There are some spicy foods out there that will bring you to tears, but those are not the ones we’re talking about. The five dishes you’re about to check out could cause the faint-hearted to…well, faint. And just so we’re clear,  because you’ve tried Mexican food once or twice in your life doesn’t mean you know anything about spicy food. Here are the five ultimate tongue-numbing dishes:

5. Neua Pad Prik (Thai Pepper Steak)

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This Thai delicacy is as spicy as it is simple. The cook simply throws some pieces of beef into a pan, seasons them with herbs like shallots, basil and garlic and only then ads the main ingredient, a large quantity of birds-eye chili peppers. Famous across Thailand and Indonesia, these chillies are the main reason Thai cuisine is famous for its spiciness.

4. Sichuan Hot-Pot

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Before you try your first spoon of Sichuan Hot-Pot, make sure you have a towel near by, you’ll be soaked in a matter of minutes. Mongolian or other Chinese hot-pots you might have tried, don’t even come close to the Sichuan Hot-Pot. A boiling-hot broth full of garlic, onion and Sichuan Peppers is left simmering on the table and raw pieces of meat and vegetables are cooked in it, on the spot. Sichuan “flower” peppers are famous all around the world for their numbing effect, but, although you can try this specialty in many Chinese restaurants, the hot-pots served in Sichuan are the real-deal.

3. Vindaloo Pork

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In India, “spicy”  is not the same thing as “hot”. To Indians, spicy food is a dish with many spices and strong flavors, whereas hot food is what we usually call spicy. Vindaloo Pork is, undoubtedly, one of the hottest dishes in the world. Brought to Goa, by the Portuguese, this recipe contained pork preserved in red wine, peppers and garlic, but it was adopted by the Indians and became a spice enriched curry.

It might not sound like much, but the ridiculous amounts of Bhut Jolokia, acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records as the hottest chili pepper in the world, makes Vindaloo a very interesting and dangerously-hot meal.

2. Phall Curry

As anyone who has tried Phall Curry will tell you, eating this dish is quite a challenge. It is known across the world as the hottest curry available, and some restaurants even provide customers who finish a whole bowl, with a certificate. Phall Curry contains 10 different types of peppers, including habanero, scotch bonnet and Bhut Jolokia, the hottest chili pepper on Earth.

It contains spices like ginger and fennel seeds, but with your mouth on fire, you probably won’t even taste them.

1. Shrimp Cocktail at St. Elmo Steak House, Indiana

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You didn’t expect this, did you? So many spicy cuisines out there and we pick the hottest dish from Indiana? Well yes, when we heard known food critic and blogger for Travel Channel, Allison Stein Wellner has dubbed this shrimp cocktail the strongest dish in the world, we knew it had to be true.

Here is what miss Wellner said she felt after trying the shrimp cocktail at St. Elmo Steak House: “I dropped my cutlery as a sensation that I can only describe as what electrocution must feel like, shot down my throat and then up my nose, forking its way into my brain My hands started to rise and—yes!—I had the urge to clap my hands on my skull to keep the top from blowing off.”

And it doesn’t even contain chilies, the spiciness comes from the 20 pounds of horseradish grated over the shrimps, every day.

The shrimp cocktail in the photo above is not the one served at St. Elmo.

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