Korean & Japanese Chilis

Chilis came were adopted rather late in Korea, and are still a minor item in Japan. Chilis are thought to have been brought to Korea by Portuguese mercinaries sent by the Ming Chinese to help fighting the Japanese in Korea during the Imjin War (ended 1598). The Koreans had a taste for hot spices and began using them, but it was 200 years later that they started using them in Kimchee, and found they acted as a preservative, allowing less expensive salt to be used.

More on Chili Peppers.

• Chilis - Fresh & Dried
• Chili Powders & Flake

Chili Varieties - Fresh & Dried

Fushimi Togarashi

These long narrow pointed chilis are a traditional variety in Japan. They have a smooth, glossy skin, and grow to about 6 inches long. They are highly variable in heat, depending on variety. Then can be very mild, H0 to medium hot H6. They can be used raw or cooked, in salads, stir fries, ohitashi, tempura and yakitori. They are also sautéed and eaten with sea salt same as Shishitos. Photo borrowed from Refining Fire Chilis until the seeds I bought from them bear fruit.

Manganji

A traditional vegetable from Kyoto, Japan, it has thicker walls than other Japanese chilis, and very little heat. Used for tempura, yakitori, pickling, and sautéed with sea salt. Photo © Motokoka distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v4.0 International.

Korean

Fresh green, 3 to 5 inches by 3/4 of an inch in diameter and tapered to a slightly blunt point, hotness H2-H4. These are found in Koran markets and in and some multi-ethnic produce markets. They vary rather widely in hotness. Most have very moderate heat, but I recently bought some red ones that were about as hot as Holland Reds. Subst: Indian Green Chilis, but not the really hot ones.

Korean Red

Though often eaten fresh green or red, this is the chili dried and used for chili flake and powder (gochutgaru), and in Kimchee, and for the ubiquitous Gochujang (Chili Paste). Photo © ASADAL, Inc. distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Korea.

Cucumber Chili

This is a very mild Chili now popular in Korea, green but also red. There is no official designation, so growers use these names for any variety that meets the flavor and hotness profile. They are generally eaten fresh green as crudités with dip, or in salads, but those I've found here in Los Angeles are red. Taste is similar to Red Anaheim.

The largest in the specimen batch was 4.9 inches long, not including the stem, and 0.83 inches diameter at the big end (124 x 21 mm), weighing about 41 to the pound (0.4 oz / 9.6 gm each). They have definite sharpness up at the stem end, so heat is about H2 for the stem end quarter. The photo specimens were purchased from a Korean Market in Los Angeles (La Cañada). They are still quite rare (12-2020), so sold at a high price, 2020 US $12.99 / pound.

Himo Togarashi

These long "string chilis" are quite mild if picked young at about 4 inches. More mature they get tough skins and higher heat. They can be used raw or cooked, in salads, ohitashi, tempura and yakitori. They are also sautéed and eaten with sea salt same as Shishitos Photo borrowed from Refining Fire Chilis until the seeds I bought from them bear fruit.

Japone Chili

This chili originated in Jalisco, Mexico, but has become well known in South and Southeast Asia, and are grown very extensively in China, the second largest Chili exporter in the world (but less than half India's exports). They are easily identifiable by having no caps or stems. In North America, this is pretty much the default dried red chili, available everywhere. It has good flavor and is moderately hot at low to mid H7. They are up to 2-3/4 inches long and 0.63 inch wide (70 x 16 mm) and fairly plump.

Shishito Chili

Used raw or cooked by several methods in both Korea and Japan. These are now grown in California and widely available here, both for themselves, and as a substitute for Spanish Padrónes and Philippine Sili Mahaba. Fresh dark green (red ones are very rare), these chilis have unique lengthwise ridges and blunt ends. They have good flavor are generally very mild at H0, but about 1 in 20 can surprise, cranking it up into the high H1 range. They are usually 3-1/4 inches long and 1/2 inch diameter, but can be a bit larger. In Japan and Korea, they are most often sautéed in hot oil and eaten with sea salt.   Details and Cooking.

Fresno Chili

This is not a Korean / Japanese chili (at least not yet), but it has been chosen by all ethnicities in Southern California as the medium hot fresh red chili suitable for their cuisines. Their hotness is about H4-5. Core and seed them, but leave in the membranes (where the heat is) if you want heat. With the membranes carefully removed they have little heat. They have good flavor, and the walls are quite thick, so they are not dried. For details see our Fresno Chili page.

Serrano Chili

These are not a Korean / Japanese chili (yet), but they are now quite popular in Thailand, In North America, they are the go-to for fresh hot green chilis when chilis native to a particular cuisine are not available. These have more flavor than most hot green chilis - but nobody seems to be complaining.

Serranos are fairly hot (about H6), but the heat can be greatly reduced if necessary, by removing the seed mass and membranes. They can be up to 4.5 inches (11.5 cm) long and 0.8 inch (2 cm) diameter. The flesh is fairly thick, so they are not dried.

Bell Peppers / Piman

These are used throughout Asia, with China the largest grower and exporter in the world, and they have become quite important in almost all cuisines. Box shaped to heart shaped, these are up to 5 inches (12.7 cm) across here in California, but may be a bit smaller in some countries. They feature thick, crisp and flavorful flesh with no heat (H0). The Japanese Piman is a bit smaller and has thinner walls than the North American variety. The walls are very thick with a high water content, so they are not dried except industrially for food processors.

Chili Powders & Flake

Korean - Flake and Powder

[Gochu-garu (flake); Gochujang-yong-gochu-garu (powder)]

Hotness of the flake varies, but is usually between H2 and H3, sweet and tasty to moderately hot. Whether it's hot or mild will be written in Korean - see below, noticing that the first character is different for Mild. If there is any English it will probably just say "Chili Powder" for powder and flake. The powder tends to be quite a bit more variable than flake, and can be as low as H3 and as high as H5. In general, for powder, the brighter the red color the milder it will be, but that's not totally reliable. Both flake and powder are used liberally in kimchi and other Korean dishes, so turnover at Korean markets is quick and the product is generally of excellent quality.

  Chili Flake and Powder = Gochu-garu
  Mild Flake = Deol-maewoon gochu-garu
  Hot Flake = Mae-woon gochu-garu

Korean Chili Threads

[Silgochu (Korea)]

These threads are used as a garnish for some Korean dishes. They are around H3, sweet and tasty. They used to be laboriously cut with scissors, but it's now done by machine.

The photo specimens, about 0.019 inch wide and up to 4-1/4 inches long, were purchased from a Korean market in Los Angeles for 2015 US $14.19 for 6.5 ounces ($34.93 / pound). The weight used in a recipe is minuscule, so 6.5 ounces will last a very long time. Problem is, they lose their bright red color in a year or so, which makes them useless as a garnish. For this reason, I usually seed Fresno chilis and cut into strips as thin as I can, then use them fresh, or dry them in my dehydrator for thinner.

Chili Powder, Japanese

[Ichimi (One Flavor) (Japan); C. annuum]

This is ground from Japone / Takanotsume type chilis so will be quite hot. It is used to spice up Udon soups, and in Shichimi (seven flavors) powder found in Soba shops. The specimen to the left is Japone powder.