Louisville Restaurants Forum

Does anyone know a store where a seedless variety of crushed red pepper can be purchased? I've read online they can be found at Korean markets, but I'm unaware of one in Louisville.

I can't handle the seeded kind due to diverticu-whatsis. And I'd like to be able to cook with it again, and put it on pizzas/spaghetti/etc.

I realize I could probably find it online, but I'd like to see if any local stores carry it first.

I'm pretty sure I've seen it at GFS Marketplace but it will be in a big container.

Check in the Asian markets - Viet Hoa comes to mind. they usually carry a variety of Asian ingredients.

Steve, try Oriental Supermarket 1211 Gilmore Lane (corner of Preston). It's out front of Koreana II - where you might stop for lunch while you're nearby . I don't know that there's a direct connection, but I recall this market as having a good selection of Korean ingredients. Be careful at GFS, I think Dan is talking about standard dried red-pepper flakes like they use in pizzeria jars, which do of course have the seeds.

Thank you Robin and everyone. I think I'll check out the Oriental Supermarket before anywhere else, since it's kind of close to where I live.

I just realized that Montreal Steak seasoning contains crushed red pepper too, so I'm going to have to work up my own recipe using the seedless variety. Fun.

I was looking at my big jar of traditional Italian red peppers (with seeds) and notice there is a significant size variation between the flakes and the seeds. I wonder if you could shake them through a colander or strainer with holes of appropriate size and differentially sort them. Or am I just geeking out over here?

Robin Garr wrote:I was looking at my big jar of traditional Italian red peppers (with seeds) and notice there is a significant size variation between the flakes and the seeds. I wonder if you could shake them through a colander or strainer with holes of appropriate size and differentially sort them. Or am I just geeking out over here?

Sounds like a worthwhile experiment. I'm not sure I have a strainer with the right size of holes, though.

I just looked at some crushed red pepper up close, and a lot of the flakes seem to be the size of the seeds. That may not be true of all CRP that's sold out there -- just what I have.

Go to Oriental Market and ask for Gochugaru. Most Korean flakes/powder are made without seeds. The heat level varies, and some can be quite mild, but even the hottest has a sweetness behind it that most of your run of the mill crushed red pepper flakes do not. Some brands come in different grades of heat. It's really uncommon to find any Korean flakes or powder with seeds, the kind I get from my mom never has it.

Ken B wrote:Go to Oriental Market and ask for Gochugaru. Most Korean flakes/powder are made without seeds. The heat level varies, and some can be quite mild, but even the hottest has a sweetness behind it that most of your run of the mill crushed red pepper flakes do not. Some brands come in different grades of heat. It's really uncommon to find any Korean flakes or powder with seeds, the kind I get from my mom never has it.

Are you referring to the Oriental Supermarket?

Anyway, I just went there yesterday. I had forgotten about your post, but I looked at their crushed/powdered/etc. red pepper selection and they didn't seem to have to what I was looking for. A lot of what they had was crushed into too fine a powder (instead of flakes), or had seeds. Would the Gochugaru be in another part of their store?

Anyway, I was glad I went there as they had a good selection of rice noodles. I stocked up on Vietnamese rice vermicelli - yum!

(On a side note, they keep the store rather, well, un-heated -- it was like walking into a refrigerator.)

Yeah, Oriental Supermarket. It has been forever since I have been there. Most Korean pepper is somewhere between fine powder and traditional flakes like you'd get in a Western grocery. Actually, I looked at the stuff I get from my mom after my last post and it had some seeds ground up in it, but not nearly as may as your off the shelf "red pepper flakes".