Kimchi scale to rank spiciness for consumers

Sure kimchi is hot, but how hot is it? While Korea’s staple side dish may cause burning in the mouth of the novice, experienced aficionados know that kimchi’s heat varies from pot to pot. Now the Korean government says it will rate kimchi’s spiciness on a five-point scale.
The Agriculture Ministry said yesterday it had developed a kimchi benchmark, ranking the pickled delicacy as mild, slightly hot, moderately hot, very hot and extremely hot based on research by the Korea Food Research Institute. The heat index is based on the amount of capsaicin and other substances contained in the chili peppers that make kimchi hot.
The government also said kimchi will be further categorized into three levels of ripeness depending on the degree of fermentation, from non-fermented to over-fermented.
Previously there was no way to judge the condition of manufactured kimchi. The government said it will encourage local manufacturers to adopt the standards and will consider regulations at a later date.

By Jung Ha-won Staff Writer [hawon@joongang.co.kr]