Gochu-jang (Red Chili Paste)

  Gochu-jang (Red Chili Paste)  

Gochujang is a unique fermented food in Korea along with soy sauce and soybean paste. It is a complex seasoning and favorite food that harmonizes the sweetness resulting from hydrolysis of carbohydrates, the umami of soybean protein amino acids, the spicy taste of red pepper, and the salty taste of salt.

 

 

  Origin of Gochujang  

It is a special sauce product unique to Korea and was developed later than soy sauce or soybean paste. It is presumed that soy sauce or miso has been around since the ancient times, but gochujang was developed after the introduction of red pepper in the 16th century.

 

Lee Soo-gwang's 『Jibong Yuseol』 records that red pepper was introduced in Japan, and is believed to have been introduced at the end of the 16th century. The first document to record the method of making red pepper paste is 『Jungbo Forest Economy』 published around 1760, so it can be said that the cultivation of red pepper is rapidly spread.

 

In 『Jungbo Forest Economy』, it is said that 1 mal of meju is made into powder and sifted, 3 hops of red pepper powder, and 1 doe of glutinous rice powder are put in good soy sauce. This is largely the same as it is today. However, it uses much less red pepper powder than today's gochujang. Carbohydrate foods such as glutinous rice and nonglutinous rice are the main, but meso powder is the main, and it reminds us of something like makjang. In addition, the fact that the seasoning of gochujang with soy sauce is different from now.

 

However, there is also a method of stir-frying sesame seeds in gochujang, or alternatively, making tofu with 1 mal of soybeans, squeezing the water, and then dipping it with red pepper powder and salt water. , After roasting 1 mal of soybeans, peeling the skin and boiling again to extract the juice.Float in a hot room for 3 days, then mix and pound 3 malt of roasted soybean powder, mix with 3 hops of red pepper powder and salt water, and cook in the sun. It can be seen that the manufacturing method has been developed in various ways.

 

In the 『Gyuhap Chongseo』, steamed Boiled beans with 1 mal of boiled beans and 2 doe of rice, and crushed together to make meju, then float it to make powder, and mix it with 4 doe of salt in good water. After that, it is said that 5-7 hops of red pepper powder are mixed, and rice is cooked with 2 doe of glutinous rice and mixed together. The proportion of red pepper powder is higher than the manufacturing method in 『Jungbo Forest Economy』, and from the time of making meju, rice, a carbohydrate food, was reinforced, indicating that the manufacturing method was developed.

 

Now, 5 Doe of glutinous rice is usually made into powder, kneaded like a dumpling, cut into large and thin slices, and boiled in boiling water. Filter 2 Doe of soybean flour and 2 hops of malt, pour water and mash well to match the concentration. After mixing the two together, add 3 doe of red pepper powder to adjust the color and season with salt to make.

 

  Various recipes by region  

Ingredients and recipes for gochujang are developed in various ways depending on the region. Depending on the ingredients and how to make it, there are borigo-chujang, mugeori red pepper paste, yak red pepper paste, red bean red pepper paste, and sweet potato red pepper paste. Depending on the region, gochujang in Haenam, Sunchang and Jinju are famous. Sunchang's gochujang is especially famous.

 

Borrigochujang is made a lot in Chungcheong-do. Wash the barley rice clean, crush it into powder, steam it in a steamer, mix it with boiled and cooled water, put it in a bowl and place it in a hot room to float. When the mold is white, mix red pepper powder and buckwheat powder, season with salt, and place in a jar. The amount is about 2 mal of barley and 10 geun of red pepper. Borigochujang is characterized by not using malt.

 

Sorghum red pepper paste is marinated in salt water and sorghum powder, mixed with soybean meal, malt powder, and red pepper powder, seasoned with salt. Steam the non-glutinous rice in red bean paste paste, and boil the beans and red beans thoroughly, pound in a mortar so that there is no clumping, make a round shape, and soak the red pepper paste in the same way as above.

 

Mugori red pepper paste is made by mixing the leftover residue with barley powder, malt powder, and red pepper powder. The taste is fresh and sweet.

 

Yak-gochujang is made by finely mincing the meat, seasoning it with various seasonings, spreading oil on a griddle, and frying it. Add red pepper paste, green onions, ginger, and sugar. It is better to mix pine nuts after cooling. Sweet potato red pepper paste is made by putting the boiled sweet potato with malt and fermented in a burlap sack, squeezing this water and adding red pepper powder, meso powder, and salt. It is mainly prepared by Hwajeonmin from Gyeongsang Province.

 

Sunchang Gochujang is made with glutinous rice, malt and red pepper powder. Leaven is made in the ratio of 8 doe of beans to 1 mal of non-glutinous rice, and rice is made into powder, and the beans are soaked in cold water for 2 days. Beat this in a mortar, make a fist-sized hole, make a hole in the middle, and hang it in the airy shade for one month. After about 10 days, the mold turns yellow, and after about 20 days, it turns to its original color. Divide it finely, dry it with chestnut dew to make powder, and dry it again for 5 days.

 

The day before making gochujang, dissolve in cold water and mix with glutinous rice cake and red pepper powder the next day. The amount is 1 mal of glutinous rice, 2 Doe and a half of yeast, 4 Doe of red pepper powder, 5 hops of soy sauce, and 2 hops of salt. Usually, meju is made and stored in autumn, and then soaked in spring.

 

 

Storage and management of red pepper paste

 

Soy sauce or soybean paste is soaked, and the lid is immediately covered. After 3-4 days, select a sunny day and open the lid to get the sun lit. The cooked ingredients are mixed right away, so if you put the lid on immediately after soaking, the hot steam won't come out completely, so it gets wet.

It is better to have a jar with a narrow mouth. When red pepper paste is exposed to the air, its noodles become dark and taste worse, and white mountain yeast called “gob” grows, so you can prevent this if you open the lid and expose it to sunlight on sunny days.

 

Shortly after the red pepper paste was made, it boils and overflows, or white mold may develop. There are several causes for this. If starch is added to malt and it is not sweet enough or too crispy, rain or water has entered the gochujang jar. In this case, pour it into the pot, boil it over low heat, and add a little more salt. Add red pepper paste and add hot sikhye and boil slowly to restore the taste.

 

Even after putting the red pepper paste in the jar, you need to keep stirring it for a while. Particularly in summer, mold is easy to grow, so cover the jar with mesh or gauze to provide occasional sunlight, and in the rainy season, be sure to add extra salt and be careful not to get moisture.

 Preparing and cooking ingredients  

10 cups of glutinous rice (2 doe of small beans), 3 cups of soybean flour, 7 to 8 cups (1.5 doe) of red pepper powder, 5 cups of malt powder (1 doe), 3 cups of salt, 3 to 4 doe of water (15 to 20 cups)

※ Unit of measurement 1 teaspoon-5ml(cc) / 1 tbsp-15ml(cc) / 1 cup-200ml(cc) / 1 doe-5 cups (1,000ml)

 

1. Wash glutinous rice, soak in water overnight, and grind it into powder.

 

2. Put the malt in the water and rub it, and then put it on a sieve to settle the malt water.

 

3. Kneaded glutinous rice flour with hot water to make hole cake in a donut shape the size of a palm.

 

4. Boil the hole rice cake in boiling water and pour it into a large bowl. Add the malt water of 2 little by little, and loosen it without lumps.

 

5. Add soybean meal and red pepper powder to the glutinous rice paste, mix evenly, and leave overnight.

 

6. When the color of the red pepper paste is fine, add salt, season and put it in a jar, sprinkle with additional salt on it, cover it with mesh or gauze, and let it ripen for about a month in the sun.