Could i request a strawhat crew x reader (platonic but crushing sanji and reader) where they have this eating contest to see who has the higher spice tolerance and to which type of spice it might be?
I find myself to find latin spices and asian spices be much different when it comes to how spicy it is not just by taste but tolerance as well. I think Sanji would have a field day cooking with so many spices! 😝
No rush and this can be hc, blurb,fic i dont care just have fun with it! 🩷
Oooo! You’re speaking my language, anon! This sounds certified silly! I’ll do my best to give your prompt justice!
A/N: Sooo I may have gone a little overboard, but I hope it’s still enjoyable!
(Platonic!Strawhat Crew x gn reader, Crushing!Sanji x reader)
Cw: Really just fun fluff, giggles, and mention of fire and burns
The streets danced with a chorus of chatter spilling through each stand. The people of this island seemed lively, each stand holding foods, herbs, plants, spices, and other ingredients that could be found all over the world!
To the surprise of nobody, both Sanji and Luffy were the two most excited to get on the island. The moment the ship docked, Luffy flung away (with an unfortunate Zoro in his arm) towards the island. Meanwhile, Sanji finishes up discussing budgets with none other than Nami.
While Sanji skipped away from Nami, now deeper in debt, you and Usopp converse about what the both of you could buy at the island. You’ve spent some berries every now and then, but you have been able to save up a pretty decent amount to spend on yourself.
“I’m still pissed at Luffy,” Usopp huffs out, shooting you a side eye when you start laughing, “HEY! He literally ATE my shea butter! Look at me!” Usopp motions to one of his exposed arms with a loud scoff, “I may be handsome, as always, but I’m drying up! Now I have to hunt down stalls…” he went on explaining each and every moment of the process in the art of hand crafting shea butter, pausing to enunciate moments, giving his dramatized story some more edge.
“Is this better or worse than when Luffy swore he could braid your hair?” asks a sweet voice from behind the both of you. Smiling as you turn your head, your eyes meet Sanji’s and he can’t help but stand a little taller when he meets your eyes.
“Do NOT even get me started, Black-Leg Sanji,” Usopp pouts, pointing an accusing finger at Sanji, “if you properly fed our Captain, maybe he wouldn’t be eating my hair because it smells good,” Usopp bickers
As if snapping out of a trance, Sanji looks over to Usopp and huffs “I feed him plenty! If I fed him until he was full every time he was hungry, we wouldn’t have food on the ship after two days max,” responds the chef as he moves to walk next to you, the three of you making your way to the market. “Besides,” Sanji hums, shrugging as you all walk down the street, “Luffy would, and probably can, eat anything.”
A small snicker quickly gets your attention as you turn and raise your eyebrow at a merchant who seems to be eavesdropping. Noticing that you caught onto zir listening in, ze quickly chuckled and waived zir hands. “My apologies, I didn’t mean to be of any disturbance. I just couldn’t ignore someone being spoken of being able to eat anything.”
Zir stand quickly catches Sanji’s attention, absentmindedly laying a gentle hand on your back and guiding you towards the stall, leaving Usopp to give Sanji a suspicious raise of his eyebrow before following behind. The stand was filled with pepper, spices, and something that Usopp swears actually caused a little spark of a flame.
“What’s all this?” You question, checking out a basket filled with what you recognize as Kashmiri chili.
“Well,” the merchant started, “you just so happen to be standing at the only stand that sells spices and peppers from all around the globe, fresh, and for fair market value,” ze gloated with pride.
“How do we know you aren’t giving us fakes?” Usopp questions, looking closer at the spices in front of him to attempt and recognize one or two.
After a moment of pondering and allowing the three of you to look at what ze had to offer, an offer was made. “I’ll tell you what,” ze hums out as a bag is pulled out from underneath the counter, “whatever you buy, I will cut off 25% of the final price. Just this once.” That was enough to convince Sanji to buy at least a couple of each spice and pepper he knew he didn’t have at the moment.
After a long day of shopping and working, it was finally dinner. The interactions with the merchant earlier comes to your mind, so curiously, you turn to Luffy and speak up. “Hey, Luffy?”
“Yo!” He grins, turning to look at you before taking a mouthful of the steak in his hand
“What’s your spice tolerance?”
Luffy seems to pause and think as he chews his food, humming while tapping his chin with one finger. Usopp and Sanji gain interest due to remembering the earlier interaction, while the rest of the crew just listen in with some curiosity.
“I dunno,” he chuckled, shrugging his shoulders before taking another bite.
“Y’know,” Franky spoke up, “I’ve got a SUPER spice tolerance! Might have the highest one here!”
“I wouldn’t be to sure,” Jimbei chuckled, “I’ve tried a large variety of peppers and spices throughout my life; a favorite of mine would be Bhut Jolokia.”
As each crew member spoke up with their own experience, Sanji develops an idea. “I just bought a variety of peppers from the market,” he hums, “I wouldn’t mind if we held a challenge as long as no food is wasted.”
An eruption of cheers comes from the crew, everyone agreeing to participate in the challenge. After lunch the next day, Sanji prepares a table filled with little bits of pepper, all while Usopp draws the battle board behind the table to keep track of who wins and loses.
While Sanji stands behind you, very obviously prepared to go fetch you a glass of milk if the spice gets too much, Zoro huffs and nudges Usopp with his elbow. “Favoritism,” he mutters, resulting in Usopp giving an airy chuckle.
“He even set up the milk station right next to them.”
Overhearing Usopp’s comment, Sanji’s head snapped towards the duo with a much more frustrated face than he had when he was looking at you. “Hey!” Sanji huffed, “I can’t have them burn their taste buds, you morons! Then they wouldn’t be able to taste test my food, and that’s a bigger problem than any of you idiots losing your tongues.”
Zoro simply rolls his eyes and scoffs at the chef while Usopp shoots his hands up in surrender. “Are you three done bickering?” Nami questions with a hint of exasperation, “it’s time to start this challenge.” And with a cheer from the crew, the battle began.
Round One: Piment d'Espelette 4,000 SHU
Each member of the Straw Hats pick up the pepper between their fingers. It’s red, around 6cm long, but it doesn’t seem too spicy at all glance.
“Hey,” Luffy speaks up, staring at the piece of paper on the table with a raised eyebrow, “what does ‘shoo’ mean?”
With a confident snicker, Usopp pushes up his objectively cool sunglasses and slides next to Luffy. “You see, my dear captain, S.H.U. stands for Scoville Heat Units. Basically, it just means how spicy something is.”
“Ohh, neat!” Luffy grins and tosses the pepper into his mouth. Flowing their captain’s footsteps, you and the crew take a bite of the pepper.
The moment you eat it, the smoky fruit flavor embraces your mouth. The spice of this pepper is more on the medium low side, so it’s quite easy for you to handle.
“Hm,” Nami hums, grabbing one more pepper to pop in her mouth, “that’s not too bad!” A smile spreads across her face as Chopper looks up and nods in agreement.
“It looks much more scary than it tastes,” Chopped states.
“Awesome!” Usopp exclaimes, grinning into a microphone in hand as he gives each member a point. “Now it’s time for ROUND TWO!”
Round Two: Tabasco Hot Pepper 30,000-50,000 SHU
“Man, this is SUPER tiny,” Franky exclaims, holding two peppers in the palm of his smallest hand.
“This pepper is commonly used to make those red bottles of hot sauce you find in restaurants or in a family home if I remember correctly,” Robin states, spotting a similarity in the name and connecting it to common household hot sauce.
Popping it into his mouth, Luffy grins and swallows, “Yummy! These taste like the ones Ace would put in my mouth while I slept!” Luffy laughs at the memory, inevitably pulling a few chuckles from your lips.
Everyone placed a pepper into their mouths, most just chuckling or commenting on the spice. Chopper on the other hand yelps and sticks his tongue out.
“Ahh! Hot!” He shouts, fanning his mouth with a hove while Nami quickly grabs him a glass of milk. Once his mouth cools down, he looks around and registers the moment before pouting. “Dang it, I’m the first one out,” he mutters, clearly looking a bit defeated.
As Usopp marks down the first member out of the challenge, Nami smiles and gently pats the little guy’s head. “Don’t worry, Chopper, everyone has different spice tolerances!”
Round Three: Fatalii Chilli 125,000-400,000 SHU
“Are you sure this is safe to eat?” Zoro questions while eyeing the pepper and the informational sheet underneath it.
“No one is forcing you to eat it if you’re too scared, Marimo,” Sanji scoffed, not even hiding the grin on his face.
You chuckle and roll your eyes as the two bicker, watching as Nami and Brook take a glance at the pepper before backing off.
“Eating that would burn my tongue off… if I had one!” Brook’s laugher traveled with him to the seat next to Chopper to sit out while he talks with Nami and the doctor as they wait for the rest of the competition to go along.
Walking over to the peppers, you eye the bowl. Whichever you pick could either be pretty spicy, or incredibly spicy. Jimbei already tossed one into his mouth, exclaiming “it has a kick, that’s for sure!”
Usopp eyes the pepper in front of with a bundle of nerves before chuckling with a slight hiccup in his voice. “Y’know, I’m not backing out or anything. I just want someone else to have a chance to win this challenge,” he grimaces and takes a seat next to the whiteboard, “so I’ll just be staying right here, just to give you guys a fighting chance.”
Picking up the marker, Usopp watches you, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Robin, and Franky with anticipation. Luffy is the first, tossing the pepper into his mouth without a hint of worry. He was silent for a moment, registering the taste and flavor before he shouts with his tongue sticking out his mouth.
“HOT!” Luffy yelps out as he stretches over and snatches the jug of milk from behind Sanji, chugging the milk while Sanji screams for him to not drink it all.
While the two are occupied, Franky nudges you, Robin, and Zoro. “On a count of three?”
When the count hit zero, the four of you take a bite out of the pepper.
Zoro is first, doing his best to seem unaffected, but the fact his face is bright re and his eyes are tearing up gave away his struggle before he spun around and chugged a glass of milk.
After your bite, the back of your throat begin to feel the intense heat. You feel it crawl up to your nose, and then to the roof of your mouth before settling on burning your tongue. “Holy crap, that’s hot!” You exclaim while fanning your mouth a bit.
“YYYOUCH!” You hear Franky exclaim as literal fire expels from his mouth. You remember him talking about a feature he gave himself to expel heat.
As Franky cracks open a bottle of cola to wash the pepper down, Robin just smiles softly, accompanied by a light chuckle. “I didn’t expect to surpass so many people. This was quite fun!”
Jimbei snickers a bit as he looks down at the wonderful woman before nodding in agreement. “I must be honest, I am a little surprised you made it so far as well.”
Meanwhile, Sanji walks up to you with a cold glass of milk in his hand as he pops his pepper into his mouth with ease. “Are you feeling alright? Do you need some milk?”
“I’m alright, Sanji, thanks. Though, I can’t say I can handle another level of heat.” Letting out a small snicker, Sanji can’t help but soften up a little around you.
“I’m thinking about using the left over peppers for tonight’s dinner, what do you think?”
“Oi! You making dinner plans without me?” Out of seemingly nowhere, Luffy flings himself over into your conversation, over hearing the prospect of food.
“I wasn’t asking you, idiot!” Sanji scolds with a huff before you let out a snicker causing his head to flip towards you, a flustered smile sprouting on his face when he registers your laughter.
You just smile and nod at Sanji, “I think that’d be great, Sanji.”
Hearing some gentle clip clops against the wood of the ship, Sanji spins around to look down at Chopper. “Sanji, could you please make a dish that’s not too spicy for me during dinner?”
“Of course,” Sanji hums, bringing his hand down to pat the reindeer’s head
With the clearing of his throat, Usopp stands atop the table that was used to gather everyone’s attention. “Er-hem! Attention, my loyal crewmates. It seems that three epic contestants —other than me— were able to handle the HEAT of the Fatalii Chilli! To break the tie, I have gotten my last three x-peppers for any three willing to try.”
“What’s the ‘shoe’ of the pepper?” Luffy questions
“The S.H.U,” Usopp corrects, “is 2,693,000 SHU!” To dramatisize the moment, Usopp pulls out those last three peppers and holds them out in the palm of his hand. “Just one of these bad boys over throws the California Reaper by a million! Now, not to brag or anything, but I eat a couple of these daily, just for the sake of having a little kick. You know, it reminds me of a story—” catching Usopp, as well as the crew by surprise, a bird the size of Zoro swoops down and shoves the peppers into it’s mouth, before flying away.
“Hey!” Luffy shouts as he winds his arm back to attempt and catch the bird. However, before he can do so, the crew watches in shock as the bird lets out a loud screech before dropping down onto the deck.
“Is— DID THAT BIRD GET FULLY COOKED???”
Hiya bud! So this took me a couple months due to some personal life things, so thank you for being patient! I’m still accepting requests, but it may take me a couple years to get to them😅
I researched all pepper related facts for this, so I hope the stove enthusiasts enjoy!
I also now realize this isn’t exactly what was asked of me, but there is no way in the pits that im deleting this, so 🤷
Reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated <3
Have a great day, and get plenty of rest!
