On 10/15/2013 6:36 AM, gtr wrote:
>
> Well maybe someone's faile experiment isn't really the "sweet spot".
> Chili oil is also a condiment that sits on all the tables in Vietnamese
> and many Chinese restaurants. That variety is less "pure" and has chili
> flakes in the oil.

I've had that stuff in VN restaurants. It's sort of like mud except it's
the good kind of mud. The most wonderful stuff that I ever had was at
when I had some fast food Japan style curry at Shirokiya in Hawaii.
There was a jar of dark blood red muck on the counter that was labeled
HOT HOT! The guy behind the counter seemed unprepared when I requested
some of it. It looked like he was sizing me up. Anyway, I have no idea
what was in it but it had a slow burn that ramped up to a high level and
then dissipated. Very cool! I don't know what was in the stuff but it
had the intense dusty heat of cumin. It brought tears of joy and pain to
my eyes. That was the best chili oil I ever had and I never saw it again.

>
> Chili is piquant and spicy, so yes some people want to eat it.
>

The idiomatic local table condiment in Hawaii is chili pepper water. The
locals would say "chili peppa wadda." It is essentially the small
Hawaiian chili peppers infused in water with vinegar and salt. The old
Hawaiian guys make it. I'm more of a Sriracha kind of guy.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/ar...l13ataste.html