Not a fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers

No, I am not referring to the rock band. I am referring to the spice.

Last Sunday, I decided to cook Spaghetti Aglio e olio because I have not done it before. Days prior, I have gathered information from the net as to its preparation. It looks very easy and quick to prepare plus we have a stock of the ingredients except the spaghetti and red chili pepper flakes.

Ingredients:  

• 250g spaghetti
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3-6 cloves of garlic (sliced)
• 1/2 to 1 tsp red chili pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp parsley

Preparation:

• 3 minutes before the spaghetti is supposed to be cooked al dente, begin heating olive oil in the pan. 
• Add the pepper flakes and garlic until the edges of garlic are brown.
• Reserve 1/2 cup of water from the cooked spaghetti, strain the pasta and add both in the pan to combine with olive oil, pepper flakes and garlic.
• Add 2 tbsp of cheese and 1 tbsp parsley. Mix until well coated. 

It turned out delicious and the red chili pepper flakes contributed much to the taste. While I was all praises to myself for a job well done, my better half found it so-so. I even swore to make a repeat in the coming days since I only cooked 250g spaghetti out of the 500g in the pack.

Not until the day after. It was a Monday, Amber as usual woke me up not with her cries but with her kicks. She does that because of stomach gas. I had to help her fart by moving her legs up and down but..I'm digressing now.

So when I finally took Amber for feeding, I felt itchiness on my tummy. At first, I thought it had to do with the tight garters of the boxers I was wearing. I took a look of my tummy in the mirror, I saw bumpy red rashes. I hurriedly applied alcohol thinking it was probably caused by insect bites but I know it wasn't caused by it because T cleaned the house yesterday and the AC is always on 24/7. The worst I thought was psoriasis after google-ing images of bumpy red rashes.

Yes, I thought I had psoriasis the whole time until I went to the hospital. With Amber in the stroller, I went to Hallym hospital which is just three blocks away from our apartment. Since it was already past 5pm, the receptionist told me to directly go to the emergency. I went and was relieved that one of the doctors on duty can speak English. He asked me questions regarding anything unusual that happened and the food I ate yesterday. I narrated how my yesterday went and that I had spaghetti, chicken and pizza. He diagnosed it as Urticaria (an allergy), and told me that a nurse will give me medicine via dextrose to subside the itchiness and inflammation. He also prescribed me medicines good for the next three days.

While connected to dextrose, Amber got bored and wanted to be held. Of course, I didn't want her to cry and be a nuisance to other patients thus, I held her. I held her while I was on dextrose. Good that T arrived earlier than expected because other than I had difficulty carrying Amber, I badly needed to pee.

On our way home, I told T that this allergy might have been caused by red chili pepper flakes because it was the only ingredient that was new to me. I mean, I have probably eaten dishes with that spice before in restos but I have always preferred my food less spicy if possible.

So today is day 1. Though I took the medicines after breakfast, new rashes have appeared on the inner elbow area and earlobes, and I am on the verge of itching them. Must. Control. Myself. I hope tomorrow it will completely disappear.
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In the future, looks like I will be preparing that dish without red chili pepper flakes but with bell pepper.