Gochujang

It has commonly been assumed that spicy jang (장; 苦椒醬) varieties were made using black peppers and chopi before the introduction of chili peppers. Shiyi xinjian (食醫心鑑), a mid-9th century Chinese document, recorded the Korean pepper paste as 苦椒醬 (lit. 'pepper paste'). The second-oldest documentation of pepper paste is found in the 1433 Korean book Collected Prescriptions of Native Korean Medicines.[6] Pepper paste is again mentioned in a 1445 medical encyclopedia named Compendia of Medical Prescriptions.[7]

Chili peppers, which originated in the Americas, were introduced to East Asia by Portuguese traders in the early 16th century.[8][9][10] The first mention of chili pepper in Korea is found in Collected Essays of Jibong, an encyclopedia published in 1614.[11][12] Farm Management, a book from ca. 1700, discussed the cultivation methods of chili peppers.[13]

In the 18th-century books, Somun saseol (소문사설; 謏聞事說) and Revised and Augmented Farm Management, gochujang is written as gochojang, using hanja characters 苦椒醬 and 古椒醬.[14][15] It is also mentioned that Sunchang County was renowned for its gochujang production.[14] China and Japan, the countries with which Korea has historically shared the most culture and trade, do not include gochujang in their traditional cuisines.

Traditional jars used for fermenting gochujang

Gochujang's primary ingredients are red chili powder (고추가루; gochugaru), glutinous rice powder, powdered fermented soybeans, and salt. Korean chili peppers, of the species Capsicum annuum, are spicy yet sweet making them ideal for gochujang production.

Other recipes use glutinous rice (찹쌀; chapssal), normal short-grain rice (맵쌀; mepssal), or barley. Less common additions include whole wheat kernels, jujubes, pumpkin, and sweet potato. A small amount of sweetener, such as sugar, syrup, or honey, 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 Korean cooking to flavor stews (jjigae), such as in gochujang jjigae; to marinate meat, such as in gochujang bulgogi; and as a condiment for naengmyeon and bibimbap.

Gochujang is also used as a base for making other condiments, such as chogochujang (초고추장) and ssamjang (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. Similarly, ssamjang is a mixture of mainly gochujang and doenjang, with chopped onions and other spicy seasonings, and it is popular with sangchussam (상추쌈).

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 of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin concentrations.[17]

Gochujang products are assigned to one of the five levels of spiciness: Mild, Slight Hot, Medium Hot, Very Hot, and Extreme Hot.[17]

Gochujang is used in various dishes such as bibimbap and tteokbokki, and in salads, stews, soups, and marinated meat dishes.[18] Gochujang may make dishes spicier (depending on the capsaicin in the base chili), but also can make dishes sweeter and smokier.

• Erin Craig (19 Aug 2020). "Gochujang: The trendy Korean food that burns". BBC Travel. Retrieved 31 May 2023.