Gochugaru

What it is¶

Gochugaru (고춧가루, "chilli powder") is the Korean red pepper powder or flake made from ripe Capsicum annuum chillies that are dried, deseeded and ground. It is brilliant red and has a distinctive texture somewhere between flake and powder. Two main grinds are sold:

• Coarse (gulgeun): flaky, for kimchi, stews, marinades and seasoning.
• Fine (goun): powdery, for gochujang, smooth sauces and some side dishes.

Heat varies by grade and brand, from mild (deol maewoon) to hot (maewoon); a typical everyday gochugaru is moderately hot, often quoted at roughly 4,000–8,000 SHU. Its flavour is sweeter and fruitier than most chilli flakes. The most prized, taeyangcho ("sun chilli"), is dried in the sun rather than by machine, and costs more.

Origins and history¶

Chillies reached Korea in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, probably via Japan, whether through trade or during the Japanese invasions of the 1590s; the details are debated. An early Korean mention, in Yi Su-gwang's encyclopaedia Jibong yuseol of 1614, describes the plant as a poisonous import from Japan. It took time to be adopted. Early kimchi was seasoned with salt, garlic, ginger and other spices; cookery texts show chilli appearing in kimchi by the eighteenth century, and the red napa cabbage kimchi familiar today became widespread in the nineteenth century. Chilli is now so central to Korean food that South Korea is often cited among the highest per-capita consumers of chilli in the world. See korean cuisine.

Flavour and aroma¶

Good gochugaru tastes sweet and fruity, with a hint of smoke (even when not smoked) and a warm, rounded heat that builds without being sharp. Because the seeds are removed before grinding, it is less bitter and less aggressively hot than Western crushed red pepper. The colour is intense, and much of what makes a Korean stew look fiery is colour rather than heat.

In the kitchen¶

• Kimchi: coarse gochugaru mixed with garlic, ginger, fish sauce, salted shrimp and spring onion, rubbed into salted napa cabbage. A typical whole-cabbage kimchi uses 50–100 g.
• Stews (jjigae): kimchi jjigae, sundubu jjigae (soft tofu stew) and yukgaejang (spicy beef soup).
• Marinades: with soy, sugar, garlic and sesame oil for spicy pork bulgogi (jeyuk bokkeum).
• Side dishes (banchan): seasoning for cucumber salad, beansprouts and radish.
• Tteokbokki: rice cakes in a sauce of gochujang and gochugaru.
• Beyond Korea: as a mild, sweet finishing flake on eggs, noodles and roast vegetables.

Buying and storing¶

Gochugaru loses colour and aroma quickly. Korean households store it in the fridge or freezer in an airtight bag, where it keeps well for a year or more. Buy from a Korean grocer and look for a bright, vivid red; dark or brownish powder is old. Korean-grown gochugaru is labelled as such and costs noticeably more than Chinese-grown.

Substitutes¶

There is no exact substitute, especially for kimchi.

• Aleppo pepper: close in fruitiness and heat, a little oilier.
• Mild chilli flakes mixed with sweet paprika, about 1:1: the colour is right, the flavour less sweet.
• Kashmiri chilli powder: similar colour and mild heat.
• Do not use cayenne in the same quantity; it is far hotter.

Pairs well with¶

Garlic, ginger, spring onion, sesame oil and seeds, soy, fish sauce, anchovies, napa cabbage, radish, tofu, pork, rice cakes and gochujang.

Growing your own¶

Korean chilli varieties are C. annuum types grown like cayenne. Sow indoors in February–March at 20–25°C and grow in a greenhouse or warm, sunny position after frost. Let pods ripen fully red on the plant. To make gochugaru, dry until brittle in sun or a low oven (about 50–60°C), remove stems and seeds, then grind coarsely. Seed is sold by specialist suppliers. See growing chillies.

See also¶

• gochujang
• korean cuisine
• chilli flakes
• aleppo pepper
• fermenting chillies