I hardly ever bought crushed peppers or pepper flakes. With our Louisiana style cooking, I just buy the whole dried cayenne or Tabasco peppers and make my own. I've read many of ya'lls posts about specifically using the KOREAN pepper flakes for kimchi.
I just bought two large bags of whole "Thai dehydrated peppers". If I run these Thai whole dried peppers through a food processor, will they make good kimchi? Will it taste differently than the traditional kimchi?
Unfortunately, Thai peppers are NOT a good substitute. They are mostly just spicy, rather than the more earthy, fruity and moderately spicy Korean peppers. Cayenne also makes a poor substitute as it is too spicy. If you absolutely cannot find gochugaru, you can probably get by with using guajillo, ancho, or Hungarian paprika as these have the most similar profile to gochugaru that I can think of. I've never actually used these in kimchi though, so cant be certain.
Not at all a good substitute, IMO. Thai peppers - as much as I love them - have a completely different flavour and are way too hot.
Actually, small correction. If you're talking about the big dried thai peppers (around the thickness of an adult male's thumb), NOT the small one (thinner than a pinky finger), you can probably use those with decent results. I just saw them at a thai market today and realized that might have been what you were talking about.
I have the little small peppers that are smaller than my pinky. Of course, my pinky is bigger than most folks thumb! LOL!!! No kidding, they are the small skinny Thai peppers. Are these okay for kimchi?
Thai chilis, in general, are really spicy! If you use them in Kimchi, use way less than you would Korean chili powder. Of course, you won't get that beautiful orangey-red color but the flavor should be good.
Try making a small batch of Kimchi and experiment with the amount of Thai chili. Sounds yummy!
The giant Asian market I first went to, didn't know what "Korean" pepper flakes/powder was. That's where I bought the Thai peppers. The most incredible sweet Chinese lady heard my inquiry and approached me with the location of a "Korean" market. The nicest folks own this place and, they knew EXACTLY what I needed! This Korean pepper has the most incredible flavor and a beautiful color. Both color and flavor permeate the kimchi. I am sooo glad that I did not substitute with the Thai peppers. However, I did add a little of the Thai pepper to kick-up the heat a little. This market is in Metairie Louisiana at the following location; Oriental Market, 3324 Transcontinental Dr
Metairie, LA 70006, (504) 457-4567
When your looking for a Korean market check the directory
http://www.maangchi.com/shopping/
If you find a new one you can add it.
Ray,
Do you know a good fish market in the area where I can buy fresh fish at a reasonable price?
James
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