Why is Korean food so red? — The spicy and deep relationship between Korean cuisine and chili peppers

*This article contains an excerpt from the article "Why is Korean food so red? — The spicy and deep relationship between Korean cuisine and chili peppers" on the website "The World is Made of 'Why?'".
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Red kimchi and soups packed with chili peppers — these are the colors that symbolize Korean cuisine. However, this red color has not always been rooted in Korean culinary tradition. The process of the introduction and establishment of chili peppers, their practicality for preservation and health benefits, and even social and psychological backgrounds have combined to dye the Korean dining table red. Yet, this history is surprisingly short, spanning only the last 100 years.

In this article, we will organize the circumstances that led Korean cuisine to adopt "red" from the perspectives of history and culture.

Table of Contents

• Where did the red in Korean cuisine come from?

• It wasn't red at first

• The homeland of the red traveler is the South American continent

• Why did the red traveler settle in Korea instead of Japan?

  1. Wisdom of preservation and storage

  2. Health benefits

  3. Social and psychological background

• Cultural exchange at the dining table ~What the red of Korean cuisine teaches us~

• List of references and sources

Once you know the background of the red spiciness in Korean cuisine, the taste of kimchi and sundubu-jjigae might feel a little different.

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