Hot? Don't even get me started ...

Bird's eye chillies are hot. Not jalapeno hot. Not even close.

I remember that my cousins and I dared one of my US-bred cousins to try one of these little chillies ... and he scoffed, yes scoffed, at me. We warned him, of course, that it was very hot. Stupid cousin, he never listens.

He bites about half off the chili and starts chewing ...smiles and says something to the effect that it wasn't hot.

But wait ...

Off with his head!

His eyes started to bulge and his eyes teared up and he is floundered around for anything, anything to stop that heat.

We rushed to get him some milk, then he downed a spoon of sugar at our urging. Only then did the heat abate. He probably would've eaten anything we gave him just because he was suffering so. I guess he believes us now, eh?

***

Bird's eye chillies are extremely common in the Philippines (and across Southeast Asia) and make their way into so many dishes, from a humble dipping sauce to any number of complicated dishes. We've got several of these plants just thriving in the garden. And they grow practically anywhere.

Sure these chillies aren't the hottest, but they sure do rank high on the Scoville Scale which measures the heat of anything spicy. It also makes these lists.

There's a moral here somewhere. I say, believe what the locals tell you ... they may not be pulling your leg, no matter how atrocious or ridiculous something sounds.