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Soy and legumes from Korea

Hansik doenjang and hansik ganjang — made together from meju in brine한식된장

Fermented soybean bricks (meju) steep for about two months in salt brine with charcoal and dried chillies in a crock. The liquid is then drawn off and aged as soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang), and the softened bricks are mashed and aged as doenjang. One brining gives both sauces.

Fully documentedSoy and legumes20 months – 2.2 years

Recipe

Hansik doenjang and hansik ganjang — made together from meju in brine, a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: 국립국어원, CC BY-SA 2.0 kr, via Wikimedia Commons
Amounts from a sourceSong et al. 2021 made triplicate batches by the traditional method, each of 4 meju bricks in 20 L of brine.
Meju4 bricks, about 1.6 kg eachSoybean bricks already fermented by Bacillus and moulds[song2021]
Brine, 18 % w/v solar salt20 L[song2021]
Dried hot red peppers2[song2021]
Charcoal1 lump, about 12 g[song2021]
Starternone defined: traditional ganjang comes from soaking spontaneously fermented meju, without defined starter cultures (Han 2026, Chin 2024); the meju carries Bacillus and Aspergillus, and the Tetragenococcus that takes over in the brine is rarely found in meju (Chin 2024)

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 months – 2.2 years

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countBacillusTetragenococcusYeastsClose-up: salt moving into a bean25–30 °CSalt 17–18 %

What changes: Salt brine soaks into the meju bricks while their flavour moves into the brine

Step 1 of 4
Steep the meju in brine with charcoal and chillies
Time
2 months
Reported
Temperature
25–30 °C
Reported
Salt
17–18 %
Reported
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Bacillus
Tetragenococcus
Yeasts
Aspergillus

Output: dark brine and softened meju.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
meju softens
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

meju enzymes dissolve into the brine; the Bacillus and Aspergillus of the meju give way to salt-tolerant Tetragenococcus, Staphylococcus and yeasts

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Fermented soybean bricks (meju) steep for about two months in salt brine with charcoal and dried chillies in a crock. The liquid is then drawn off and aged as soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang), and the softened bricks are mashed and aged as doenjang. One brining gives both sauces. Made in 4 steps over 20 months – 2.2 years. The longest step, age the liquid as ganjang, takes 5.9–12 months (Song D.H 2021). Salt is 17–18 % (Song D.H 2021). Bacillus and Aspergillus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step5.9–12 monthsReported[song2021][han2026][chin2024]Age the liquid as ganjang
Temperature25–30 °CReported[song2021][han2026]Steep the meju in brine with charcoal and chillies
Salt17–18 %Reported[song2021][chin2024]Steep the meju in brine with charcoal and chillies
AciditypH 4.7–6.8Measured[bahuguna2023]Mash the solids and age them as doenjang

What makes this one different

Hansik jang starts from whole meju bricks and needs no starter culture, unlike modernised ganjang, which is inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae (Chin 2024). One brining gives two products, the liquid (ganjang) and the solids (doenjang). Doenjang of the other Food Code type is made from grain or soybean koji instead.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Tojangdoenjang mashed from meju left after ganjang is drawn off
  • Jangjaeless brine from the start, so no soy sauce is drawn off
  • Doenjang of the Food Code type (factory-made)made from soybean, rice, barley, wheat or defatted soy cultured with koji mould, then mixed with salt; factory versions often add wheat flour (Wikipedia)
  • Ssamjangdoenjang blended with gochujang, garlic and sesame oil; mixed, not fermented

Made the hansik doenjang and hansik ganjang way

Safety

Korea's Food Code limits Bacillus cereus in jang (except meju) to 10,000 CFU per g. In a survey of 36 cottage-industry doenjang, 5 carried B. cereus and 3 were above that limit, most likely from raw materials or poor hygiene. The Food Code also limits ochratoxin A in meju to 20 µg/kg.

Hazards the sources name: Bacillus cereus (in 5 of 36 cottage doenjang; 3 above the Korean limit, up to 6.15 log CFU/g).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Jang making was designated a national intangible heritage in Korea in 2018 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). On 3 December 2024 the UNESCO intangible heritage committee, meeting in Asunción, decided to add Korean jang making to its Representative List. UNESCO's summary says the practice is passed on within families, primarily from mothers and mothers-in-law to their daughters and daughters-in-law.

  1. [song2021] Song D.H., Chun B.H., Lee S., Son S.Y., Reddy C.K., Mun H.I., Jeon C.O., Lee C.H. 2021, Comprehensive metabolite profiling and microbial communities of doenjang and ganjang, a comparative study, Foods 10(3):641, doi:10.3390/foods10030641paper
  2. [bahuguna2023] Bahuguna A., Kumar V., Bodkhe G., Ramalingam S., Lim S., Joe A., Lee J., Kim S., Kim M. 2023, Safety analysis of Korean cottage industries' doenjang, Foods 12(22):4084, doi:10.3390/foods12224084paper
  3. [han2026] Han D.M., Baek J.H., Choi D.G., Lee J.K., Chun B.H., Jeon C.O. 2026, Effects of yeast inoculation on community, metabolites, and flavors in ganjang, Food Chemistry X 37:104200, doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2026.104200paper
  4. [chin2024] Chin Y.W., Hong S.P., Lim S.D., Yi S.H. 2024, Investigation of microbial community of Korean soy sauce (ganjang) using shotgun metagenomic sequencing, Microorganisms 12(12):2559, doi:10.3390/microorganisms12122559paper
  5. [mfds-jang] Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Korea), Korean Food Code, chapter 5.12 Jang (definitions and standards)spec
  6. [mfds-general] Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Korea), Korean Food Code, chapter 3, general standards (Bacillus cereus and mycotoxin limits)spec
  7. [mofa-press2024] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea, 2024-12-04, press release on the UNESCO listing of Korean jang making (한국의 장 담그기 문화 유네스코 인류무형유산 등재), in Koreangov
  8. [mofa-unesco] Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Korea to UNESCO, [K-Intangible Cultural Heritage] 8, Knowledge, Beliefs and Practices Related to Jang Making in the Republic of Korea (carries the UNESCO summary text)gov
  9. [wp-doenjang] Wikipedia, Doenjang (variant names and the boiling of the drawn-off liquid only)wiki