Many dishes in traditional Korean cuisine cannot be completed without the addition of one specific seasoning. Doenjang is soybean paste, a fermented ingredient made from soybeans, salt and water.

Soybeans, steamed and then mashed, are made into square-shaped blocks and then dried. The resulting dried blocks are called meju. The meju blocks are then soaked and fermented in brine. Extract from the fermented soybean cakes makes soy sauce. The remaining solid is further fermented or its remains are soaked in salt water for some time to make soybean paste.

A diet including soybean paste soup (doenjang jjigae), a dish made from traditional soybean paste, helps to stimulate the appetite for those who lost their appetite or who suffer from stomach aches.



Behind the efforts to keep such culinary traditions alive is the Sempio Foods Company. The company has been making soybean paste and soy sauce for the past 70 years. Soybean paste master Lee Seang-jea, a managing director at the firm, has joined in on the company’s 70-year journey for about the past 30 years. Lee has travelled across the nation over the past ten-or-so years, trying to seek out ways to revive the true traditional taste of soybean paste. He has knocked on the doors of some of the time-honored families that have helped the legacy of making soybean paste continue.

Lee's adventures in pursuit of true flavor started when he joined the company as a researcher working in the laboratory set up at the company's soy sauce plant. This was immediately after he graduated from Iksan High School in Jeollabuk-do Province (North Jeolla Province).

There, he got into the mysterious science of cultivating microorganisms, where he saw the fungus multiplying rapidly and adding flavor to the end product. In the early 2000s, he completed courses at Tokyo University of Agriculture in Japan.

When he returned to Korea, Lee was given the task of shifting his focus from soy sauce and toward developing a line of soybean paste products. The soybean paste products are manufactured in a traditional manner, a technique that is normally only used domestically and on a small scale, but which boasts an excellent taste. However, it was impossible to maintain a stable quality while pursuing mass-production at the same time.

Lee started his pursuit in earnest, seeking ways to allow more people to taste the very traditional soybean paste flavor more frequently. The journey has lasted for more than ten years. After he spent countless nights burning the midnight oil, his efforts finally came to fruition in February this year when the company released its "100 Days Soybean Paste" (“BeagilDoenjang”) and "Country Home Soybean Paste" (“Sigoljib Doenjang").

However, the two products have yet to represent his yes-I-finally-got-there moment. “This is just the beginning,” Lee said.

Korea.net recently sat down with Lee to hear more about his journey and his thoughts on the traditions of soybean paste and Korean cuisine.



- Have you always been familiar with such traditional fermented foods? Did you major in the subject or in cuisine?

I was not professionally trained in the subject when I first set foot in this business. The first time I handled a fungus, I found it very interesting to see the nearly one hundred fungi grow into more than 1,000 in just an hour. I always enjoyed studying the process of making the dry bricks of soybean paste (meju). I was just happy that I could do what I enjoyed. Enjoying every moment of my work led to who I am now. They call me a "Soybean Paste Master," I think. When you think you are the best, you are not the best. You must keep working. Keep thinking that, "I still have a long way to get there." Do not be conceited. Stay humble. Work, as I said, with the, "I have a long way to go," mindset.

- Please tell us a bit about the history of fermented pastes and sauces (jang) in Korean cuisine.

History says, though it's not exactly documented, that the existence of such fermented foods dates back as far as 1,100 B.C. Records from the period say that fermented food was made from such ingredients as venison, rabbit, birds and fish. The "History of the Three Kingdoms" (1145) (Samguk Sagi, 삼국사기, 三國史記), a history book published during Goryeo (918-1392), also mentioned fermented pastes and foods in a record from the year 683, during the reign of King Shinmun of Silla (r. 681-692). It says that there were, "135 wagons of rice, alcohol, oil, honey, fermented foods and pastes, fermented soybean paste bricks, dried meat, and sweet rice beverage" (폐백십오여 미주유밀장시포혜일백삼십오여, 幣帛十五轝 米酒油蜜醬豉脯醯一百參十五轝). These documents show that fermented foods and pastes have a longer history than we first thought.



- You’ve been studying soybean paste for about 30 years and travelling across the nation in pursuit of true taste for about ten years. Each company has its own way to make a soybean paste and tends to keep its own recipe secret. What’re your thoughts on this?

All fermented foods differ in taste and flavor, depending on which ingredients are used and in which manner they are fermented. I am still curious about how people in ancient times could come up with the idea to use fungi, whose safety could probably not have been confirmed at that time, and how to ferment foods with them. It’s true that many companies take their own approach to making soybean paste. They think their recipe is very special and the best, trying to keep it secret, never letting others figure it out.

- There must be differences between traditional ways of making soybean paste and the way in which it is mass-produced in a factory. How did you find ways to maintain a traditional taste?

Our staff and I produced soybean paste on the side, over lunchtime, over the past three years or so, to find the “perfect” taste. The end product, however, costs as much as four times more than our standard goods. At some point, we were like, “This is it. This taste is exactly what we were looking for.” We started distinguishing which products were better in terms of taste or flavor. The downside of such a process, however, is that it wasn't easy to recreate the same taste and flavor each and every time. Each time, it was made under different environmental factors and under different conditions each year. As the taste of dried soybean paste bricks depends on the temperature and humidity that year, which can't be the same each year, the taste itself varies all the time. What we had to deal with was making the conditions as consistent as possible. In the process, we had to discard approximately 200 tons of soybeans.

We finally figured out the ideal conditions, measuring the proper temperature and humidity at which the beans should be steamed, and also the degree at which the steamed beans should be squashed. We also found ways to maintain these conditions. What we produced under those ideal conditions is our "100 Days Soybean Paste." Unlike other soybean pastes, all of ours is made with a mix of beans and starch, such as flour. Our soybean pastes are made from 100 percent pure beans. Such a paste, made of only beans, is nowhere to be found anywhere in the world. Even high-end soybean products from Japan, known as miso doenjang, or from China are not based on pure beans.

Traditional soybean paste is manufactured using a technique that it is aged for one or two years after the fermented dried bricks are soaked in salt water. Soybean paste products available on the market are ones that have ripened only about a month, whereas our "100 Days Soybean Paste" has been aged for at least 100 days.

Our product not only tastes good, but is also good for the health, as it is rich in amino acids. Even many Japanese are impressed by the taste.



- We heard a story about you visiting a family famous for making great quality traditional soybean paste, to get your hands on the secret fungus they used. Please tell us more about the story.

When preparing a fermented brick of soybean paste, nothing is more important than the fungus. There are few soybean paste manufacturers who are willing to share their knowhow with their competitors. The secret behind a tasty soybean paste always lies in the fungi that ferment in the bricks. To obtain a sample of the fungus at one of the well-known soybean paste manufacturers, I had to wipe my sleeve across the room where a number of bricks were placed for fermentation. I rushed back to my laboratory to single out the thousands of microorganisms that were on the cloth. I then cultivated each one and made a fermented brick based on it. It was an extremely difficult task. After 22 years of arduous effort, however, we have now developed our "100 Days Soybean Paste" and "Country Home Soybean Paste."

However, we still need to shed more sweat and tears in the development of a soybean paste that perfectly embraces a traditional taste and flavor, I believe. We continue studying how to make a better product. That’s our goal. We have just now reached the starting point where we can now mass-produce soybean paste. We've just now moved beyond small-scale production.

Our company has 17 researchers specialized in soybean paste. The total number of researchers at our company now reaches 100, out of 700 employees. It’s quite a high ratio compared to the number at other companies. Investing more into research is based on our company’s philosophy: only when the foundation is firm and sound can the company grow.

- What’s the difference between "100 Days Soybean Paste" and "Country Home Soybean Paste?"

I can say that "Country Home Soybean Paste" retains a similar flavor as traditional soybean paste handed down over the years. Its base, the fermented meju bricks, don't have the essence of soy sauce extracted from them. You don’t need to use any extra seasoning. Just scoop and boil using that soybean paste. It tastes great by itself. Our "100 Days Soybean Paste" is a product that has been fermented and aged for 100 days in a traditional manner. Depending on what kind of broth or ingredients you use, the taste of the soybean paste can vary greatly.

- A smell unique to soybean paste can be quite pungent to some children or to some Westerners. What kinds of efforts are being made to appeal to a wider range of taste buds?

Due to the strong aroma of traditional fermented foods, like soy sauce and soybean paste, Westerners, as well as children, sometimes avoid trying them. The scent, too, varies, depending on which fungi are used to make the fermented bricks. To reduce the pungent aroma, we try to distinguish between thousands of fungi, fungi that make too strong an aroma or flavor. We tasted the fermented bricks that were made by each fungus. We tried to secure the best strain of fungi that can create the best flavor and taste that suits everyone’s palate. We are still working to find which tastes and flavors an ideal fungus could create and in what way they are distributed across a brick of fermented soybean paste. We are still on the journey. Only when we find the key will we be able to see many young people and Westerners enjoying soybean paste. I am sure that the globalization of our fermented foods will come soon enough.

- What do you think are the healthy points of having fermented foods in one's diet?

Both soy sauce and soybean paste have many benefits. In Japan, such fermented foods are called the “magicians of cooking.” They add flavor to the dish. Traditionally, people say, “Fermented foods and pastes top the other existing tastes in the dish,” or, “A family's meals are decided by which fermented foods and pastes the family uses.” They both have tons of health benefits. Their fundamental ingredient, soybeans, are very rich in amino acids. Soy sauce and soybean paste are often used in cooking for various purposes. For example, when spread over fish, they can get rid of the "fishy" smell. Add soy sauce and soybean paste to rice balls or add them when you roast a chicken. The chicken can be baked well to a golden brown color. If soy sauce is sprinkled over sweet things, like an ice cream, the sweet taste gets stronger. Drops of soy sauce over pickled apricots or salted salmon lessens the salty taste. Fermented foods show fungistatic action, as well. They can be used in a wide variety of ways.

- Please share with us the best recipes that use soybean paste.

People say that soybean paste represents the taste of their home and the taste of their mother. When asked about what comes to mind when thinking about the dishes that their mother would make for them when they were young, many members of the older generations say that, “The soybean paste soup, simmering in an earthen pot," brings back their fond memories of being a child.

I would say that the best dish that uses soybean paste is soybean paste soup sizzling in an earthen pot (tteukbaeki). Soybean paste sauce, a condiment made using soybean paste, tastes great, too. You will finish bowls of rice without even knowing it when you mix rice with soybean paste sauce. It might be a bad choice for your diet, but it tastes really good.

Here’s more. People usually eat sashimi by dipping it in soy sauce or red chili pepper paste with vinegar. Many people now enjoy sashimi with soybean paste mixed with chopped garlic and chili peppers. Most vegetables are seasoned with soybean paste, too.

As you can see, soy sauce and soybean paste are major ingredients used in many Korean dishes. Without them, it feels like something is missing. They add and balance the taste and flavor of the dish.

By Wi Tack-whan, Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writers
Photos: Wi Tack-whan, the Sempio Foods Company