A Hot Mess: The Gut-Rupturing Peppers for Prizes at Our Hot Chili Pepper Eating Contest This Saturday

The chili pepper has for millennia stopped humans dead in their tracks. How could such a small specimen present such crippling powers as to leave a grown man doubled up on the floor, tears filling his eyes, mouth seemingly on fire, and a world of cramps to come?

Luckily, we've found some contestants silly enough to want to experiment with pain head-on, eschewing an age-old reverence for the humble chili pepper in order to win big prizes at our annual Hot Chili Pepper Eating Competition in cooperation with the Maovember charity drive this Saturday (Dec 2, 6.30pm onwards) at Punjabi.

The chili eaters stand to win a range of awesome prizes but so do you as attendees! Throughout the contest, you will have the chance to throw down guesses as to who will rise out of the fiery depths victorious in their quest to eat the hottest chili. The 10 prize packs up for grabs include vouchers totaling RMB 1,000 for Q Mex Taqueria, Saigon Mama, Pak Pak Thai Kitchen & Bar, and Punjabi, and a grab-bag of six yummy hot sauces and foods, such as Ayam Brand's Thai chili sauces; Herb Whisperer's hot sauce and pickled jalapenos; and Caravan's craft harissa hot sauce.

Sign up by scanning the QR code via WeChat below
(spots are limited to 100, so be quick!):

If that wasn't enough, your RMB 100 ticket gets you unlimited access to an Indian buffet courtesy of Punjabi (think spicy chicken madras, tangy fish curry, mild spinach cheese, potato cauliflower, mixed barbecue chicken and lamb, and more). Slow Boat has also been kind enough to donate some suds to cool off. All drink revenue and lucky draw ticket revenue go to charity. Finally, the whole event will be filmed by a pepper documentarian who has just spent the past five years traveling the world in search of some of the hottest peppers and their history.

As for the competitors, they'll be holding out for the seven types of chilies that we've assembled to put them through their sweaty paces (read more on those below). First, a little background on what gives these little buggers their characteristic kick and the root cause of all this fiery irritation: capsaicin.

Capsaicin is the active component in chili peppers and binds to the pain receptors in your mouth and airways to mimic the sensation of heat. The "amount" of heat is dependent on how much capsaicin is present in the pepper and is traditionally measured by the Scoville scale, first created by American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912, and which initially involved a panel of tasters trying different dilutions of pepper until they were no longer able to perceive the burn. The pungency of a pepper is described in Scoville heat units (SHU).

We have a vague idea of how hot each of the peppers that we have selected for Saturday's competition will be, however, the only true way to rate how hot they are is to count the numbers of tears rolling down each of the competitors' faces. Here's what we have to look forward to:

Line Pepper (线椒王) – approx. 15,000 SHU
To kick things off, contestants will need to eat a single long and relatively mellow line pepper, which shouldn't prove too much of a hurdle for our asbestos-mouthed maniacs (we hope!).

Facing Heaven Pepper (朝天椒) – approx. 40,000 SHU
This cone-shaped and fragrant medium-hot chili pepper will be recognizable to any lovers of Sichuan cuisine out there and is notable for growing upwards, toward the heavens, rather than downwards. Cooking often reduces the spiciness of the pepper to something closer to a nice burn. Unfortunately, that won't be an option for our chiliheads.

Yunnan Wrinkled Skin Pepper (皱皮椒) – approx. 55,000 SHU
These green wrinkly peppers are particular to Yunnan and feature a moderate heat that, according to one Chinese user, will "after a few mouthfuls create a slight feverish feeling, with layers of sweat ready to break out." However, the spice won't stick around too long, which means that our contestants will soon face the ...

Sichuan Seven-Star Pepper (四川七星椒) – approx. 60,000 SHU
Native to Sichuan province, these red peppers are renowned for being one of the spiciest peppers in the south of China and comes in seven levels, giving it its name, the “seven-star pepper.” So all-encompassing are the levels of spice found in the Sichuan seven-star pepper that, in 2001, the Guinness Book of World Records held a chili eating competition using only this variety. Our contestants will wish that's where the pain ends, but alas, they have three more to go.

Bird's Eye Chili (鸟眼辣椒) – approx. 100,000-225,000 SHU
The bird's eye chili is most commonly found in Ethiopia and Southeast Asia and is extensively used in the cuisine of those regions. The fruit of the bird's eye plant is small but particularly pungent, giving it a spiciness that is close to the lower half of the habanero range but still much spicier than a jalapeño. Contestants will most likely start to feel the burn by this section, literally.

Hainan Yellow Lantern Chili (黄灯笼辣椒) – approx. 170,000 SHU
The Hainan yellow lantern chili grows predominantly in Hainan and is a member of the capsicum chinense family, commonly known as the "bonnet pepper," and well-known for their exceptional heat and unique flavors. This bright yellow beauty is usually pressed into hot sauce – this time around, though, it won't get the chance.

Yunnan Shabu Shabu Chili (云南涮涮辣) – approx. 1,000,000 SHU
Should one or more of the poor souls make it to the final round, they'll come face-to-face with this beast, the last obstacle between them and pain-filled glory! I mean, you need a glove to even hold these 1-million-plus-SHU warheads, let alone be stupid enough to put one in your mouth sans protection. The shabu shabu chili grows wild in southwest China, on the border with Myanmar. The name comes from the method in which locals eat them: using chopsticks to dip them in a hot pot before swirling them around – what is known as shabu shabu in Japanese. Competitors will be begging for a hot pot to drown out the pain once this goes down.

And with that, we hope that your mouth is salivating sufficiently with the thought of an Indian buffet, some lighthearted(-ish) competition, and the knowledge that the proceeds are going to extremely worthwhile charities come Saturday. One final thank you to our sponsors:

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