Mom's unexpected secret chili ingredient leaves millions of TikTok viewers divided: 'Absolutely not'
The video was posted by the Hnieno Fam, a family-oriented TikTok account centered on a London mother and a father of two.
Jade Hnieno, the mom of the family, shared the video last month, revealing the mysterious addition: a square of dark chocolate added directly to the pot.
"Secret ingredient to make the best chili," she captioned the video.
The video, which has been viewed over 6.4 million times, was met with both intrigue and disgust.
"Absolutely not," one person wrote.
"No," another said bluntly.
Others defended the little-known ingredient, sharing their own unusual tips for incorporating dark chocolate.
"Although chili and mole are different in terms of ingredients and cultural origin, both are usually added with dark chocolate to enhance their flavor experience."
"I worked for a small-town chocolate brand for a while and THIS was our key ingredient for a chili cook-off," one person said.
"It's so good."
"Also works in a bolognese sauce," a second person wrote.
"I'm Mexican and yes, it is very normal to use dark chocolate in chili," another said. "We literally use it to make mole."
A different TikToker revealed, "I like to cook some cocoa powder with the tomato paste in the beginning and deglaze with a Coke."
The mother behind the account, Jade Hnieno, told Fox News Digital her family really enjoyed the chili.
"We had it with baked potato and sour cream, our favorite way to have chili," she said.
"I think the chocolate enhances the flavor by adding depth and richness to the dish, balancing out the acidity from the tomatoes and peppers."
Science appears to support her reasoning. Fox News Digital spoke with food scientist Bryan Quoc Le, Ph.D., about how chocolate can enrich the dish.
Le, who is based in California and works for Mendocino Food Consulting, said the fat compounds in dark chocolate help soften the spicy punch of capsaicin.
"Due to its higher cocoa solids, flavonols and fat content compared to other grades, unsweetened, high-percentage dark chocolates are recommended."
"On the other hand, the bitterness of chocolates due to compounds like flavonols, phenolics and other non-polyphenols effectively balances the bright sourness of tomatoes due to citric and malic acids, making the umami taste more prominent," he said.
"Although chili and mole are different in terms of ingredients and cultural origin, both are usually added with dark chocolate to enhance their flavor experience."
The cuisine expert also noted that mixing chocolate and chili peppers dates back to the Mayan and Aztec empires.
"One of the earliest evidence of mixing chocolate and chili peppers dates back to the 15th century [when] Olmec, Maya and Aztec consumed hot chocolate with chili peppers due to [their] medicinal purposes and ritual traditions," he said.
But if you have a spare white or milk chocolate bar in your pantry, the food scientist recommends keeping it out of your chili.
"Due to its higher cocoa solids, flavonols and fat content compared to other grades, unsweetened, high-percentage dark chocolates are recommended," Le advised.
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