Minimal Recipes

What pops in your head when you think of “Korean Food”?
kimchi? spicy?

I want to talk about the ingredients that make Korean food very unique. We use a lot of  go.chu.jang (hot pepper paste), go.chu.ga.ru (hot pepper powder), and dwen.jang (soybeen paste) in our dish.

Gochujang is fermented Korean sauce made of dried red chilli pepper, sweet rice powder, soybean powder, etc. Traditionally, it has been naturally fermented over years in large earthen pots outdoors, more often on an elevated stone platform, called jang.dok.dae in the backyard. The picture above shows the image of outdoor scenery with jang.dok.dae(earthen pots).
Gochujang is used in all types of food. (stirfrys, soups, dipping sauce, etc)
Below is the picture of Gochujang you can find in a Korean market these days. They usually come in this type of red plastic container.

Gochugaru is basically grinded dried red pepper. It looks very much like Cayenne pepper you see at a spice section in your grocery store. You can also find this in Korean market and it usually comes in a semi-clear plastic packaging.

Dwenjang is traditional fermented Korean soybean paste. The name literally means “thick paste” in Korean. Just like gochujang, it comes in a plastic container but with a yellow-brown color.

I’ll add more info in the future.