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A recent study claims that Koreans ate chili peppers before the 16th century Japanese invasion, potentially putting paid to the hypothesis that the country has Japan to thank for an essential ingredient in its spicy cuisine.
Dr. Kwon Dae-young of the Korea Food Research Institute and Chung Kyung-ran, a senior researcher at the Academy of Korean Studies, on Wednesday said they unearthed several documents dating back to the early years of the Chosun Dynasty showing that Koreans ate chili peppers and made gochujang (hot pepper paste) much earlier than the Japanese invasion in the 16th century.
The prevailing theory has it that after Columbus brought "aji," a variety of hot pepper, from Central America to Europe, it was later introduced to China and India.
But documents dating from the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618-907) record making of la jiao jiang, a kind of chili paste, and Japanese documents show they were introduced by Korea to Japan, the researchers say. The Encyclopedia Britannica cites China and India as well as Central America as places of origin of hot pepper.
Kwon said the research will help getting gochujang and kimchi listed as World Cultural Heritage assets and popularizing them worldwide.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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