South Korea is promoting its cuisine to the world to put its culture on display。
As chili sauce is a common component of Korean food, Seoul is working on a ranking system to gauge the different strengths of its chilies, in a bid to increase their exportation。
According to a report Thursday by the Korea Associated Press, Seoul will introduce the industry standard for measuring the hotness of chili sauces later this month。
The government and the food industry have agreed on the standard of hotness classification, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Korea Food Research Institute said Thursday。
The quantitative criteria sorts the hotness from "slightly spicy," which is rated 30 or less on a numerical scale, "a little spicy (30-45)，" "medium spicy (45-75)，" "heavy spicy (75-100)，" and "super spicy (over 100)."
Aside from the ratings displayed in English, a graph featuring a thermometer will be used to show spiciness。
Jeong Seung-won, a researcher with the Korea Food Research Institute, said that it quantifies the hotness from zero to 100 based on the content of the chili's capsaicin in the recipes and popular tastes。
Manufacturers of chili sauces will use such criteria to standardize their products, which is expected to make it easier for consumers to choose。
作為本國文化推廣的一部分，韓國一直致力於將韓餐世界化。辣味一向是韓國料理口味的一大特色，為有利於出口，韓國將辣椒醬的辣味進行了標準化分級。
據韓聯社1日報導，韓國將從4月底起引進辣椒醬辣味分級標準。報導稱，韓國農林水產食品部和韓國食品研究院1日表示，政府和食品業界最近就辣椒醬的辣味等級標準方案達成了協議。根據該方案，辣椒醬的辣味共分為5個等級，按數字量化，辣味從輕到重依次是「稍辣(小於30)」、「微辣(30-45)」、「中辣(45-75)」、「很辣(75-100)」、「超辣(大於100)」，還特地規定了相應的英文標記。除了文字標記以外，還將用溫度表圖像形象地表達辣度。對於分級的量化標準，韓國食品研究院研究員鄭承元博士對《環球時報》說，依據辣醬中辣椒素的含量，再結合大眾口感，用0—100數字對辣度進化量化。
辣椒醬廠商可自覺採用該標準，將生產的辣椒醬的辣度標準化、規範化。此舉便於消費者選擇產品，還有利於出口。