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Hot pepper paste (korean name : gochujang) is a unique Korean food boasting of an excellent harmony in nutrition, taste, and color. Its savory taste and rich protein come from soybeans, the primary ingredient, and its sweet taste comes from carbohydrates contained in glutinous rice, ordinary rice, or barley, which are also major ingredients. Powdered hot pepper gives it a hot taste and red color, and its salty taste comes from soybean sauce and salt.

Hot pepper was first introduced to Korea in the middle of the Yi Dynasty. As hot pepper farming became common across Korea, Korean people began to make hot pepper paste. They already had the skill to process soybeans into soybean paste. Korean people applied this food processing technology to making hot pepper paste. Indeed, hot pepper paste was a fusion food at that time because it combined the soybean processing technology with the hot pepper, which was a new food ingredient.

While western dressings are sometimes added to vegetables, Korean hot pepper paste is used more widely (in stews and sauces, as well as in vegetables). Hot pepper paste has a short history, but it has gone through many changes. Its use continually broadens as new recipes are developed to meet the tastes of modern people who prefer unique and spicy flavors.




	Hot pepper paste was introduced to our diet later than soybean paste and soybean sauce. Solely developed by Korean people, Hot pepper paste is one of the native Korean seasonings. Before hot peppers were introduced to Korea, Chojang, a sauce used to produce hot taste, was made from sancho (Chinese pepper), choncho, and hocho (black pepper). After hot peppers were introduced, however, hot pepper paste replaced Chojang in producing hot taste.

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Hot pepper paste is a traditional Korean food, developed in Korea after hot peppers were introduced in the 16th century. As hot pepper farming became common in Korea, hot pepper paste was made by adding a hot taste to the mixture of existing soybean paste and soybean sauce.
Hot pepper paste satisfies the appetite of Korean people, who live on vegetables rather than on meat, so many kinds of hot pepper paste have been developed.


Thanks to the wisdom of Korean ancestors, ways to make Hot pepper paste have continuously been developed. The primary ingredients are fermented soybean powder and hot pepper powder. They are mixed with glutinous rice to make "glutinous rice hot pepper paste," with ordinary rice to make "regular rice hot pepper paste," with kaoliang to make "kaoliang hot pepper paste," with barley to make "barley hot pepper paste," with wheat to make "wheat hot pepper paste," and with red beans to make "red bean hot pepper paste."

In addition, coarse fermented soybean powder is mixed with coarse hot pepper powder to make "coarse hot pepper paste." "Nurungji (scorched rice at the bottom of the rice cooker) hot pepper paste" has also been developed, and is loved by many people.

Glutinous Rice Hot Pepper Paste

Mix glutinous rice flour, the primary ingredient, with malt syrup, fermented soybean powder, and hot pepper powder. Season the mixture with salt. In some cases, glutinous rice flour is steamed and mixed with fermented soybean powder, hot pepper powder, and salt. Malt syrup is not used.
This hot pepper paste is lustrous and soft, so it ranks top among hot pepper pastes. Usually, it is used in making Chogochujang (a sour and sweet hot pepper paste sauce) or to give an attractive hue to food.

Hot Pepper Paste (Wheat Flour)

This is the most common hot pepper paste. Mix wheat flour with malt syrup and boil the mixture until it becomes yellowish and clear. Add fermented soybean powder, hot pepper powder, and salt. This type of hot pepper paste is used in seasoning stews and vegetables and in making pickles.

Barley Hot Pepper Paste

This type of hot pepper paste is common in Chungcheong-do. Grind and pound barley and ferment it in a room. Mix it with hot pepper powder, fermented soybean powder, and salt. Malt syrup is not used. This paste is used as a Ssamjang sauce in the summer.

Kaoliang Hot Pepper Paste

Boil kaoliang flour in brine to a paste and add fermented soybean powder, malt syrup, and hot pepper powder. Season this mixture with salt.

Red Bean Hot Pepper Paste

Steam rice flour. Boil soybeans and red beans completely and mash them to make dough. Mix steamed rice flour, mashed soybeans, and red beans with hot pepper powder.

Sweet Potato Hot Pepper Paste

This is made from sweet potatoes in Macheon of Gyeongsang-do, where fire-field farmers live.

Garlic Hot Pepper Paste

This is made in the season when garlic is harvested. Mix powdered glutinous rice, crushed garlic, and fermented soybean powder with hot pepper powder.

Jujube and Glutinous Rice Hot Pepper Paste

This is made from the mixture of jujubes, powdered glutinous rice, fermented soybean powder, and hot pepper powder.

Coarse Soybean Flour Hot Pepper Paste

This is made by mixing coarse soybean flour left over in the sieve, barley flour, and fermented soybean powder with hot pepper powder. This paste is usually used for stews, and tastes sour and sweet.

Yak Hot Pepper Paste

Also called "Yeokkojang", this type of paste is common in Jinju and Jeonju. It is made by adding starch syrup, brown sugar, and boiled starch syrup to hot pepper paste to make the paste lustrous. It is used as a sauce for sliced raw beef or bibimbap (boiled rice with meat and vegetables).

Ginseng Hot Pepper Paste

Mixing ginseng powder with hot pepper paste adds the taste and flavor of ginseng to the paste. This paste also has the taste of peanuts. It is a highly nutritious paste.

Pumpkin Seed Hot Pepper Paste

Thanks to the use of pumpkin seeds, this paste is quite tasty and functionally nutritious.

Apple Hot Pepper Paste

This paste can reduce the salty and spicy taste of traditional hot pepper pastes. It also has a plain and sour taste to appeal to the palate of young people. It contains minerals from apples. In particular, the acid contained in apples heals the inflammation of inner organs and removes impurities from the body.

Peach Hot Pepper Paste

Make a concentrated peach solution from low-grade peaches that are harvested after peak harvest season or damaged by natural disasters. Use the solution in making hot pepper paste. It can help make up for financial losses of farmers. It is tasty and is rich in nutrition as well.

Fruit Juice Hot Pepper Paste

Malt is often used as an enzyme for saccharifying hot pepper paste. This paste uses fruit juice that meet the taste of consumers, instead of malt. The fruit juice reduces the duration of saccharifying and adds fruit minerals and flavors to the hot pepper paste.

Embryo Bud (of Rice) Hot Pepper Paste

This is made by using embryo buds of rice that contain more vitamins, minerals, and other special nutrients than common starch flour, such as glutinous rice flour, ordinary rice flour, and wheat flour.




	Hot pepper paste boasts of a long history and tradition. Its effects are as outstanding as traditional foods from other countries. It has been scientifically proven that it has as many nutrients as soybean sauce and soybean paste. It contains protein, fat, vitamin B2, vitamin C, carotene, and many other nutrients that are good for one's health.

	Hot pepper paste contains less protein than other soybean-processed foods, but it still is a protein source. It is a fermented and preserved food used for seasoning and flavoring. In particular, Hot pepper paste stimulates digesting, thanks to amylase and protease gained from the fermented soybean powder.

	The carbonate hydroxide in Hot pepper paste helps ascorbic acid in preventing automatic oxidation. Capsaicin contained in hot peppers and hot pepper seeds inhibits the growth of bacillus subtilis. Hot pepper powder containing carotene and vitamin C has anti-mutation and anti-cancer effects.

	Limes extracted from hot pepper powder hinder aflatoxin B from causing mutations. Hot pepper powder makes the stomach strong and helps blood circulation by stimulating the skin. However, vitamins in hot peppers are lost in the process of making Hot pepper paste, so adding hot pepper powder is recommended when hot pepper paste is used in cooking.

	Micro-organisms such as pediococcus, halopgillus, lactobacillus, and delbruekii purify the intestines. According to studies, capsaicin, the substance that produces the hot taste in hot peppers, calms down the stomach when it is taken in an appropriate amount. It induces perspiration to expedite the excretion of waste material from the body. Capsaicin is also good at preventing and healing diseases, including the cold.

	A recent study reported that Hot pepper paste is good at preventing obesity. According to this study, capsaicin helps reduce accumulated fat. The study also found that fermented soybean powder or substances produced while the paste is matured help burn fat. A diet using hot pepper powder is very popular in Japan these days. Indeed, Hot pepper paste contains protein, fat, vitamin B2, vitamin C, and many other nutrients that are good for one's health.

1. Boil dough of glutinous rice flour in boiling water.

2. Place the dough in a container and loosen it by pounding until bubbles appear.

3. If the dough is somewhat hard, add water to soften it.

4. Pass one cup of malt syrup through a sieve. Add warm water to make the malt syrup settle. Pass this liquid again through a fine sieve to make malt syrup liquid. Mix this liquid with the water in which glutinous rice was boiled, and wait until it is melted.

5. When the liquid is melted completely, boil it again and add the rice dough from the container.

6. When the dough is mixed completely, add hot pepper powder. Keep boiling, stirring the mixture well.

7. Add fermented soybean powder and mix well.

8. Put the hot pepper paste in a pot, and place it under the sun for a week. When the surface of the paste has dried, sprinkle it with salt.