chinese soupI love Chinese food, but sometimes, the spiciness can be too much. I was eating some General Tso's chicken recently and accidentally ate one of those little dark red chili peppers. You know what I'm talking about. The little ones that look innocent enough but secretly are just waiting to ruin an otherwise wonderful meal by burning your mouth to smithereens. I ate it by accident and thought I'd never put out the fire in my mouth.

But that's nothing compared to what happened to a diner in China. A 26-year-old man ate a bowl of soup that was so spicy that it burned a hole in his stomach. A HOLE IN HIS STOMACH. What kind of soup was it? Because I think we should all avoid it forever.

The man ate something called mala soup, which means "numbing hot." Which also apparently means "will burn a hole in your stomach." The man chose the spiciest version of the soup, and had to be rushed to the hospital because he began throwing up blood.

Mala soup is a traditional Chinese dish usually made with Sichuan pepper and chili pepper. "The combination is known to cause a numbing sensation when consumed," according to The Daily Mail.

I am a wimp when it comes to spice. I think medium salsa is sometimes too much, so the very idea of this soup makes me cringe. I can't imagine a situation in which I would eat something that would be so spicy it made me numb. I'd have to be, like, tied down and a prisoner in some terrible dungeon. I really don't like food that causes me pain.

Some people do though, so I say, uh, enjoy! But there are reasonable limits here. Soup that's so spicy that it actually causes you physical harm should never be served to anyone, and I definitely will NOT be ordering that stuff if I ever see it on a menu.

How much spice can you handle?

 

Image via midorisyu/Flickr