# Gochujang

A traditional Korean chili paste made from scratch, involving sun-drying red chilies, grinding them into powder, and fermenting with malted barley, glutinous rice, and fermented soybean powder.

- Cuisine: Korean
- Category: Soup
- Language: en

## Ingredients

- red chili
- 500 g gochugaru
- 300 g malt
- 3 L water
- 500 g glutinous rice powder
- 200 g meju garu (fermented soybean powder)
- 10 % of total mixture weight salt

## Instructions

1. Dry the red chilies completely under the sun for 2 weeks.
2. Break the dried chilies and remove the seeds.
3. Grind the dried red chilies into 'gochugaru' (chili powder) using a food processor.
4. Sieve the gochugaru to achieve a fine powder.
5. Mix 300g malted barley with 2L of lukewarm water and let it sit for 2 hours to extract enzymes.
6. Strain the malted barley mixture through a fine sieve, keeping only the liquid.
7. In a pan, combine 500g glutinous rice powder with 1L of water and cook over low heat for 10 minutes to make a thick rice paste.
8. Mix the malt water with the glutinous rice paste.
9. Leave the mixture at room temperature for about 8 hours for saccharification.
10. Add 200g of 'meju garu' (fermented soybean powder) to the mixture and stir well.
11. Add 500g of 'gochugaru' (chili powder) to the mixture and stir well.
12. Add salt equal to 10% of the total mixture weight and mix thoroughly.
13. Transfer the gochujang into a sterilized jar.
14. Cover the surface of the gochujang with a thin layer of salt.
15. Cover the jar with a cloth or plastic wrap and ferment in a shaded place at room temperature (20–25°C) for 3 months.

## Equipment

- pot
- table
- sieve
- bowl
- food processor
- pan
- spatula
- jar

## Tips

- Malted barley contains enzymes that break down carbohydrates into simple sugars, feeding the microbes.
- The microorganisms in meju powder use these sugars for fermentation, and its proteins produce the deep umami flavor.

## Source

- Original video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQZdH7Ljdw3/
- Recipe page: https://www.cliprecipe.com/recipe/361d5cc3-76b0-4b37-a79f-878bcb2d66c3
- Extracted: 2025-10-30

Extracted from the video by Clip Recipe (https://www.cliprecipe.com). Quantities and steps are as stated or shown in the video. Site guide for agents: https://www.cliprecipe.com/llms.txt