''Gochujang'' (, from Korean: , ) or red chili paste * is a savory, sweet, and spicy

fermented Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific Flavoring, flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is serv ...

popular in

Korean cooking Korean cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in Korea and southern Manchuria, Korean cuisine reflects a complex interaction of the natural envi ...

. It is made from gochu-garu (chili powder),

glutinous rice Glutinous rice (''Oryza sativa var. glutinosa''; also called sticky rice, sweet rice or waxy rice) is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast and East Asia, and the northeastern regions of South Asia, which has opaque grains, very low amylose ...

, ''

meju ''Meju'' () is a brick of dried fermented soybeans. While not consumed on its own, it serves as the basis of several Korean condiments, such as ''doenjang'' (soybean paste), '' ganjang'' (soy sauce), and gochujang (chili paste). ''Meju'' is prod ...

'' (fermented soybean) powder, ''yeotgireum'' (

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...

powder), and salt. The sweetness comes from the starch of cooked glutinous rice, cultured with saccharifying enzymes during the fermentation process. Traditionally, it has been naturally fermented over years in ''

jangdok ''Onggi'' () is Korean earthenware extensively used as tableware and storage containers in Korea. It includes both unglazed earthenware, fired near 600 to 700°C, and pottery with a dark brown glaze fired at over 1100 °C.The origin of ong ...

'' (earthenware) on an elevated stone platform, called ''

jangdokdae In Korean culture, Jangdokdae (Hangul: 장독대) or Jangttokttae is an outside space, most frequently a terrace, used to store or ferment food. Foods such as Kimchi, soybeans, grains, and bean and red pepper paste, are placed in ''Jangdok'' (o ...

'', in the

backyard A backyard, or back yard (known in the United Kingdom as a back garden or just garden), is a yard at the back of a house, common in suburban developments in the Western world. In Australia, until the mid-20th century, the back yard of a pro ...

. The Sunchang Gochujang Festival is held annually in Gochujang Village in Sunchang County,

North Jeolla Province North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwes ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

History

It has commonly been assumed that spicy ''jang'' () varieties were made using

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diame ...

s and ''chopi'' before the introduction of

chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...

s. ''

Shiyi xinjian The Ten Wings ( ''shí yì'') is a collection of commentaries ( ''zhuan'') to the classical Chinese ''Book of Changes'' ( ''Yì jīng'') traditionally ascribed to Confucius. # ''Tuan zhuan'', or Commentary on the Judgment, the 1st #''Tuan zhuan ...

'', a mid-9th century Chinese document, recorded the Korean pepper paste as (). The second-oldest documentation of pepper paste is found in the 1433 Korean book '' Collected Prescriptions of Native Korean Medicines''. Pepper paste is again mentioned in a 1445 medical encyclopedia named '' Compendia of Medical Prescriptions''. Chili peppers, which originated in the Americas, were introduced to East Asia by Portuguese traders in the early 16th century. The first mention of

in Korea is found in '' Collected Essays of Jibong'', an encyclopedia published in 1614. ''

Farm Management Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Profession ...

'', a book from ca. 1700, discussed the cultivation methods of chili peppers. In the 18th-century books, '' Somun saseol'' and '' Revised and Augmented Farm Management'', gochujang is written as ''gochojang'', using hanja characters and . It is also mentioned that

Sunchang Sunchang County (''Sunchang-gun'') is a county in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is located in a mountainous region of the province and is connected to the city of Jeonju by a modern double-lane free-way that was completed in 2011. Suncha ...

was renowned for its gochujang production. China and Japan, the countries with which Korea has historically shared the most culture and trade, do not include gochujang in their traditional cuisines. Gochujang ingredients reported in ''

Jeungbo sallim gyeongje ''Jeungbo sallim gyeongje'' is a Korean book on agriculture compiled by Yu Jung-rim (柳重臨) as revised and enlarged from the ''Sallim gyeongje'' written by Hong Man-seon (洪萬選 1643∼1715). Yu Jung-rim was a physician during the reign of ...

'' were of powdered and sieved ''

'' (fermented soybeans), of chili powder, and of glutinous rice flour, as well as

soup soy sauce ''Guk-ganjang'' ( ko, 국간장) or soup soy sauce is a type of Korean soy sauce (''ganjang'') made entirely of fermented soybeans (''meju'') and brine. It is also a byproduct of '' doenjang'' production. Both lighter in colour and saltier than ...

for adjusting the consistency. The gochujang recipe in ''

Gyuhap chongseo ''Gyuhap chongseo'' (roughly translated as "Women's Encyclopedia") is a compendium of advice for women, written by Yi Bingheogak in 1809 during the Korean Joseon Dynasty. Composition * ''Jusaui'' () : making ''jang'' (condiments), alcoholic beve ...

'', an 1809 cookbook, uses powdered ''meju'' made from of soybeans and of glutinous rice, then adding of chili powder and ''

bap BAP or bap may refer to: Food * Bap (bread), a type of bread roll * Bap (rice dish), a Korean food Music * BAP (Basque band), a hardcore punk group (formed 1984) * BAP (German band), a Colognian rock group (formed 1976) * B.A.P (South Korean ban ...

'' made from of glutinous rice.

Ingredients

Gochujang's primary ingredients are red chili powder (gochugaru; 고추가루),

powder, powdered fermented soybeans, and

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

Korean chili pepper Korean chili peppers or Korean hot peppers, also known as Korean red, Korean dark green, or Korean long green peppers according to color (ripening stages), are medium-sized chili peppers of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. The chili pepper is long ...

s, of the species ''

Capsicum annuum ''Capsicum annuum'' is a species of the plant genus ''Capsicum'' native to southern North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. This species is the most common and extensively cultivated of the five domesticated capsicums. The spec ...

'', are spicy yet sweet making them ideal for gochujang production. Other recipes use glutinous rice (''chapssal'', ko, 찹쌀), normal short-grain rice (''mepssal'', ko, 멥쌀), or

, and, less frequently, whole wheat kernels,

jujube Jujube (), sometimes jujuba, known by the scientific name ''Ziziphus jujuba'' and also called red date, Chinese date, and Chinese jujube, is a species in the genus '' Ziziphus'' in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. Description It is a smal ...

pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...

, and

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...

; these ingredients are used to make special variations. A small amount of sweetener, such as sugar, syrup, or

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

, is also sometimes added. The finished product is a dark, reddish paste with a rich, piquant flavor. The making of gochujang at home began tapering off when commercial production came into the mass market in the early 1970s. Now, most Koreans purchase gochujang at grocery stores or markets. It is still used extensively in

to flavor stews (''

jjigae ''Jjigae'' (Korean: 찌개, ) is a Korean stew. There are many varieties; it is typically made with meat, seafood or vegetables in a broth seasoned with ''gochujang'' (red chilli paste), ''doenjang'' (soy bean paste), ''ganjang'' (soy sauce) or ...

''), such as in ''gochujang jjigae''; to marinate meat, such as in ''gochujang

bulgogi ''Bulgogi'' (불고기; ; from Korean ''bul-gogi'' ), literally "fire meat", is a ''gui'' (구이; Korean-style grilled or roasted dish) made of thin, marinated slices of meat, most commonly beef, grilled on a barbecue or on a stove-top grid ...

''; and as a condiment for ''

naengmyeon Naengmyeon * (, in South Korea) or raengmyŏn (, in North Korea) is a noodle dish of North Korean origin which consists of long and thin handmade noodles made from the flour and starch of various ingredients, including buckwheat (메밀, ''me ...

'' and ''

bibimbap Bibimbap * ( , from Korean , literally "mixed rice"), sometimes romanized as bi bim bap or bi bim bop, is a Korean rice dish. The term "bibim" means "mixing" and " bap" refers to cooked rice. ''Bibimbap'' is served as a bowl of warm white ri ...

''. Gochujang is also used as a base for making other condiments, such as ''chogochujang'' ( ko, 초고추장) and ''

ssamjang ''Ssamjang'' ( ko, 쌈장) is a thick, spicy paste used with food wrapped in a leaf in Korean cuisine. The sauce is made of fermented soy beans (''doenjang''), red chili paste (''gochujang''), sesame oil, onion, garlic, green onions, and optio ...

'' ( ko, 쌈장). ''Chogochujang'' is a variant of gochujang made by adding vinegar and other seasonings, such as sugar and sesame seeds. It is usually used as a sauce for '' hoe'' and ''

hoedeopbap ''Hoe-deopbap'' * () or raw fish bibimbap is a Korean dish consisting of steamed rice mixed with sliced or cubed '' saengseon hoe'' (raw fish), various vegetables such as lettuce, cucumber and sesame leaves, sesame oil, and '' chogochujang'' (a ...

''. Similarly, ''ssamjang'' is a mixture of mainly gochujang and ''

doenjang ''Doenjang'' * (; "thick sauce") or soybean paste is a type of fermented bean paste made entirely of soybean and brine. It is also a byproduct of soup soy sauce production. It is sometimes used as a relish. History The earliest soybean fer ...

'', with chopped onions and other spicy seasonings, and it is popular with ''sangchussam'' ( ko, 상추쌈).

Gochujang hot-taste unit

Gochujang hot-taste unit (GHU) is a unit of measurement for the pungency (spicy heat) of gochujang, based on the gas chromatography and the

high-performance liquid chromatography High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), formerly referred to as high-pressure liquid chromatography, is a technique in analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. It relies on pumps to pa ...

capsaicin Capsaicin (8-methyl-''N''-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) ( or ) is an active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus ''Capsicum''. It is a chemical irritant for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burnin ...

and

dihydrocapsaicin Dihydrocapsaicin is a capsaicinoid and analog and congener of capsaicin in chili peppers (''Capsicum''). Like capsaicin, it is an irritant. It accounts for about 22% of the total capsaicinoid mixture and has the same pungency as capsaicin. P ...

concentrations. Gochujang products are assigned to one of the five levels of spiciness: Mild, Slight Hot, Medium Hot, Very Hot, and Extreme Hot.

Uses

Gochujang is used in various dishes such as ''

'' and ''

tteokbokki (), or simmered rice cake, is a popular Korean food made from small-sized (long, white, cylinder-shaped rice cakes) called (; "rice cake noodles") or commonly (; " rice cakes"). * Eomuk (fish cakes), boiled eggs, and scallions are some comm ...

'', and in

salad A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...

s, stews,

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...

s, and marinated meat dishes. Gochujang may make dishes spicier (depending on the

in the base chili), but also can make dishes sweeter and smokier.

Storage

Leave the lid open overnight and cover the next day. It is better to use a jar with a narrow neck. When gochujang is exposed to the air, it turns black and develops a bad taste. In summer, it can easily become moldy, so cover the pot with mesh or gauze while it is in the sun.

References