Love the kick that comes with Sichuan soups and Indian dishes? It’s all down to the chilli peppers. There’s something about these berry-fruits (yes, fruit) and their capsaicin, or burning, effect that flips a switch in our brains and keeps us coming back for more. With over a thousand varieties, their level of heat ranges from 0 to 2.7 million Scoville heat units (SHU) – the measurement specially developed to gauge their potency. 

For spice lovers looking for a meal that packs a punch, we reveal seven of the world’s spiciest dishes – in order of heat – that make a bowl of Korean Samyang 2X spicy Buldak ramen noodles look like child’s play. 

7. Papa a la huancaina, Peru 

Although chillies are widely used in Asian cooking, their origins are rooted in South and Central America, particularly Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico. Papa a la huancaina is a Peruvian boiled potato appetiser, with a creamy yellow sauce that looks deceptively mild. It’s loaded with fresh white cheese and grilled aji Amarillo, a Peruvian hot pepper that sits between 30,000 to 50,000 SHU on the Scoville scale – ten times hotter than a jalapeno pepper. 

6. Kaeng tai pla, Thailand

Travellers to Thailand may be familiar with the term “Thai Spicy” to denote the highest level of heat you can find on a menu, which is best experienced in the dish kaeng tai pla. This fish curry boasts an intense aroma and umami-rich flavour thanks to the tai pla sauce, which is made with fish paste, turmeric, lesser galangal, kaffir lime zest and leaves, shallots, garlic and both fresh and dried bird’s eye chilli peppers – a variety of red chilli that sits above a sweat-inducing 100,000 SHU on the Scoville scale.

5. Ayam penyet, Indonesia

Home to more than half the world’s spices, Indonesia imbues its cuisine with rich, savoury tastes, and sweet, hot and spicy flavours. Ayam Penyet is a Javanese variation of Ayam Goreng, Indonesian fried chicken. The chicken is marinated in a mixture of spices and herbs, then half-cooked by boiling in a blended spice paste, before frying. It’s then smashed and laden with freshly ground spicy sambal paste made with a combination of Bird’s eye chilies and red chilies. Not surprisingly, this dish packs a punch with a heat level of up to 100,000 SHU, and is not for the faint of heart. 

4. Jerk chicken, Jamaica

Uniquely Jamaican, this barbequed dish is prepared by dry-rubbing or marinating chicken in jerk spice – a blend of woody herbs and aromatic spices native to Jamaica, including the Jamaican peppercorn, otherwise known as allspice, and habanero chilli pepper, one of the hottest peppers (a fiery 150,000-325,000 SHU) on the Scoville scale. . The resulting dish is a wonderfully complex fusion of hot, smoky, sweet and earthy flavours – a must-try (if you dare).

3. Mala hot pot, China

When it comes to spicy food, Sichuan’s cuisine is among the most distinct in the world. Mala hot pot, which originates in the Chinese province, is about 100,000 times hotter than your typical hot pot, thanks to its tantalising, mouth-numbing soup base. It’s typically made with beef tallow, loaded with dried red chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, fermented chili bean paste, a variety of spices, aromatics and red chilli oil, which help intensify its unique and pungent flavours. Just a whiff of this fiery concoction gives a tangy effect on the palate.

2. Goan vindaloo, India

It’s safe to say that India is a master in the art of spice. However, perhaps the country’s hottest dish, the vindaloo, also contains European influences. A pork-based dish from Goa, vindaloo is an adaptation of the Portuguese carne de vinho e alhos (the country that introduced chilli peppers to India 500 years ago). It features a blend of spices, red chilli pepper and bhut jolokia – the notorious ghost pepper, which can reach an alarming 1.5 million SHU on the Scoville scale.  

1. Phaal curry, United Kingdom 

If you think you’ve met your match with the vindaloo, approach phaal curry with caution. This infamous dish was born in the kitchens of Bangladeshi curry houses in Birmingham, England, and is said to be the hottest curry in the world. With a thick tomato base, it contains a daunting amount of chilli peppers, including red chilli peppers, habanero peppers, scotch bonnets, Bhut Jolokia – or sometimes Carolina reapers (the second hottest chili pepper in the world). It’s no wonder this inferno of a dish has brought even the toughest of spice lovers to tears.