There are actually three kinds of spicy

Not all spicy sensations are the same, so what does “spicy” actually mean?

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆-𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲:

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 (& 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲) 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳:

MinuteFood is created by Kate Yoshida, Arcadi Garcia & Bill Mead, and produced by Neptune Studios LLC.

[MinuteFood]

I ate way too many hot peppers for this video, but it was all worth it in the end. Hope you get a "kick" out of it!

[Oneg]

Fun fact: Chinese actually finishes out the trio by having a separate term for pungent spicy as well: 呛/嗆(qiàng)

[Veryashamedofthis]

Now it's time to create the szechuan-wasabi-chili wings for the ultimate trifecta and most uncomfortable sensations

[FemboiMuffin]

There’s also the “cold spicy”, the one that you get when you eat mint. It triggers the “cold receptors” in your mouth and nose, giving that peculiar fresh feeling

[lai_strength_training]

I was lied to in my biology classes! I was told that "spiciness" is a result of your taste buds dying. Capsasin binding to receptors makes WAY more sense!

[MasterGeekMX]

Here in mexico "caliente" means hot temperature, while "picante" means hot spicy. We also use the word "chiloso" for something spicy. It literally means chillie'd.

[PieroBsampaio]

I had never heard of Sichuan peppers. But the description of the feeling reminded me of Jambu, a herb we have in northern brazil known for giving this tingling sensation. Coincidentally I just looked at the english wikipedia page for Jambu and it says that the Jambu buds are sometimes called Sichuan buttons. Very nice video!

[Reviverey]

As a sushi chef I have to let it be known that there are 2 kinds of wasabi. The horse radish kind you mentioned, and real actual Wasabi, which is expensive as hell and has about a 5 minute shelf life after grinding (hence why you won't find it at a restaurant).
Real Wasabi is less "spicy" and more earthy.

[munirahbakar]

In Malay, these are how we describe things:
1. Panas = hot temperature
2. Pedas = spicy chillies hot
3. Berempah = full of spice flavour but not necessarily hot; like coriander seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, cumin, fennel etc. Think of pumpkin spice or masala chai.
4. Menyengat = literally means stinging, but also describes the pungency of wasabi & the smell of sharp vinegar.
5. Pijar = numbing hot. Pijar is used to describe the sensation on your skin/mouth after you've handled something 'pedas'.

[Fayanora]

Some people also get a mild "spicy" tingling sensation for things they're allergic to. I've heard stories of people who found out in their 20's or 30's that no, pineapple or mango or strawberries are not spicy to everyone; they're just mildly allergic.

[AogNubJoshh]

The ambiguity of the term has always annoyed me for these reasons, and also because "spicy" can mean simply that it contains spices like cinnamon and cloves i.e. a 'spiced chai latte' (though this also contains ginger, which is spicy!).
The scientific term is "pungency", which does not solve this problem because pungent colloquially means "strong smelling". Scientists should have chosen a better word.

[Holobrine]

A nice followup to this would be how mint tastes “cold”

[Erhannis]

I once bought some szechuan peppercorns. Tossed a couple in my mouth, hey. Oh man. It was a little brain breaking. It was SUCH a strong sensation, but somehow also imperceptible, as if I couldn't look directly at it, like my brain was telling me SOMETHING was extremely strong but refused to tell me what. Basically the Flavor Out Of Space. Tasted like electricity and limes. I stood by the sink, undecided if I wanted to barf or not. I can't say I recommend doing that, but it was certainly an experience.

[m.h.]

In German there is "heiß" for temperature "hot", "scharf" for "spicy hot", "würzig" or "pikant" for just "spicy" and "beißend" for "pungent spicy" (although this one is not used that often - most people will also call it "scharf")

[MatthewFTabor]

辣 in Chinese isn't just for hot spicy, it also describes the burning sensation of strong alcohol. Whenever I tell Chinese people that westerners usually can't drink Baijiu (Chinese sorghum alcohol), the typical reply is 太辣了，对吧 "Too spicy, right?"

I've had a very spicy wild mushroom when I was living in New York State. I don't remember the name of the mushroom, but it was small and red, and it had a very "hot" flavor similar to a chili pepper, but unlike the chili pepper spicy, the spiciness disappeared pretty quickly.

[KnowArt]

It's funny. In the netherlands we have like 3/4 words for spicy that could theoretically mean different things, but everyone just uses them interchangeably...

[Taneth]

Also, the spicy from chillies doesn't affect birds. They just taste the fruit.

[jolenewee]

You did end up buturing the pronounciation but thanks for talking about ma la! It's why litterally almost everywhere except for China doesn't actually do ma la haha (a lot of places only do the la part of the actual dish since they don't have the spices required for the ma)

[davidtitanium]

first time hearing about the "numbing" spice, would love to try it out sometimes since i love spicy food

[mariusbc]

It makes sense that places where spicy food has been historically popular have more words to describe the experience. In Mexico we use "especiado" (spicy) for food with spices, and "picante" (prickly) for food with chiles.