Which is hotter, chili powder or chili paste?!
Answers:
Asian chili powders are not like Mexican ones they use a hotter pepper, I had the same experience years back when I bought a small bottle of Thai chili powder made with Bird Chili's, I sprinkled it in liberally and wondered why it was so hot, Chili pastes on the other hand are made with fresh chili's and other ingredients, I use Gominjun Korean chili paste, Sambal Oleck and Vietnamese Chili/ Garlic sauces.
Powders are the whole peppers dried and ground that means seeds and veins were the heat is, chili paste to is the whole pepper, but they add garlic and preservatives to keep it fresh, this can tone down the burn, like Hot sauces it depends on the peppers used and how long they have been in the preparation for there heat element, I have some hot sauce with 8 peppers called "Serial Killer" and one drop is enough to set me off, and I am an experienced chili head
Chili paste is definitely spicier.
i guess the paste should be spicier than powder since pastes might be mix with other things