Here’s the word on the very spicy bird at Five Points Hot Chicken

Here’s the word on the very spicy bird at Five Points Hot Chicken

The thigh-and-leg meal at Five Points. Photo by Dave Gillespie

Toronto loves fried chicken (some might even go so far to say it’s the new burger), and lately the city has had a hankering for birds of a spicier feather. In the past three months alone, two spots have opened up that are dedicated to making Nashville hot chicken, which is super hot and guaranteed to make you break a sweat. We spoke with Jake Holton, co-owner of Five Points Hot Chicken, to get the word on their fiery bird.

The place

A walk-up window inside Open House, Bloorcourt’s new craft beer bar. After a couple of trips to Nashville, owners Jake Holton, Asher Miller and chef Hunter Raynor fell in love with the spicy chicken. “At one point, Hunter had a roll’s worth of paper towel around his head, shivering and sweating,” says Holton.

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The chicken

What makes Nashville hot chicken different from other fried bird is that instead of an added sauce for heat, the chicken is first fried and then dredged in spicy oil before drip-drying on a slice of Wonder Bread. Guests order by piece (wing and breast, thigh and leg) and spice level.

The peppers

Raynor uses cayenne, ghost and scorpion peppers for the different spice blends, but also the Carolina Reaper, a pepper engineered to ring in at 1.5 million on the Scoville scale. (Jalapeños max out at 8,000.) This is what a Carolina Reaper looks like:

The spice levels

There are six, from Naked (“No shoes, no socks, no spice”) to their hottest, Devil’s Breath (“Feel the burn of a thousand sinful souls”). Holton says a surprising number of brave folks have ordered that last one.

The remedy

“I think the only thing that helps is time,” says Holton. That and maybe some cooling relief from your own tears. But, as he wisely suggests, don’t wipe those tears away with your hand.

1151 Bloor St. W. (inside Open House Bar), no phone, @fivepointshotchicken