so on ( never mind the chiles ) , and there ’s little left but beef and cabbage , at which point in time you ’re belike good off heading to the nearest Irish pub . So now that we ’ve found that it ’s grueling to go wrong at a Korean eating place , the interrogation is : how far you need to go right ? Up for clearing your sinuses ? BesidesDae Gee’stofu with kimchi and the ddeokbokki atFunny Plus , you might judge golbaengi at Aurora’sSeoul Korean BBQ and Sushi : the cold dish of sliced snail in a gochujang - base sauce reminded me of runt cocktail … if runt cocktail were chewy and also spicy enough to make me sweat from pores I did n’t know I had . Now we ’re getting somewhere .
The scorchingly insane
If you ’re up for all annihilating your sinuses , a twain of doorway down from Seoul , there ’s a little place calledYong Gungthat makes two versions of the seafood soup known as jjam bong . You want the one called “ dynamite jjam bong . ”
If it await like a shellfish battue , that ’s no coincidence . midway through my own roll , I ’d been knocked so senseless by its viciousness that I was broth - spattered , puff for what felt like my last breath , and literally bloody , having puncture my quarter round on a crab claw in the chaos . But I was also elate by the smoky , salty , umami penalisation , softened just enough by plump , perfumed mollusc and slurpable noodles – and quick for more . peculiarly , Indian intellectual nourishment .
From tandoori kabob to saag paneer , what most of us stateside grew up thought was Amerind food actually represents only a slice of the subcontinental pie , primarily to the due north and west . It ’s the progressively available nutrient of the south , however , that will run your facial expression off like Toht ’s in Raiders . Take the Andhra Pradesh - style goat pepper fry I try atParadise Biryani Pointein Greenwood Village . The thick , dark , tender , bone - in chunks of goat meat came coated in a gravy that tasted as fierce as it bet , redolent of Cuminum cyminum , cinnamon , Curcuma longa and enough pepper – red and bootleg – to seep instantly through my tongue and keep on going all the way down my intestine , where it clawed me to tittle for a few hours . What joyful ill-usage it was .
Seoul Korean | Ruth Tobias/Thrillist
That said , it had nothing on phall .
Like chicken tikka masala , phall ’s a British - Indian invention . Unlike chicken tikka masala , it will bollocks up the roof off your mouth . On the menu atIndia Tavernin the DTC , it ’s listed with a warning that you have to verbally agree not to action for damages before they ’ll do it to you . As it turn out , I was n’t forced to voice a waiver ; I was , however , forced to voice torment while basically committing fire-raising to my insides with every incinerating bite . block flavor ; the focal breaker point here was the endorphin rush it provide – the tactual sensation that I could n’t stop corrode it , because when the adrenaline slowed , the horror of my self - visit crime would fully slump in . Which is delicious in itself .
The same pop off for ordering “ Thai red-hot . ”US Thaiin Edgewater has a long reputation for obliging the petition , but my server admitted when I asked that the construct is jolly gimmicky . In Thailand , balance among contrast flavour – spicy , sweet , sour , acerb – by and large ruff estrus for heat ’s saki . She also suggested , with a disconcertingly nervous laugh , that I stick with plain old “ hot . ” But I was in it to come through it , so Thai hot green curry it was .
Yong Gung | Ruth Tobias/Thrillist
Oh shit . What had I done ? Seeds swarmed that bowl like gnat . I put a scant tablespoonful on a huge soap of rice and have my first bite ; the scorching sensation overspread instantaneously like a wildfire through a forest stricken by drought . After another few bites , I was piling up napkin to mop my forehead and blow my olfactory organ . A few more and my gut start flinching from the snow , clenching in a promise to win round two of this battle . True , through it all , I could still discover the smoky bittersweetness coating the clump of bean curd , eggplant , green beans , and other veg ; it did n’t entirely lack for nuance . I just could n’t appreciate it – I was too busy revalue how miserable I was .
And that , friends , goes to show this townspeople ’s not just white-hot cabbage , meat , and white potato vine . We ’ve got a whole globe of cooks out there – all you have to do is accept their challenge to your tastebuds . ( Just be prepared to destroy a few in the process . )
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Paradise Biryani | Ruth Tobias/Thrillist
Ruth Tobias has taken more Altoids and Tums in the preceding few week than you ever have in your life . find out out where she ’s say FU to good breathing spell and digestion now@Denveater .
US THAI | Ruth Tobias/Thrillist
