It tastes hot or cold, we hear (5)
I believe the answer is:
chili
'it tastes hot' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'cold we hear' is the wordplay.
'cold' becomes 'chilly' (I've seen this before).
'we hear' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'chilly' is a homophone of 'CHILI'.
'or' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for chili that I've seen before include "Hot pod (US spelling)" , "African wind" , "Hot pepper (US spelling)" , "Spicy pepper" .)