Tip of the Day - Cool Down Spicy Food

by Sarah LeTrent, Posted Oct 7th 2009 @ 9:00AM

Did your dish come out too spicy? Tone it down with these tips.

Photo: wormwould, Flickr.

The best beverage to put out the fire in your mouth after a piquant meal is milk. Along that same train of thought, dairy is oftentimes served as a companion to spicy cuisines to provide diners relief -- raita with spicy Indian, crema with Mexican, coconut milk with Thai.

So it should come as no surprise that dairy can be helpful when a dish you've prepared turns out to be of unpleasant, nuclear spice proportions. If appropriate, serve plain yogurt or sour cream alongside or try sprinkling it with cheese.

Lime, lemon or other citrus juices can also help tame the heat. And sugar is another antidote -- but be weary with this, as you don't want to botch the recipe even more by making it unusually sweet.

If none of these remedies work with the flavors, simply add more of everything else in the dish, minus the spice.

Thanks to Slashfood reader Frank D. for asking!

Filed Under: Tip of the Day
Tags: cool down, CoolDown, spicy foods, SpicyFoods, tip of the day, TipOfTheDay, toning down spicy foods, ToningDownSpicyFoods