January and February are when the cold sets in, and we start craving cozy comfort foods with a punch of heat to chase away the winter. A good spicy dish will make your lips tingle and might just clear your sinuses, but it should still be balanced beyond pure heat. Here are two spicy dishes in Utah, guaranteed to shake off the chill, from Salt Lake magazine’s food writer Lydia Martinez (a dedicated cold-weather wimp)
Maria’s Mexican Grill’s Molcajete
A molcajete is a fine-grained lava rock basin on legs often used to make guacamole or grind spices with a pestle. At Maria’s, it is heated to lava-hot levels and used to simmer a tomatillo sauce. It arrives at the table bubbling and studded with flame-grilled carne asada, chicken and shrimp, and soft strips of nopalito cactus, onions and jalapeño peppers. The stone is so hot that it softens and chars the vegetables. You’ll simultaneously warm up in the way sitting around a roaring fire warms you up. Hold your hands out campfire-style, but don’t touch. The stone will still be piping hot 30 minutes later. I always say you can control the amount of spicy heat by breaking up all the jalapenos into the sauce. The best part? It easily serves two to three people.
When You Go
3336 S. 2300 East & 781 W. 10600 South
mariasmexicangrillslc.com
Takashi’s Spicy Sushi Rolls
Takashi is the king of slipping delightfully surprising heat into his signature sushi rolls. There are several rolls on the menu that have fresh spicy chilies or a hot dipping sauce sneakily hiding in plain sight. There are five hot-to-trot rolls, and I will always order a couple every time I go.
Takashi’s signature Ramon Roll
receives inspiration from spicy
Mexican flavors. Photo by Adam Finkle.
The Forest Gump roll at Takashi uses habanero masago for added heat. Photo by Adam Finkle.
Ceviche Roll: This roll itself isn’t super spicy—but it is served with Takashi’s signature ceviche dipping sauce that is a mix of tart and hot. The roll itself has cooling avocado, cucumber and cilantro inside with salmon, sea bream and octopus on top.
Ramon’s Roll: The menu itself warns you, “it’s hot” for this Mexican-ish inspired roll. With tuna, fresh cilantro, avocado and spicy mayo, it’s the fresh chile peppers on top that make it extra spicy. Similarly, the Caribbean Roll is topped with fresh chiles, but the mango and yellowtail temper the heat.
Forrest Gump Roll: I’m not 100% clear on the relationship between this roll and the movie character, but it has crispy shrimp tempura, cucumber and spicy mayo on the inside and split shrimp ebi, escolar and eel sauce on top. Spicy habanero masago (the delightfully small burst-in-the-mouth fish egg gems) liberally garnish the roll for pops of heat.
T&T Roll: This roll takes the cake for the spiciest roll on the menu, again not for the roll itself, but for the “hotter than hell” sauce that comes along with it. The yellowtail, albacore and salmon roll is flash-fried, and the sauce will make you catch your breath a little…and then breathe fire.
When You Go
18 W. Market Street
takashisushi.com
Find more spicy dishes in Utah to warm your bones this winter, here!
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