Tuesday’s Cupful: Red Pepper Flakes

Shake, shake, shake ... shake some heat
You’ll find loaded shakers of this ingredient near the grated parmesan cheese on the dining tables of in many Italian eateries and pizza establishments. Whole red peppers are dried and crushed to make this food item. Patrons can sprinkle a little for a hit or a lot for a kick on their hot pasta or slices of pizza. Folks can find hot pepper flakes in the spice aisle of most major grocery stores. However, did you know that a variation of this particular food item is also popular in Korean cuisine? Korean cooks add hot pepper flakes to fermented kimchi. Large packages of maewoon gochu gaaroo (very hot pepper flakes) and deol maewoon gochu gaaroo (mild hot pepper flakes) are available at Hmart and other Asian food grocery stores.