Likely allergens in Singapore Rice Noodles?

[MommyPenguin]

Anybody know what likely allergens might be in Singapore Rice Noodles?

For background, I love Singapore Rice Noodles.  I get it frequently when we eat Chinese.  However, since we moved to the Midwest, it hasn't seemed as good as when we were on the East Coast.  At one point, it seemed kind of bland and tasteless (my husband agreed).  So the following time, I asked for extra curry.  It was so hot, I thought my mouth was burning up!  I have a low-ish tolerance for spicy/hot foods, I should mention.  The next couple of times, my husband, who likes hot food, forgot that it had been too hot for me and asked for extra curry again.  To me, it's not just that it's so hot that it hurts, but it also feels like I can't taste anything, so it destroys the whole enjoyment of the meal.  All I notice is "hot hot hot!" and not "yum!"  So this time, he asked for just a *little* extra curry.  Still so hot that 2.5 glasses of milk and one glass of iced tea later, my mouth still really, really hurts.  He asked me how it was and I told him still too hot, and he made a  face and said that he'd tried it, and it wasn't hot at all!   Very mild, actually.

Now, he does definitely have a much higher tolerance for "heat" in cooking than I do, but he'd also definitely noticed when it was way too spicy the first time.  So he thinks that I've developed some sort of intolerance to it.  I know that some people have mentioned a food allergy starting with making one's mouth tingle or sting.  I'm wondering if there's any possibility that that could be the case here.

If so, anybody have any idea on what ingredients in the dish might be the most likely allergens, to somebody who has never had an allergy in her life?  If I do want to talk to a doctor about it, I'd like to at least have some ideas of what to test for, or to try to avoid in other cooking.  I'm not asking for health advice, just likely culprits to consider, as I don't really know what all is *in* the food.  Obviously shrimp, rice noodles, green onions, probably regular onions, and egg, but I think I can rule all of those out because I eat them frequently in other dishes without a problem.

[jpcher]

I don't think that it's allergy related -- I agree with your DH that it's intolerance related.

I used to love, love, love! hot and spicy food. The spicier the better. Fresh jalapeno's? I could go down one on one with the bravest heat-eaters. Tingly-numb mouth? Oh. Yes. It burned sooo good!


I guess I'm not so brave anymore. I like to actually taste my food rather than have the mouth-burn-tingly sensation, so I've cut waaay back on the hot spices.

[Tea Drinker]

My first thought is that "curry" is going to be a blend of spices: you might want to look at a couple of packages of curry (as the supermarket, or a spice shop like Penzey's, or a South Asian grocery if there's one near you) and see what's listed that you don't eat in other things. For example, if it was black pepper you'd notice it elsewhere. Mustard, probably the same. Turmeric or fenugreek you may only be getting in curry.

Second, even if you are losing your spice tolerance, it may not be for all sorts of spiciness. I lost my tolerance for red pepper/capsicum spiciness a few years ago, but after experimenting found I can still enjoy black pepper and ginger and garlic and mustard. Curries tend to have lots of different sources of "heat" for a person to react to.

[Outdoor Girl]

One of the curry spices bothers me, as well.  I'm not a fan of hot stuff but I can tolerate some heat.  But with curries, it is like whatever hot spice is in there binds to my taste buds and will.not.let.go.  I have wasabi with sushi all the time.  Sometimes I get a little too much and it is hot but a few seconds later the heat is gone.  That just doesn't happen with curry.

So now, I just don't eat curry.  I've never been fond of Indian food and I'm sure this is why.  Even butter chicken can be too hot for me.  If it was a heat like wasabi - there and then gone right away - I could probably eat curry no problem.