History of Korean gochu, gochujang, and kimchi

The gochu (Korean red pepper) that goes into Korean traditional fermented foods such as kimchi (fermented cabbage) and gochujang (spicy red pepper paste) should have a mild spiciness and its Scoville heat unit (the unit that measures spiciness) is <1,000. The kimchi and gochujang that are ferment...

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Main Authors: Dae Young Kwon, Dai-Ja Jang, Hye Jeong Yang, Kyung Rhan Chung
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2014-12-01
Series:Journal of Ethnic Foods
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618114000043
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author Dae Young Kwon
Dai-Ja Jang
Hye Jeong Yang
Kyung Rhan Chung
author_facet Dae Young Kwon
Dai-Ja Jang
Hye Jeong Yang
Kyung Rhan Chung
author_sort Dae Young Kwon
collection DOAJ
description The gochu (Korean red pepper) that goes into Korean traditional fermented foods such as kimchi (fermented cabbage) and gochujang (spicy red pepper paste) should have a mild spiciness and its Scoville heat unit (the unit that measures spiciness) is <1,000. The kimchi and gochujang that are fermented only with Korean gochu can be eaten. Kimchi and gochujang cannot be prepared even with cheongyangkochu (Scoville heat unit is approximately 3,000), which is a hybrid of Korean gochu and Thai gochu. When these foods are prepared with other spicier gochu, such as Thai pepper, Southern Asian red pepper, Central American red pepper, or Mexico's aji (which is 500 times spicier than Korean gochu), they will be too spicy to consume. Biologically, Korean gochu is different from the red peppers of Central American countries (such as Mexico and Colombia), Indonesia, India, and Thailand. Therefore, the statement that the Central American red pepper came to Korea during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592 is not true. We can refer to a research paper in the magazine “Nature” that Korea's gochu arrived at the Korean peninsula millions of years ago, having been spread by birds. It states that gochu has evolved for millions of years, therefore, we can infer that Korean gochu existed as a completely different variety. In addition, gochujang and kimchi can be made using gochu only, which proves that people in Korea cultivated gochu thousands of years ago and have been eating it since then. Furthermore, many old Korean documents support the fact that Koreans have been planting and harvesting gochu for the last 1,500 years.
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spelling doaj.art-ffbf4892ea484cb9b5e28a53b9b638ab2022-12-22T00:43:30ZengBMCJournal of Ethnic Foods2352-61812014-12-01113710.1016/j.jef.2014.11.003History of Korean gochu, gochujang, and kimchiDae Young Kwon0Dai-Ja Jang1Hye Jeong Yang2Kyung Rhan Chung3Korea Food Research Institute, Seongnam, South KoreaKorea Food Research Institute, Seongnam, South KoreaKorea Food Research Institute, Seongnam, South KoreaThe Academy of Korean Studies, Seongnam, South KoreaThe gochu (Korean red pepper) that goes into Korean traditional fermented foods such as kimchi (fermented cabbage) and gochujang (spicy red pepper paste) should have a mild spiciness and its Scoville heat unit (the unit that measures spiciness) is <1,000. The kimchi and gochujang that are fermented only with Korean gochu can be eaten. Kimchi and gochujang cannot be prepared even with cheongyangkochu (Scoville heat unit is approximately 3,000), which is a hybrid of Korean gochu and Thai gochu. When these foods are prepared with other spicier gochu, such as Thai pepper, Southern Asian red pepper, Central American red pepper, or Mexico's aji (which is 500 times spicier than Korean gochu), they will be too spicy to consume. Biologically, Korean gochu is different from the red peppers of Central American countries (such as Mexico and Colombia), Indonesia, India, and Thailand. Therefore, the statement that the Central American red pepper came to Korea during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592 is not true. We can refer to a research paper in the magazine “Nature” that Korea's gochu arrived at the Korean peninsula millions of years ago, having been spread by birds. It states that gochu has evolved for millions of years, therefore, we can infer that Korean gochu existed as a completely different variety. In addition, gochujang and kimchi can be made using gochu only, which proves that people in Korea cultivated gochu thousands of years ago and have been eating it since then. Furthermore, many old Korean documents support the fact that Koreans have been planting and harvesting gochu for the last 1,500 years.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618114000043gochujanghistory of kimchihistory of gochujanghistory of Korean gochu
spellingShingle Dae Young Kwon
Dai-Ja Jang
Hye Jeong Yang
Kyung Rhan Chung
History of Korean gochu, gochujang, and kimchi
Journal of Ethnic Foods
gochujang
history of kimchi
history of gochujang
history of Korean gochu
title History of Korean gochu, gochujang, and kimchi
title_full History of Korean gochu, gochujang, and kimchi
title_fullStr History of Korean gochu, gochujang, and kimchi
title_full_unstemmed History of Korean gochu, gochujang, and kimchi
title_short History of Korean gochu, gochujang, and kimchi
title_sort history of korean gochu gochujang and kimchi
topic gochujang
history of kimchi
history of gochujang
history of Korean gochu
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618114000043
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AT hyejeongyang historyofkoreangochugochujangandkimchi
AT kyungrhanchung historyofkoreangochugochujangandkimchi