忙陇聥?/span> Chinese Snack Lab

Mala Spice Decoder

Translate "氓炉掳卯聠驴猫聧聠 / 忙露聯卯聟隆猫聧聠 / 茅聬聴莽隆聟猫聧聠" into Scoville units, a Western pepper analogy, and a regional comparison matters because Chinese-English menu words for heat are deliberately vague.

'@ js=@' const REGION = { sichuan: { mul:1.0, label:'Sichuan baseline (Chengdu/Chongqing)' }, hunan: { mul:0.9, label:'Hunan baseline (Changsha)' }, guizhou: { mul:0.85,label:'Guizhou baseline (Guiyang)' }, yunnan: { mul:0.7, label:'Yunnan baseline (Kunming)' }, jiangsu: { mul:0.4, label:'Lower-Yangtze mild style' }, cantonese:{mul:0.2, label:'Cantonese mild style' } }; const LEVEL = { wei: { shu:300, cap:1500, west:'Banana pepper / mild pickled chili', ma:'mild' }, zhong: { shu:1500, cap:8000, west:'Jalape氓赂陆o, roughly', ma:'mild' }, te: { shu:8000, cap:30000, west:'Serrano to cayenne range', ma:'medium' }, ma: { shu:2000, cap:15000, west:'Cayenne + Sichuan peppercorn numbing', ma:'strong' }, super: { shu:30000,cap:80000, west:'Habanero to ghost pepper', ma:'medium' } }; function render(){ const r = REGION[region.value]; const l = LEVEL[level.value]; const low = Math.round(l.shu * r.mul), high = Math.round(l.cap * r.mul); let recovery = high >= 15000 ? 'Drink whole milk or eat rice 茅聢楼?not water. Capsaicin is oil-soluble.' : high >= 3000 ? 'A spoonful of plain yogurt or rice cools the burn within a minute.' : 'Most Westerners can eat this comfortably. Skip if you dislike chili.'; const numbing = l.ma==='strong' ? 'Strong 茅聢楼?Sichuan peppercorn present' : l.ma==='medium' ? 'Mild 茅聢楼?mostly chili, not numbing' : 'N/A'; toolOut.innerHTML = `
Estimated Scoville
${low.toLocaleString()} 茅聢楼?${high.toLocaleString()} SHU
Range, not exact. Cooking heat varies batch to batch.
Western analogy
${l.west}
What a North-American cook would expect.
Numbing (忙楼鹿?
${numbing}
Numbing feels like a low battery in your lips.

Heads up. ${recovery}

Source: ${r.label}. Sichuan/Chongqing baseline assumes street-restaurant preparation; home cooking is usually 30茅聢楼?0% milder.

`; } const region = document.getElementById('region'); const level = document.getElementById('level'); const toolOut = document.getElementById('tool-out'); document.getElementById('go').onclick = render; region.onchange = level.onchange = render; render();
Advertisement slot 茅聢楼?clearly labelled, never disguised as content.

How to use this tool

Pick the region you are eating in and the heat level printed on the menu. Press Decode. The card shows an estimated Scoville range, a Western pepper you have probably eaten, and the numbing intensity from Sichuan peppercorn. Use this before you commit to a dish you cannot return.

What this solves 茅聢楼?and what it doesn't

Chinese menus use six or seven spice words, but two tables in the same restaurant can mean very different things. A "忙露聯卯聟隆猫聧聠" in Chengdu and a "忙露聯卯聟隆猫聧聠" in a Szechuan place in Toronto are not the same dish. This tool collapses six menu words into one Scoville range and one Western pepper analogy so you can choose with your eyes open.

Who this is for

Non-Chinese diners choosing spice level in a sit-down restaurant. Tourists ordering street food who do not want to be the person crying in public. Diaspora Chinese who grew up with mild home cooking and are visiting Sichuan for the first time.

How to read the result

A Scoville range is wider than a single number because the same dish cooked by two chefs will land in different parts of the band. Treat the low end as "you will probably survive" and the high end as "you will feel it tomorrow". Numbing (忙楼鹿? is independent of chili heat 茅聢楼?a dish can be mild in chili and still make your mouth tingle because of Sichuan peppercorn oil.

Honest limitations

Scoville measures chili heat, not Sichuan peppercorn numbing. Cooking method (stir-fry vs boiled vs dry-pot) changes perceived intensity 2茅聢楼?猫聞鲁 even at the same Scoville. This tool does not cover Korean gochugaru, Thai prik, or Indian Kashmiri chili 茅聢楼?those have different conventions.

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

What are the common mistakes when using Mala Spice Decoder?
Most common mistakes come down to four habits: entering 20 when the field expects 0.2 because the field is a percentage; leaving a field blank and accepting the default without checking what it stands for; changing one input and reading a result that was calculated before the change; and quoting the output as an exact figure when the page describes it as a reference estimate. Press calculate again after any edit, and treat the number as a reference point rather than a final answer.
How do I read the result from Mala Spice Decoder?
Read the final figure first, then come back to this section for the conditions behind it: A Scoville range is wider than a single number because the same dish cooked by two chefs will land in different parts of the band. Treat the low end as "you will probably survive" and the high end as "you will feel it tomorrow". Numbing (忙楼鹿? Keep two things apart: the number itself, which comes from the values you typed, and the assumptions it depends on, which decide whether that number is meaningful. The page sets out what a higher or lower result means for your case, so check that direction as well as the magnitude.
Can I act on the Mala Spice Decoder result directly?
Treat it as one reference sheet before you decide, rather than as the answer itself: Scoville measures chili heat, not Sichuan peppercorn numbing. Cooking method (stir-fry vs boiled vs dry-pot) changes perceived intensity 2茅聢楼?猫聞鲁 even at the same Scoville. This tool does not cover Korean gochugaru, Thai prik, or Indian Kashmiri chili 茅聢楼? The output describes a magnitude under the conditions you entered. It does not include what it actually costs to act, what might change while you act, or how the other side behaves. Before you commit, compare the result against reality and note which assumptions do not hold where you are.
What inputs does Mala Spice Decoder need?
The inputs for this tool sit in the form area of the page - fill them in one at a time as prompted. Before you start, check that each one uses the unit you actually measured: mismatched units are the most common source of a wrong answer here.

Why a range, not a number? Because chili batches vary. A precise number is misleading.

Does numbing mean burning? No. Numbing is a vibration/tingle in the lips and tongue. It does not hurt, but it surprises first-time eaters.

Is 茅聧聶忙篓禄芒聜卢盲陆陆猫聧聠 (insane) really habanero-level? In a dedicated chili restaurant, yes. In a regular Chinese restaurant, the menu word usually overstates the actual heat by a factor of 2.

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