Denmark recalls hot Korean ramen

The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration has issued a recall of three varieties of the popular Korean Badak instant ramen noodles. The authorities said the noodles “are being recalled as the levels of total capsaicin in the products pose a risk of acute poisoning,” These are three varieties of instant chicken ramyeon, also known as "fire noodles". They come in three levels of hotness: hot, 2X, and 3X.

Here is a report on a taste test of all three by Guardian Australia staff.

So yes, the 3X noodles are hot. But poisonous? Give me a break.

-Paul W.

I do not know about the poison part, but during my lifetime I have known two friends who were allergic to spicy hot foods Once eating at a cafe in Petaluma while on a girl's fun weekend, I recommended a dish I loved to her. She asked if it was spicy hot and I said NO. We ended up in the ER with her broken out in hives, swollen mouth, and difficulty breathing. Never again will I advise anyone about the heat or spiciness of a dish.

I don't understand buying food with flames and devils on the packaging. Makes no sense at all.

Yes, there are folks cursed with (thankfully rare) food allergies that can be severe or even life-threatening. Celiac disease (allergy to gluten) is probably the most common. Peanut allergy is another common one. Jenise has told us about her problems with porcini. I had a friend in high school who had bad reactions to seafood (lobster, crabs, shrimp). But IMO such allergies are no reason to recall or ban those foods. The folks with the allergies know who they are and what to avoid.

The hottest thing I've ever eaten was a whole, fresh habanero. It proved to be an instructive lesson in where food goes after you eat it. I knew precisely where that habanero was in my digestive tract.

[pulpit]Which brings me to the gluten free fad. I think it's great that some producers are selling gluten free alternatives. It's a boon for those suffering with celiac disease. But for the rest of us there is no reason at all to avoid gluten in food. It's a silly fetish.[/pulpit]

-Paul W.

So they're popular, which means people like them. There have been zero cases of people who have been "poisoned" by them, which means people who don't like hot chilli dishes have avoided them.

What's the problem?

I take issue with the opposite. A dish that should be 'hot' not being so, because some people don't like 'hot' dishes. We chose a Thai Curry as our first meal on a river cruise. The chef, in his whites and toque, came around the dining room asking each table how they enjoyed the food. When he got to me I said there was no heat at all in the 'Thai Curry'. He said some people didn't like spicy food. I replied that the words 'Thai Curry' would deter those people. Only people that liked and expected heat would have it.

He came around to lunch and dinner tables every day afterwards. Just one table he never again stopped at - ours.

The chef, in his whites and toque, came around the dining room asking each table how they enjoyed the food. When he got to me I said there was no heat at all in the 'Thai Curry'. He said some people didn't like spicy food. I replied that the words 'Thai Curry' would deter those people. Only people that liked and expected heat would have it...

Yes, that is a pretty weak response on the chef's part. Although the fact that the menu listed 'Thai Curry' was perhaps already a sign that they weren't really leaning into 'authentic' Thai tastes.

The blandness aficionados are definitely out there. I dined at a Chinese restaurant once with some friends and we ordered pot stickers. One of them found the fresh ginger in the filling too "hot" for his tastes.

-Paul W.

It is all a matter of knowing one's self and what they can and cannot eat. When our daughter was very young, I gave her her very first ice cream sundae, all decked out with goodies including walnuts. We ended up in the emergency room and found out she was allergic to nuts. After that, I taught her how to read ingredient lists on food packages. I taught her to ask questions when mothers brought cookies, or other sweets to school gatherings. Some mothers lied thinking she was simply a picky kid. Those mothers heard from me! Eventually, she learned not to accept any questionable foods, from outside of the family. It is the same with spices, many folks can take it and many can't. If one is not sure of the heat, don't eat it.

I always have to beg for my Asian food to be spicy hot. And every time, I have to ask for some chili oil or something after I taste it.

I always have to beg for my Asian food to be spicy hot. And every time, I have to ask for some chili oil or something after I taste it.

Try asking the chef to make it for you like he makes it for himself. (Long ago, a friend did that and he got the hottest meal of his life.)

I'll try that. Sometimes I show them a card in five Asian languages that says I want it spicy hot!

Try asking the chef to make it for you like he makes it for himself. (Long ago, a friend did that and he got the hottest meal of his life.)

That happened to me once. One of my favorite restaurants (alas, no longer in business) was Bangkok Oriental Cuisine. It was run by Mowl Wolfe, who grew up in a village near Bangkok, and featured Thai and Laotian dishes. The menu items had 0-3 flames next to them as a gauge of hotness. There were two three-flame dishes, one of which was beef larb. I asked Mowl to make it for me as she would in Thailand. She asked, "are you sure?" I said yes. She said, "it comes with a soup that will help you cool down if it's too hot for you."

I knew I was in trouble when the soup arrived and there was a Thai bird's eye chlie floating in it. The larb was extremely hot. When Mowl stopped by to see how I was doing, she laughed at my red face, streaming with sweat. She then told me about how the women in her village used to gather around a table in the shade of a tree to exchange gossip. There was a bowl of bird's eye chiles on the table. They snacked on the chiles as we would on potato chips.

-Paul W.