Spice Up Your Life: Experiencing Chili Flush With Boxing Cat's Terry Wang

People of the world! Every boy and every girl: In the lead up to our second annual Hot & Spicy Festival on Apr 20-21, we’re Spicing Up Our Lives with a few of the vendors to see what searing treats they'll be doling out at the rapidly approaching fine spring weekend. This time: Terry Wang, manager at Boxing Cat.

Sure, Boxing Cat is known first for its beer, and increasingly for its irresistible pub grub (courtesy of star chef Simon Sunwoo), but the Shanghai craft beer and restaurant chain is also looking to show off its spice bonafides at the Beijinger's second annual Hot & Spicy Festival. Terry Wang, their manager in Beijing, dishes more delicious deets below ahead of the event.

What are you looking forward to most about this year’s Hot & Spicy Fest?
We attended the Burger Festival last year and loved the nice atmosphere and huge traffic, so we can't wait to come to this festival and hopefully experience more of the same.

Tell us about the spicy food you will bring to our Hot & Spicy Festival.
We'll be selling our Sichuan spicy pulled pork sandwich, which is made with Sichuan peppercorns. We'll also have spicy chili hotdogs and chili burgers. They will come in a smaller size than what we serve at our restaurant, which is better for outdoor festivals, and we'll sell each for around RMB 40.

What drink from your menu will go best with your spicy food?
I think lagers go great with spicy burgers, or a pale ale like our Contender because it has a fruity aroma that would contrast with the spiciness of the food.

Have you always liked eating spicy food?
Not all the time. I like it a lot, but I just can’t take it! It gives me a red face.

In your opinion, which country in the world has the best spicy food and why?
We used to get a hot sauce from the US at Boxing Cat. I don't remember the exact name, but on the bottle, it shows the spice level is very high. It’s really spicy, not for human beings really, maybe just for fun!

READ: Early Bird Tix Now on Sale for Hot & Spicy II April 20 & 21

Photo courtesy of Boxing Cat