Some like it (very) hot: Five Hong Kong restaurants for spice lovers

When you eat a chilli it activates the same nerves that respond to a naked flame rather than your taste buds. It's all the other delectable ingredients that come under the word spice that the world's cooks use to bring flavour to their hot dishes. Hot food fans would be lost without all those dried seeds, berries and other plant matter that end up in spice jars. Here's our pick of five different restaurants — and the cultures they represent — dishing up their take on the perfect hot dishes.

Arun Thai

Brought up in northeastern Thailand and based in Sydney, restaurateur/chef Kham Signavong believes it's crucial to stick with the truest Thai taste. And he keeps his Hong Kong restaurant, Arun Thai, as authentic as possible, maintaining the high levels of heat that you would find on the streets of Thailand.

Thai cuisine can be split into four regions of heat levels: southern Thai being the hottest, then Isaan (northeastern), northern and central. Each dish from each region has a different level of aroma and spice based on the five core flavours: salty, spicy, sweet, sour and bitter.

First on our menu was (HK$198) stir-fried prawns with kaffir lime leaves in a hot southern chilli paste. The salty chilli paste with a strong spicy aroma dominates the dish to give you a big punch. Made by crushing various ingredients including turmeric, kaffir lime and lemongrass with lots of red chilli, which is served on top of fresh fried prawns, this dish is among the top three spiciest in the cuisine.

Our favourite, however, was , a northeastern style crispy fish with spicy dressing of lemon grass, mint leaves and coriander. The mint, kaffir lime and coriander give a bitter taste, which is a contrast to the sour and sweet dressing of lime juice and palm sugar. Topped with toasted chilli powder and toasted rice, the barramundi dish has all the heat that it needs.