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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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tatertot
Joined: 21 Oct 2008
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 Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 12:18 am Post subject: |
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| ewlandon wrote: |
I do find it funny that in the west Koreans have a reputation for being the biggest spice eaters. Sure there is a lot of spicy food in Korean cuisine but most of it, as we have been saying, isn't all that spicy and plenty of Koreans cant handle much spice at all. My Korean friends still ask me of Ramyon is too spicy for me.
I guess most westerners who don't eat a lot of Asian or Mexican food would find kimchi jigea too spicy to eat?
Also, I have been told by Koreans that Koreans are genetically coded to like spicy food and that it is scientifically proven. I'm going to start a file of things scientifically proven in Korea (macholi cures cancer anyone?) |
As far as I know, Koreans don't have a reputation for being particularly spicy eaters. However, in Korea, Koreans have a reputation for thinking that they have a reputation in the West for being spicy eaters.  |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 1:52 am Post subject: |
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| tatertot wrote: |
| ewlandon wrote: |
I do find it funny that in the west Koreans have a reputation for being the biggest spice eaters. Sure there is a lot of spicy food in Korean cuisine but most of it, as we have been saying, isn't all that spicy and plenty of Koreans cant handle much spice at all. My Korean friends still ask me of Ramyon is too spicy for me.
I guess most westerners who don't eat a lot of Asian or Mexican food would find kimchi jigea too spicy to eat?
Also, I have been told by Koreans that Koreans are genetically coded to like spicy food and that it is scientifically proven. I'm going to start a file of things scientifically proven in Korea (macholi cures cancer anyone?) |
As far as I know, Koreans don't have a reputation for being particularly spicy eaters. However, in Korea, Koreans have a reputation for thinking that they have a reputation in the West for being spicy eaters. |
Compared to European foods, Korean food is spicy. So it is correct to infer that Koreans are spicy food eaters compared to "THE WEST".
Compare Korean food to other Asian foods (Indian, Thai, Sri Lankan, etc..) then its kinda in the middle. Not mild like Japanese food, but not melt your face off spicy.
I think everyone can agree taht Korean food is spicy. Koreans aren't trying to brand their food as being the spiciest on the planet. After seeing westerners eat plain foods like white bread, mashed potatoes, french fries, burgers, pizza, speaghetti, on TV shows, movies, etc... You gotta see where they are coming from.
And frankly, I have no problems with people telling me kimchi chigae is spicy all the time. At least they are trying to give me a heads up. I would be VERY angry if someone put a dish in front of me with a Ghost Pepper in it and not warn me at all about the spiciness. |
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Lazio
Joined: 15 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 2:36 am Post subject: |
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| pkang0202 wrote: |
| Compared to European foods, Korean food is spicy. |
Yes, if some Eastern European countries are excluded. |
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byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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| pkang0202 wrote: |
I think everyone can agree taht Korean food is spicy. Koreans aren't trying to brand their food as being the spiciest on the planet. After seeing westerners eat plain foods like white bread, mashed potatoes, french fries, burgers, pizza, speaghetti, on TV shows, movies, etc... You gotta see where they are coming from.
And frankly, I have no problems with people telling me kimchi chigae is spicy all the time. At least they are trying to give me a heads up. I would be VERY angry if someone put a dish in front of me with a Ghost Pepper in it and not warn me at all about the spiciness. |
Lol, that is true. What they don't see (same here in China) is that I put habanero sauce on just about everything that is considered western food when I cook.
And yes, I have eaten my fair share of kimchi jjigae that gave me the sweats. Korea certainly does have some spicy food, and that is a good thing.
It is a tad annoying though when you are constantly asked/told if you can/you can't handle how spicy Korean food is. |
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SeoulNate
Joined: 04 Jun 2010
Location: Hyehwa
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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| coralreefer_1 wrote: |
| ewlandon wrote: |
Impossible. I love spicy food and i've had hot sauce that is 350,000 scovel rating there is no way that the hottest korean peppers rank at 10k. The fire spice here is some of the spiciest food I have ever come across. The only thing ive ever had spicier than that is the 350,000 hot sauce.
Even chinese food does not compare to the "fire" spice i've had here.
That being said I am completely aware that there is Thai food and Indian food (or the indian pepper that is 1 mil scovel) that trumps the "fire" spice in Korea but I have not personally had it.
Anyway my point is, "fire" korean spice is no joke. Normal Korean food I like Kimchi Jigea is something I considered really really spicey when I was 12, now I don't find it spicy at all (maybe on par with Cock-Sauce in the usa) |
I'm not exactly sure what "fire" spice you are referring to. Is this some type of pepper, condiment, additive, or just a general term??
I'm not trying to say Korean peppers are spicy (10,000 compared to 350,000 as you recount is well...35 times less spicy that the heat you are talking about) so seems to me we are making the same point. Simply adding info that I found when i was trying to grow my own peppers (which the seeds were brought from Vietnam, and have the same scientific name as the Korean hot chili) and although I admit it was years ago, 10,000 is what I recall.
I have a bottle of Mad Dog's Revenge spice extract in my cabinet that (at least according to the label) registers at 1,000,000. While naturally it is spicy as heck, i would feel safe saying that a 10,000 unit Korean pepper is 100 times less spicy than that. At any rate not going to argue about it...just saying that the scale in the link posted and the comparison to Tabasco sauce seems off to me...but alas...
On a side note...i cant recall how many times I've challenged some woman at my apartment to try some of this stuff (Mad Dog's revenge) playing on the "we can eat spicy food and you foreigners cant handle it) bit. What better way to get a woman to quickly finish her homemade cocktail and ask for 3/4 more than to give/challenge her to a tiny drop of that stuff~ |
He is probably referring to fire chicken, which does not use a korean pepper. They use those little thai peppers to make that sauce. Actually, most stuff labeled at super hot isnt made with Korean peppers, those come from Thailand or Vietnam. |
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ewlandon
Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Location: teacher
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:40 pm Post subject: |
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| tatertot wrote: |
| ewlandon wrote: |
I do find it funny that in the west Koreans have a reputation for being the biggest spice eaters. Sure there is a lot of spicy food in Korean cuisine but most of it, as we have been saying, isn't all that spicy and plenty of Koreans cant handle much spice at all. My Korean friends still ask me of Ramyon is too spicy for me.
I guess most westerners who don't eat a lot of Asian or Mexican food would find kimchi jigea too spicy to eat?
Also, I have been told by Koreans that Koreans are genetically coded to like spicy food and that it is scientifically proven. I'm going to start a file of things scientifically proven in Korea (macholi cures cancer anyone?) |
As far as I know, Koreans don't have a reputation for being particularly spicy eaters. However, in Korea, Koreans have a reputation for thinking that they have a reputation in the West for being spicy eaters. |
Well, Korea does have that reputation in the USA. Actually if you type in "worlds spiciest foods" into google, Korean food is always near the top if not the top. Some places list "kimchi jigea" as the worlds number one spiciest food, which seems strange.
Examples
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30600910/ns/travel-destination_travel/t/worlds-spiciest-foods/
http://www.ratestogo.com/blog/spiciest-foods-in-the-world/ |
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