Is medium spicier than mild?

[Lorax]

a better question, what's spicier at those mexican restaurants, the green chile sauce or the red?

 

[AstroManLuca]

It varies immensely based on the type of thing you're looking at (is it hot sauce? salsa? something else?), the brand (mass market? small/local? a national premium or organic brand?), and what it'll be used for (as a garnish? in large or small quantities? how flavorful is the rest of the food?).

If I'm having just chips with salsa I tend to prefer medium because there's not much between the chips and the salsa and it allows more of the natural salsa flavor to come through. Of course it depends on the brand. I personally love Frontera green tomatillo + serrano salsa, but Pace/Tostitos/etc. medium salsa is boring and bland, and going hot doesn't really fix it, it just distracts you from the lack of flavor.

I like adding hot sauce to my food though, for sure. Cholula or Sriracha will turn scrambled eggs into something special. And sometimes I add a little habanero sauce to something if it's not spicy enough. But the point is flavor, not simply heat. You want and need both. I don't go around proclaiming how much of a badass I am for liking spicy foods... I do like them but you have to balance hotness with flavor. So if you're eating something that tastes good but isn't spicy enough, add a little habanero sauce. If you're eating something that needs flavor and heat, then add a more flavorful hot sauce.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: Lorax
a better question, what's spicier at those mexican restaurants, the green chile sauce or the red?

Red generally is. Green is usually jalapeno sauce, and is quite mild, The one exception to that is the El Yucatan green habanero sauce. I put off trying it because it had artificial coloring, man was that a mistake. That sauce is one of the best made, bar none. Not much vinegar, it has a dry flavor, nice level of heat, and you can really taste the habaneros. I love the stuff.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

WTF man. I've gone to so many Korean tofu places, how do people not know medium > mild?

It goes

1) None
2) Mild
3) Medium
4) Hot

And with Korean places its a gamble. Is it an American medium or Korean medium? Once in a while you get screwed and it's a Korean medium and I take a while to finish and wipe off the sweat.

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
American "spice" guide
"mild" = extremely tame. No burn at all, 0 scoville rating.
"medium" = very tame, no noticable burn, tastes like maybe they added a dash of black pepper to it, scoville rating, extremely low.
"hot" = tame, tiny tiny tiny small little hint of heat in the food. like, maybe they added one jalapeno to the whole dish or like 3 drops of tobasco sauce. Still overall very mild.

My biggest complaint about this great country, is the fact that so many people are so fussy about capsaicin in their food.
Also, I hate it when I go to some Thai restaurants, and ask them to make it super spicy and they make it mild because I am white. I have found a couple of places, where I make it a point, then drive it home, and then just to confirm that I do in fact want them to attempt to kill me with peppers I ask for extra hot peppers or sauce to add as well in case the cook does not make it spicy enough. Then I am sure to put several heaping tablespoons of hot sauce on my food.

Once food is spicy enough to a certain point, when eating becomes a sweatfest .... the food is SOOOOOO good ... It is beyond words.

Well usually they add spice to food since the food the serve is tasteless and bland and they need something that has flavor.