Food Storyist.

Korean food is [                 ]

When characterizing Korean Food, there will be various answers.

Delicious
Nutritious
Delicate
Elaborative
Dynamic

And Spicy.

Korean Food is Super-Spicy.

On the statement, I would partly agree.

1. Not All Food is spicy.

All Korean food is not spicy. There are so very many foods that are not. In fact, the history of a pepper in Korea is relatively short compared to the entire Korean history of 5,000. It’s true that it spreaded throughout Korea rapidly and influenced Korean cuisine at significant extent. But there still exist a number of wonderful dishes without it.

The reason why Korean food is branded with spiciness is ‘pepper spiciness is stimulative and more unforgettable.’ When foreigners taste tongue burning food once, they perceive Korean food is mostly hot.

2. But Some Food are very spicy.

Some Korean dishes are very spicy. Korean truly love spicy food indeed. They make spicy food spicier and spicier. Some of them are addicted to it. Craving for more stimuli that bump your head and sweat all body.

Domestic Pepper Consumption in Korea

The domestic pepper consumption is 200,000~250,000ton and 3.8kg per capita. IT is the highest figure among vegetables. Why Koreans are so crazy about spiciness?

People prefer spiciness when they get stressed socially or individually.

According to a research by a folklorist, a pepper is introduced around 18 century when Kimchi and Pepper paste(Gochujang) were generalized. Especially around 1950, due to stress caused by Korean war, poverty and famine, the craving for spiciness enhanced. Its spiciness let out endorphin and relieve stress level. Nowadays, spicy food are popular among twenties, and it supposedly driven from employment troubles.