Korean chili pepper


Korean chili peppers or Korean hot peppers, also known as Korean red, Korean dark green, or Korean long green peppers according to color, are medium-sized chili peppers of the species Capsicum annuum. The chili pepper is long, slim and mild. Green chili peppers measure around 1,500 Scoville heat units.

Names

In Korean, the chili peppers are most often called gochu, which means "chili pepper". Green ones are called put-gochu, and red ones are called hong-gochu.

Introduction to Korea

Chili peppers, which originated in the Americas, were introduced to East Asia by Portuguese traders in the early 16th century. The first mention of chili pepper in Korea is found in Collected Essays of Jibong, an encyclopedia published in 1614. Farm Management, a book from ca. 1700, discussed the cultivation methods of chili peppers.

Culinary use

Gochugaru

Gochugaru, also known as Korean chili powder, is chili powder or flakes used in Korean cuisine. The name "gochugaru" derived from Korean gochu-garu, where gochu means "chili pepper" and garu means "powder". In English, gochugaru usually refers to the seedless, Korean variety of chili powder. It is vibrant red in color, and texture and heat level may vary from fine powder to flakes, and from mildly hot to very hot. Traditionally made from sun-dried Korean red chili peppers '', gochugaru has a complex flavor profile with spicy, sweet, and slightly smoky tastes. Gochugaru made from Cheongyang chili peppers are finer and hotter.

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