Korean Gochu

korean classic

Korean Gochu is a traditional Capsicum annuum grown extensively in Korea, where chillies are an essential ingredient in everyday cooking. The long, slender pods ripen from green to a rich, glossy red and are particularly valued for making gochugaru, the distinctive red chilli flakes used in kimchi, Korean stews and the fermented chilli paste known as gochujang.

Unlike the sharper heat of a Cayenne, Gochu has a gentler, more rounded pungency with a natural sweetness that becomes particularly noticeable when the ripe pods are dried.

I was quite excited about growing Gochu this season, having never grown a Korean chilli before. You can sometimes tell when a variety is going to be an easy grow, and Gochu gave me that impression almost immediately. The seedlings came shooting out of the compost and grew strongly from the outset.

I grew one plant in the greenhouse and another outside on a sunny patio, and both performed extremely well. Admittedly, I'm on the South Coast and we had an exceptionally hot summer, but the outdoor plant seemed just as happy as the one under cover, although the greenhouse specimen grew considerably larger.

One of the things I particularly liked was the way the pods developed. They initially grow pointing skywards, but as they lengthen and become heavier, they gradually turn downwards.

The fruits emerge at all sorts of angles, creating a rather wonderful jumble of long green and red chillies across the plant. It almost looks as though someone has deliberately arranged them. The plants are vigorous and productive, with a pleasingly open habit that makes the developing pods particularly noticeable.

I'm looking forward to trying some traditional Korean methods of preserving the harvest. Gochu can be pickled while green, or allowed to ripen fully before drying and crushing into gochugaru. The flakes are an essential ingredient in kimchi, contributing colour, sweetness and a gentle, warming heat without overpowering the fermented vegetables.

I've never made chilli kimchi before, so that's high on my list, along with some Korean-style pickled chillies. There's something rather satisfying about growing a variety that has such a well-established place in a particular food culture.