Qian Cheng
Lilac Doctor author
Food R&D Engineer
M.A. in Food Processing Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology
Have you ever had diarrhea after eating spicy? Ever wondered why you have diarrhea?
There is a theory on the Internet that this is all the trouble caused by the use of "chili essence" by merchants!
Image source: Network screenshot
What is "Chili Essence"? Diarrhea after eating spicy, do you really blame it?
Capsaicin is a natural extract
Unlike MSG, chicken essence, creamer, etc., chili essence is not synthetic or modified, it is actually a natural extract.
"Chili essence" is its popular name, and the scientific name of this thing is "chili oleoresin".
Image source: Courtesy of the author
Yes, in essence, chili essence is the "oleoresin" extracted from chili peppers.
So, why is it so spicy?
The principle is simple. As we all know, "Capsaicin" is the source of the spiciness in chili peppers.
"Capsaicin" is enriched at the same time as the flavor substances of chili peppers during the extraction process. Usually, manufacturers will also specifically remove the fragrance substance, after purification, the refined oil resin only leaves a very high concentration of capsaicin itself.
With such a high concentration of capsaicin dissolved in oil, you say spicy or not?
The spiciness of chili essence is very high
As a food developer, my job involves dealing with chili pepper extracts on a regular basis. As a first-hand experiencer, the spiciness of chili essence is as follows:
The last time I did the experiment, I accidentally got a little chili essence on my hand, and my hands felt spicy all day, and all the food I touched by my hand tasted like a strange spicy taste.
If you compare it with common chili peppers, you can have a more intuitive impression. The basic unit of measurement of spiciness is SHU Scottville, the spiciness of ordinary peppers is about 10,000 SHU, and the very spicy Chaotian peppers are about 50,000 SHU.
And the spiciness of chili essence usually jumps from a million.
Therefore, the R & D personnel put the chili pepper essence into the food are very careful, add drop by drop, and then taste it after adding. If you add more, the food will be too spicy and unacceptable. And the balance of the whole flavor will also be destroyed.
Chili pepper extract is not a substitute for chili pepper
Replacing chili peppers with chili essence is not a very rational approach. This may save costs, but the taste difference is too large.
Most of the chili essence is pure spicy, lacking the fragrance of the pepper itself, and even less the caramel flavor of the pepper and oil stir-fry.
If you really use it instead of chili peppers, the resulting dish is like a photo of excessive PS, which can only be said to be "very spicy and fake".
(Note: There are also some companies that now have compound flavors that combine spiciness and flavor.) But even such a flavor cannot restore 100% chili flavor, so it cannot completely replace the role of chili peppers. ）
Therefore, whether in the food industry or in the catering industry, the role of chili pepper essence is still mainly embellishment. When things are done, the spiciness is not enough, and the spiciness will be slightly supplemented by chili essence.
However, putting less chili peppers because of chili essence, or even not putting chili peppers, will destroy the flavor balance of the whole dish, which is really not worth the loss.
Diarrhea, not necessarily a pot of chili essence
If people do not eat very spicy food for a long time, the stomach and intestines are not adapted to capsaicin, accidentally consume excessive capsaicin, the stomach is stimulated, and there will indeed be diarrhea reactions.
However, have you ever thought of a question:
Chili essence simply purifies the capsaicin in chili peppers.
Dishes in restaurants, whether they are pepper essence or not, as long as they are the same spiciness, then the capsaicin content in them will not make much difference.
In this way, they will not make much difference in the stimulation of the gastrointestinal tract.
If it is the spiciness displayed by the "chili dish" and you can bear it, then you will not have a problem with the "chili dish" corresponding to the same spiciness.
If you eat "chili dish" and your stomach is diarrhea, then eating a "chili dish" that corresponds to the spiciness will also be very bad.
Therefore, this type of diarrhea is actually not a pot of "chili essence", but you should blame you for eating "too spicy", exceeding the limit of your stomach and intestines.
Diarrhea may be due to food hygiene
Are there any other possibilities for diarrhea?
Yes.
In fact, I think that a large part of the diarrhea after eating spicy should be more related to food hygiene.
At present, when we mention "spicy", the first thing we think of is the people of Sichuan and Chongqing who are not spicy and unhappy. And the ones we eat the most in our daily lives, and the most prone to diarrhea, are hot pots, skewers and spicy hot.
And these things are also the hardest hit areas of microbial pollution.
Some informal small shops will put hot pot, skewers, spicy hot ingredients at room temperature for a long time, especially meat ingredients, if left at room temperature for too long, microorganisms will multiply. By the time the pot is actually cooked, the initial microbes are already "bursting".
The hot pot, skewers, etc. often need to be heated by the diners themselves, and the degree of heating is often difficult to control. Sometimes, diners feel cooked, but in fact, the microorganisms inside the dish are not completely killed.
And sometimes chopsticks have to sandwich raw food, but also to clip cooked food to the mouth, even if more attention is paid, it is inevitable that there will be a risk of cross-contamination.
Not to mention that sometimes, the ingredients are no longer fresh, but the strong spicy taste will mask the unpleasant taste, and diners will eat these ingredients unconsciously.
In short, dietary methods such as hot pot, skewers, and spicy hot are themselves many uncontrollable factors in food hygiene.
Therefore, diarrhea after eating, I think it has a greater relationship with this aspect. And "chili essence" is innocent, it is just an ordinary food additive, let's not blame it anymore, okay?
Author's public number: technical foodie
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