Breaking news! A gigantic bottle of chili oil is splashed all over K11 Art Mall, the suspect left no traces except some footprints. This summer, K11 Art Mall invites you to investigate the hottest mystery in town, during Hong Kong’s first chili expo between August 3 and September 10, celebrating spicy culture at K11 SPICY SUMMER. Test the limits of your taste buds and find the world’s hottest chili pepper. Experience the burn at the 6 spicy specialty zones in K11 Art Mall piazza and atrium.
K11 Art Mall piazza will be turned into the investigation scene, where a gigantic, 7-meter tall chili oil is splashed all over: photo spots not to be missed by any fans of spiciness include the investigation zones in the atrium:
Spicy Evidence Room and Spicy Dissection: Get to know the world’s hottest chili through scents, the aroma devices recreate the heat level of local expert sauce maker, Lee Kum Kee’s hot sauce
Spicy Detector: A body temperature check to detect your temperature after the sensational spicy experience. Crisp craft beer from Yau best compliments spiciness.
Spicy Level Challenge: Unlock your ability to handle the burn! Population-wide tasting for Hong Kong, pork jerky in three levels of spiciness to push you over the edge.
Spicy Mystery Archive: Take a profile picture at the photobooth and get a stamp of approval from the spicy mystery archive to leave your mark in the hall of fame.
Spicy Relief Zone: The first-aid room is powered by Vita, providing sweet and crispy fresh teas to cool you down after all the spiciness experience, together with other cool down tips to save your burning palate.
Hong Kong’s spicy master could be you!
Colliding with the cultural experience exhibition is a Sweet and Spicy Weekend Market presented by K11 Art Mall in collaboration with local brands. For four weekends between August 5 to August 27, a number of local handcrafts will be brought in, including hot sauces, spicy popcorn, pepper-shaped accessories, spiced fragrance, cooling drinks and desserts, while restaurants in the K11 Art Mall, — Bugis Junction • Hainanese Chicken Rice, Coucou Hotpot • Tea Break, The JANG and Ahan Thai — offer special dishes to set your stomach on fire, bringing Seafood Laksa Tsoom Tsoom, Taiwanese Style Spicy Broth, Spicy Seafood Jjampong and Tom Yum Kung (per person) respectively. Also joining the spicy food party is the bistro in K11 Art Mall IKEA, presenting three “hot” snacks — Mix & Match Frozen Yogurt, limited-edition Spicy BBQ Popcorn (available from August 3 to September 10) and Crepe with Crispy Shrimp Cake with Wasabi Mayonnaise (available from August 1).
K11 Art Mall, often curating cultural events specifically for Gen Z, is bringing the heat this summer with its first spicy culture experience exhibition, K11 Spicy Summer from August 3 to September 10. Many trending Gen Z topics revolve around spice, evident in the movie starring a local idol, street snacks, and spicy hot pot craze. In addition, there is even a Spicy related music by popular K-pop group. Hong Kong’s own spicy culture is of course close and dear to Gen Z, curry fish balls, chili oil with wanton noodles, XO sauce with turnip cake are all classic combos. K11 Spicy Summer sends spicy shocks to all five senses, and challenges your limit for spiciness!
The experience tour unrolls from K11 Art Mall piazza, where a giant bottle of chili oil is splashed all over, leaving mysterious chili oil behind. A 7-meter tall oversized bottle of chili oil serves as a photo booth for the immersive experience fair; this everyday item has been enlarged to create an Instagram-worthy visual impact.
The investigation begins as you enter the spicy scene at K11 Art Mall atrium, where a number of photo and experience spots are located. The second important lead is in the Spicy Evidence Room, which presents detailed profiling of the world’s deadliest pepper! Do you know that spiciness can be measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU)? SHU represents the number of times the concentration of capsaicinoids needs to be diluted before it's no longer detectable. For example, bell pepper is not spicy so the SHU is 0; a regular pepper has an average SHU of 10,000. The peppers that earned its place in the Spicy Evidence Room are notoriously spicy, including Chocolate Habanero, contrary to its rather harmless and sweet name, it’s SHU is a whopping 577,000. Chocolate Habanero features exotic and unusual layers of flavor, and is even hotter than regular habanero. The champion in hotness goes to Pepper X, 318 times hotter than regular peppers, it is cultivated by the creator of the Carolina Reaper over the span of 10 years. Intolerably hot that it may cause anaphylactic shock if consumed.
After learning about the hellishly-hot peppers, head towards Spicy Dissection to try some friendly local peppers. Local expert sauce maker Lee Kum Kee is constantly on the lookout for new flavorful sensations, and has released a number of pack-a-punch sauces, including the five highlighted in the show: dried shrimp chili oil, Mala hot paste with red chili oil, garlic hot sauce, Sriracha, secret recipe hot paste for chicken pot. The aroma devices allow participants to feel the hotness level first-hand, while the pepper-red magnifier given to participants allows them to explore fun facts about chili on the mysterious red wall.
Just a few sniffs would get your temperature racing up, time for a body check at the third stop - Spicy Detector - to see if you are built for heat. Simply standing in front of the screen, the detector will analyze your body temperature and locate your strengths as a spicy master. Although result accuracy is not guaranteed, K11 Art Mall prepares chilled Yau craft beer to help cool you down in the summer days, with options of Pale Ale, Tangerune IPA and Lager.
This deep into the investigation, Scoville Heat Units (SHU) should be no stranger, the fourth stop Spicy Level Challenge leads you to Hong Kong’s first spicy census, collecting data with spicy pork jerky in three spicy level, all lined up and ready for your tasting. Choose the level you want to challenge and be awarded a certification sticker. Move forward to the fifth stop — Spicy Mystery Archive, to get your profile picture and certified spicy master approval. After all the trials and challenges, whether you have successfully break the record as spicy master or not, your name deserves a spot in the archive!
Don’t worry about the burning aftertaste, K11 Art Mall has you covered! The Spicy Relief Zone not only explains how to cool your mouth down after having spicy food, but also shows you the rope, offering 4 types of sweet and refreshing Vita Fresh Tea as spicy remedies!
K11 Art Mall Spicy Summer First Chili Pepper Experience Exhibition in Hong Kong
Date : August 3 - Sep 10, 2023
Time: 12NN - 9PM
Venue: K11 Art Mall, 18 Hanoi Road
Entrance: Free
*Must be a KLUB 11 member, redeem e-vouchers from K11 HK App in exchange for Yau craft beer and Vita fresh tea
@k11artmall #K11ARTMALL #K11SPICYSUMMER
K11 Art Mall Sweet & Spicy Weekend Market
Date: August 5 & 6 | 12 & 13 | 19 & 20 | 26 & 27, 2023
Time: 12NN - 9PM
Venue: 1/F & 2/F, K11 Art Mall
Lee Kum Kee Hot AF Photo Sticker Booth
Date: August 3 to September 10, 2023
Time: 12NN - 9PM
Venue: Kiosk 25, G/F, K11 Art Mall (opposite to The North Face)