Spicy Recipes

Susan Feniger likes to quickly simmer raw shrimp in broth or sauté them with garlic and ginger, but you can certainly use precooked shrimp to save time. This sweet-and-spicy sauce was inspired by the ones Feniger sampled at street stalls throughout Singapore.

"This is my take on the Little Italy classic," says Mario Batali of the sausage and peppers that's a mainstay of the iconic Manhattan neighborhood and its annual street festival. Stewing the bell peppers in red wine gives them richness; so does a generous garnish of grated pecorino cheese. The stewed sausages and peppers are also delicious tossed with pasta.

This Mexican-influenced dish gets its earthiness from ancho chiles, a flavor that pairs well with a dark-berried, spicy red wine.

Although this Italian standard has suffered at the hands of lesser chefs, Barbara Lynch redeems it. She ably deconstructs what is often a heavy sauce into its vivid components: bright red strips of bell pepper, sweet slices of onion, hot pickled peppers and fresh chopped tomatoes.

This seafood pasta dish pairs well with Crisp Verdicchio.

Yuzu kosho is a hot, spicy and aromatic Japanese condiment made from hot chiles and ultra-citrusy yuzu zest. It's the key to this supersimple and utterly delicious recipe from chef Ricardo Zarate of Mo-Chica in Los Angeles.

An abundance of whole basil leaves joins chicken and fiery red chiles for a quick, delicious, and decidedly spicy stir-fry. Holy basil is the most authentic choice, but any variety will do.

Make this easy weeknight dish using leftovers from Mom's Meat Loaf.

This will coat 1 pound of pasta. Cooked tomatoes are a good source of lycopene, a compound that fights cancer.

Influenced by his Turkish-American wife, Meltem, Scott Conant spices up his silky potato soup with Turkish red-pepper paste (biber salcasi), made from sweet and hot peppers. Look for the paste at Middle Eastern groceries, or use harissa instead.

Old Bay seasoning and Worcestershire sauce really bring this comfort food classic to the next level.

Any leftover marinated steak is perfect for serving over a salad or in sandwiches.

Hank Shaw likens sausage-making to jazz: "You have all these standards, but there's room for improvisation." With this spicy merguez from North Africa, adjust the seasonings to vary the flavor intensity and heat.

Chickens raised on grass have such superior taste that Adam Perry Lang of NYC's Daisy May's BBQ USA wants to get into chicken farming.

These fantastic sandwiches are filled with moist, sweetly glazed catfish, a spicy sambal mayonnaise, crunchy cucumbers and fresh cilantro.

Okra is a common ingredient in Singaporean cooking; Chris Yeo was thrilled at how easy it is to find in Atlanta. He sautés the okra pods in hot oil until they're browned and crisp, then stir-fries them with chile sauce and pungent dried shrimp (widely available in Asian markets).

This cellophane-noodle salad, with creamy avocados, crunchy peanuts and a chile-honey dressing, is an excellent showcase for Caribbean spiny lobsters. Also known as rock lobsters, they are sweet but can be slightly dense. This recipe uses Maine lobsters; they're more tender than spiny lobsters—and just as delicious.

Grace Parisi makes a slightly spicy red sauce for these enchiladas with smoky guajillo chiles and fruity ancho chiles.

In Louisiana, a po'boy is a soft baguette filled with either fried seafood or meat. Melissa Rubel makes her po'boys with juicy grilled pork patties, topped with lettuce, tomato and a crunchy-creamy pickle-and-shallot mayonnaise.

These crispy chicken wings get their heat from Sriracha, the Thai hot sauce that chef Michael Symon says is his favorite in the world. "We always have a couple of extra bottles at home, because my stepson blows right through the stuff."

Rajat Parr was born in Kolkata in 1972 and didn't leave until he was 22, which explains why Indian flavors are such a big part of his cooking. This salad, for instance, is a twist on the classic Indian street food called chana chaat.

This Jamaican curry gets its heat from Scotch bonnet chiles; Marcia Kiesel's stripped-down version relies on a Scotch bonnet hot sauce and curry powder.

This combination of zingy herbs, cool noodles, grilled shrimp and spicy dressing makes a fabulous, easy dish. Plus, it can largely be made ahead of time, then put together just before serving. Squid or chicken are delicious substitutes for the shrimp.

Wolfgang Puck's sweet-savory sauce makes these steaks a better match for a fruity red like a Zinfandel than a more structured Cabernet (most people's go-to wine for grilled steak).

This combination of briny cockles and smoky pork is traditional in southern Portugal's Alentejo region, though the fresh red chiles in the sauce here add a distinctive twist (for a sweeter variation, use red bell peppers instead).

Rajat Parr discovered Singaporean chili crabs while cooking at a hotel there and exploring the local street food. When crabs aren't available, he substitutes large shrimp and cooks them in sweet, sticky chile sauce.