Frequent patrons of McDonald’s restaurants on the Chinese mainland are no strangers to spicy fare. There are few dishes the chain hasn’t tried spicing up over the years; the spicy chicken burger and Spicy McWings are among its most popular menu items.

If you have traveled to the Middle Kingdom or shared a meal with a Chinese family, you’ll know just how important chili peppers are in Chinese cuisine. Whether serving as a dish’s key ingredient or used as a seasoning for a bowl of white rice, spicy flavors are a fixture of the average Chinese palate.

The famously spicy food of Sichuan has taken the world by storm. But how did people in the region develop such a strong taste for mala, or mouth-numbingly spicy, flavors? Some say it has to do with the climate.

People from different countries, regions, or cultures often brag about their tolerance for piquancy, challenging folks from other areas to see who can handle the highest amount of spice. It's a point of pride for many that they can crank up the heat and handle it gracefully while others tap out.

People who request an extra kick to their curry could also be adding years to their life, according to a large study which linked frequent consumption of spicy food to longevity.

Originally brought to China from the Americas by the Spanish and Portuguese via trade routes in the 15th and 16th centuries, chili peppers are now cultivated in countless varieties across China. Suddenly, Chinese cooks had a new source of spicy heat, in addition to native peppercorns and ginger—fresh and dried chili peppers.

Dried chiles are used more for their aroma than for their heat. They lend deep, smoky fragrance and mild spiciness to chili oils, condiments, and braised or stir-fried dishes. For stir-frying, you typically snip the whole dried chiles into thumbnail-sized segments (with seeds shaken out), and add them to the shimmering hot oil in the wok along with the other aromatics like garlic, ginger, scallion, etc. In Sichuan regional cooking, dried chiles are often paired with Sichuan peppercorns.

study cuisines from around the world, and you'll find that many tend to rely on fairly consistent bases of aromatic vegetables, no matter the dish. In France, this vegetable base is known as mirepoix, and features celery, onions, and carrots.

Mexican chiles — capsicum annuum — are the backbone of some of the most flavorful dishes, and they come from capsicum pepper plants. They're actually related to bell peppers and tomatoes.

Jalapeño peppers are one of the most well-known strains of the capsicum annum species and can be found in anything from a salsa you use to top your tacos with to appetizer versions of it where they are stuffed with cheese (via MasterClass).

Do you like it hot? Like really, really hot? Every family has one, that person who doesn't think something is hot enough until their lips start changing color and they break out in a sweat. Chili peppers aren't just about heat, though. If used correctly, they're about adding a whole different flavor to some of your favorite foods.

There are numerous chili pepper varieties, all of which you can consume fresh and most of which you can preserve by drying. So is there a discernable difference in the amount of heat between the fresh and dried versions of the same chili?

Dried peppers, whether no-heat sweet peppers or fiery chilies, can go bad just like any other food. By drying peppers, you can extend their shelf life for quite a long time, but not indefinitely.

Hot peppers are, of course, known for their heat, but could cooking peppers make them spicier than you’d expect? Is it cooking fiction or cooking fact that cooking peppers make them hotter?

Do bell peppers have a gender? Some say they do. The idea has been around for a while but only recently has it caught traction. According to the theory, there are distinct male and female peppers and the gender indicates whether a bell pepper has more seeds or whether it is better for cooking or eating raw.

Affordable, simple to cook with, and fairly easy to find in grocery stores, dried chiles can add a lot of flavor to a dish, if you know how to use them. In Mexican cuisine, dried chiles are the backbone of many traditional dishes and while you may know how to work with their fresh counterparts, head to the spice aisle and start exploring the earthy, smoky, sweet, and complex flavors that dried chiles have to offer.

Red chili peppers, native to South America, India, Thailand, and several other locales, have a reputation for their heat level; but how hot is this type of nightshade in reality? If you want to expand your cooking to achieve new levels of deliciousness, knowing more about your ingredients is essential.

When you think of Mexican chiles, you likely first conjure up the fresh, spicy green kinds—jalapeños, serranos, and poblanos. But in our cookbook, Nopalito, we make the case for why dried chiles—which often occupy an entire wall at Mexican markets—are the cuisine’s true workhorses.

Chillies are a popular ingredient in many cuisines worldwide, and their heat and flavour can add a lot of character to dishes. But when it comes to chilli heat, is dried chilli hotter than fresh? Let's take a look.

Chinese Chili Oil is a spicy delicious condiment with a bright red color commonly found at your local Chinese restaurant or Asian grocery store. You can serve this over dumplings, rice, noodles, protein or vegetables!