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Sauces and condiments from Korea

Gochujang (fermented chili paste)고추장

Gochujang is a thick, sweet, hot and savoury chilli paste. Glutinous rice is sweetened with malt, then mixed with chilli powder, powdered meju and salt and left to ferment, for one to two years in the traditional process, while Bacillus and yeasts slowly build its flavour.

Fully documentedSauces and condiments12 months – 2 years

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe sources name the ingredients but give no tested formula, so no amounts are set here except the Food Code's 6 % chilli powder minimum. Cottage-industry recipes differ.
Red chilli powder (gochugaru)at least 6 % (Food Code minimum for anything sold as gochujang)[mfds-jang]
Glutinous riceHeated with malt to saccharify it[ramalingam2022][ryu2020]
Meju powderAdded as the starter[ryu2020]
Barley malt (yeotgireum)[ramalingam2022]
Salt[ramalingam2022]
Startermeju (its Bacillus, moulds and enzymes) plus barley malt (amylase)

Total time across the recorded steps: 12 months – 2 years

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countBacillusMoulds

What changes: Meju, the fermented soybean starter, is made ahead for the paste

Step 1 of 4
Prepare the meju
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Bacillus
Moulds
Zygosaccharomyces rouxii
Aspergillus oryzae
Aspergillus

Output: meju, the starter.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Bacillus and moulds such as Aspergillus live in the meju

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

Gochujang is a thick, sweet, hot and savoury chilli paste. Glutinous rice is sweetened with malt, then mixed with chilli powder, powdered meju and salt and left to ferment, for one to two years in the traditional process, while Bacillus and yeasts slowly build its flavour. Made in 4 steps over 12 months – 2 years. The longest step, ferment, takes 12 months – 2 years (Ramalingam S 2022). Salt is 8.2 % (Ryu J.A 2020). Bacillus and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step12 months – 2 yearsReported[ramalingam2022][ryu2020]Ferment
Salt8.2 %Measured[ryu2020]Mix in chilli powder, meju and salt
AciditypH 3.6–5Measured[ramalingam2022]Ferment

What makes this one different

Gochujang is made from glutinous rice, chilli powder, salt and meju used as starter. The rice is sweetened with malt before fermentation starts.

Related ferments

Safety

Korea's Food Code limits Bacillus cereus in jang to 10,000 CFU per g. In a survey of 35 cottage-industry gochujang, 8 were above that limit, likely from raw materials or cross-contamination. The same products ranged pH 3.57–4.98, and 40 % were above pH 4.6, the line used for low-acid foods.

Hazards the sources name: Bacillus cereus (above 4 log CFU/g in 8 of 35 cottage-industry products).

History and sources

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

Codex adopted a worldwide gochujang standard at its 43rd session, building on a 2009 Asian regional standard.

  1. [ramalingam2022] Ramalingam S., Bahuguna A., Lim S., Joe A.R., Lee J.S., Kim S.Y., Kim M. 2022, Physicochemical, microbial and volatile compound characteristics of gochujang produced by traditional cottage industries, Foods 11(3):375, doi:10.3390/foods11030375paper
  2. [ryu2020] Ryu J.A., Kim E., Kim M.J., Lee S., Yoon S.R., Ryu J.G., Kim H.Y. 2020, Physicochemical characteristics and microbial communities in gochujang, a traditional Korean fermented hot pepper paste, Frontiers in Microbiology 11:620478, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.620478paper
  3. [mfds-jang] Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Korea), Korean Food Code, chapter 5.12 Jang (definition of gochujang)spec
  4. [mfds-general] Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Korea), Korean Food Code, chapter 3, general standards (Bacillus cereus limits)spec
  5. [mafra2020] Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Korea) 2020, Spiciness of Korean food, in global standards (Codex adoption of the gochujang standard)gov