So dumplings of all types are one of my favorite foods. Yummy, savory and all types of dipping sauces. I also have a great love for spicy foods. I always have fresh jalapeños, habaneros and other peppers in my kitchen. Chili crunch is a favorite condiment.
But damn, these dumplings I just got from a Nepalese restaurant called Momo Factory have me sweating from the top of my head like crazy, wet, matted hair, sweat running down my face, etc. I ordered the Butter Toasted Momo and the Northeast Manchurian Momo. I expected the Manchurian ones to be the ass kicker but no, the Butter Toasted ones are CRAZY. Butter sauce my ass, that stuff is basically curry butter with FIRE in it.
I also wonder why some chilis cause sweating like I’m experiencing today, from the top of my head, and others just burn my mouth in a pleasant but fairly quickly passing fashion.
I may have to order these again over the weekend. I’m very concerned my morning “business” may sting a lot.
There are several Nepalese restaurants near me due to the British Army Gurkha regiments that are/were based in the area. Some dishes can be quite hot but the momos are usually pretty tame. Here are a couple menus:
I fell in love with momos when I visited Nepal but I don’t remember them as being spicy at all and I ate from many different places. Nepalese curry wasn’t particularly spicy either.
It’s possible they de-spice them for tourists I suppose.
Also worth saying that in Nepal there were two types of momo: meat or vegetarian. Butter toasted and Manchurian varieties could be as spicy as whoever invented them decided they wanted them to be.
I have eaten momos in India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China (though not Tibet) and in my experience the momo itself is not spicy. But the sauce is usually some variation of red chili sauce and can be very spicy. And in Bhutan I have had the sauce made from the dalle chili which is almost lethal.
But I wonder whether your restaurant has pimped up their momos to make them fit the American view of all South Asian food as spicy. The same can be said of vindaloo curry which is almost unknown in India and not particularly spicy.
My local Nepalese restaurant serves veggie or meat momos which aren’t spicy in and of themselves, but does offer the option of dousing them with an extremely spicy red sauce. In general my impression is that some dishes are highly spiced but it isn’t a defining feature of the cuisine, I’ve actually found some of their food disappointingly bland.
Interesting. I quite like vindaloo and wasn’t aware of this. But my experience is actually that most US Indian restaurants don’t have it on the menu, it’s in the UK that it’s really ubiquitous (and really spicy).
I think I should have been more clear - it wasn’t the momo themselves that were so spicy. The Manchurian ones were pork filled and well seasoned but came in a red chili sauce with vegetables. It was spicy but not insanely so. The butter-toasted ones were chicken filled and had a bit more spice when I tasted one of them with out any sauce. The curry-butter sauce that was served on the side was definitely much more spicy. Not sure why. Both dishes allowed a choice between mild or hot. I will admit I went with hot.
Having said that, I want to make it clear they were delicious and I would/will be ordering from them again.