Working towards an OP Oi Gochu
Evaluating fruit variations in our Oi Gochu
If there’s a group whose approval I seek more than others, it would definitely be ajummas. I’ve relied on the incredible Korean elders in my life for real talk when it comes to vegetables. So when we received continual requests for a perfect Oi or Asagi Gochu, we knew it was a project we had to take on.
These peppers are one of those crops that prompt excited responses, and where our aunties and grandmas in our community can’t help but go into detail about what makes them so good. Though peppers in general were only introduced to the Korean peninsula in the 1500’s, it would be hard to imagine Korean food or culture as we know it, without this essential ingredient. There are several types of gochu that are eaten fresh when green. Broadly, Put Gochu refers to any number of varieties picked green. (compared to Hong Gochu, as they’re referred to once ripe). These peppers, regardless of cultivar tend to be thicker walled, and mildly spicy. Kkwari Gochu, are thinner walled, and slightly wrinkled. Cheongyang Gochu, a cross between a Korean landrace chili with Thai bird’s eye chili, are smaller and the spiciest of the bunch. You’ll see these sliced and served with ssam.
Oi Gochu/오이고추 meaning “cucumber pepper” is also known as Asagi Gochu/아사기고추, or “crunchy pepper”. Developed in 2005 in Miryang, there are about four popular varieties, all of which are hybrids. Peppers have played a significant role in the development of seed economies within Korea. In the 1990’s, advances in developing cytoplasmic male sterile parent lines attracted the attention of Seminis, who went on to acquire the two major seed entities within Korea. In 2002, Korea entered the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) and paid 1.3 billion won (985,255 USD) in seed royalties. But the figure rose to 5 billion won (3.7M USD) in 2004 and 12.4 billion won (9.39M USD) in 2006. According to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in Korea, the amount paid to multinationals in 2022 was 800 billion won (709M USD).
It’s no wonder that Oi Gochu has been a source of pride, since all commercial varieties are domestic releases, reducing farmers’ reliance on the larger consolidated seed industry. As a hybrid though, they’re still predominantly grown in places where highly skilled labor can be exploited for cheap (China, Thailand, and India are primary hybrid pepper seed producers). A tell-tale sign of the travels these seeds have seen is the bright pink or blue coating you’ll find on many Korean seeds. The coating is an antifungal, applied when seeds are imported into Korea from the countries where they’re cultivated. For many farmers, the opaque nature of the seed industry at large obscures many of the ecological and economic issues that stem from how the seeds are grown, and whose interests they serve.
Hybrid Oi Gochu seeds treated with Thiram
Some of our really essential crops, like radish and pepper, rely on hybrid seeds. While there are heirloom, OP varieties of these crops, much of our community is most familiar with their more modern iterations. Oi Gochu is one example of this. While there are plenty of older varieties suitable for eating green, these newer varieties have unique flavors, textures and vigor that result from interesting combinations of parent material. We’ll be exploring over the next several years if we can stabilize a consistent OP variety from within this hybrid, by both letting all of the background genetics untangle, as well as by crossing additional varieties into different lines.
Last season we grew a few varieties of Oi Gochu, saving seeds from the most vigorous plants. Since we anticipated a lot of variability in the F2 this season, we simply tried to save as much seed as we could, from as many plants that looked happy and healthy. This season, we’re looking first at vigor, selecting towards any exceptional plants, and away from ones that are more stress prone. Then we flag plants that have fruit that look consistent with what we want, and rate their productivity. We’ll taste each plant whose fruits look good, and generate a broad profile (flavor characteristics, crunchiness, seediness, spice level). From here we can either treat each individual plants as separate lines, keeping seeds separate from each one. Or we can group them into little clusters that have similar enough fruits. We’re both self-pollinating plants, as well as making crosses, taking pollen from other varieties with traits we like, and trying to cross them into our favorite Oi Gochu plants. Both approaches will allow us to (hopefully) maintain all the traits that make Oi Gochu so delicious, while keeping their genetics diverse and maybe even increasingly interesting (new colors, enhanced disease resistance, complex flavors).
You can share feedback with us here, and help guide our continued selections. And if you’re interested in trialing our varieties, email us at secondgenerationseeds@gmail.com
-Kristyn