Which Country Has the Best Spicy Food?

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With our 2023 Hot and Spicy Festival only three weeks away (Apr 14-16), we just can’t stop thinking about all things spicy in anticipation. It's almost time to set our tongues aflame and try some of the most delicious spicy treats hailing from countries all across the globe at the capital’s hottest festival of the year.  

All this spicy talk, though, has led us to wonder: just which country has the best spicy food? An age-old question for spicy food lovers all over the world, it’s certainly a hot (pun intended) topic. There are some immediate contenders that come to mind - think Mexico, India, Thailand or even our very own China - but what about lesser known countries or less typical cuisines?

Well, to start things off we put the question to members of our Beijing Spicy Food Lovers group to see what they had to say, and they gave us some rather interesting, or in some cases debatable, results:

• Bangladesh

• Bhutan

• Bolivia

• China

• England

• Ethiopia

• Georgia

• Ghana

• Hungary

• India

• Indonesia

• Jamaica

• Korea

• Malaysia

• Mexico

• Morocco

• Nepal

• Nigeria

• Pakistan

• Peru

• Portugal

• Sri Lanka

• Thailand

• Trinidad

• Tunisia

• Turkey

• USA

• Vietnam

They managed to nominate a whopping 28 countries with great spicy food, though as a Brit I’m a little dubious about the inclusion of England on there -- it's true we have some good Indian-UK curries like chicken tikka masala, but spicy they are not. 

However, this is by no means an exhaustive list, and if you think there are other countries we haven't mentioned be sure to leave them as a comment! Once we’ve compiled a more complete list of countries, we’ll then be turning them over to you to vote for which country you think has the best spicy food, so be sure to keep an eye out for that.

Now, back to our Hot and Spicy Festival -- just when might you be able to snatch up tickets for the Beijinger’s first festival of the year I hear you ask? Well, the wait is almost over so get your cash ready as tickets will go on sale next Monday the 27th! Make sure to check our WeChat then so you can nab yourself some tickets pronto.

If you also want to keep up to date with all things spicy, are a lover of spicy food or are perhaps astounded that your number one country for spicy food didn’t make the list and want to rectify matters, you can join our Beijing Spicy Food Lovers WeChat group! Just scan the QR code below to add TBJButler and ask to be invited (we have English and Chinese language groups, so be sure to specify). 

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Images: Canva, Giphy, The Beijingers

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