Gochujang (Korean Fermented Chilli Paste)

Ingredients:

500g yeotgireum (엿기름) [barley malt]
500g wet chapssal garu (찹쌀) [sweet rice flour] or 400g (2 cups) sweet rice soaked and blended to a paste
250g meju garu (메주가루) [fermented soybean powder]
250g Korean Cheonilyeom (천일염) [coarse sea salt]
500 grams finely ground gochugaru chillies 고추가루
250ml jocheong (조청) [rice syrup] (optional)

Method:

Place the barley malt in a large bowl. Stir in 2.5l (10 cups) of warm water, and let it sit for an hour or two, up to overnight.

Rub the malt between the palms of your hands and squeeze out milky liquid. Strain the malt liquid through a fine-meshed sieve into another bowl. If you don’t have a fine-meshed sieve, line a strainer with a muslin (cheesecloth). Then, squeeze the malt husks with your hands through the sieve to drain out the remaining liquid. Transfer the liquid to a large heavy-based saucepan.

Place the malt husks back in the first bowl and add another 2.5l (10 cups) of water. No need for any additional soaking time. Repeat the squeezing and straining process. Transfer the liquid to the pot with the first batch of milky liquid. This will yield about 17 to 18 cups of malt water.

Add the sweet rice powder to the malt water and stir well to combine. Turn the heat up and allow the liquid warm to hand heat. Once your reach this point, turn the heat off, and let it sit for two hours. During this time, the enzymes in the malt will break down the starch in the sweet rice and converting it to sugar.

Turn the heat to medium and boil the liquid down to a half its volume, stirring once in a while. Measure the depth of the liquid with a wooden spoon or spatula, so you can easily tell when the liquid is reduced to a half. This will take about 2 hours and the resulting liquid will be around 2-2.25l (8 to 9 cups). You’ll need about 2l (8 cups) for this recipe, but a little extra is nice to have just in case. If you're using the other optional liquids, you can reduce it further (by about 250ml more). Stir once in a while during cooking. Once the desired volume has been reached, take off the heat and set aside to cool down a little.

While the liquid is still warm, pour 1.75l (7 cups) of the malt liquid into a large bowl, and add the salt. If you're not using Korean sea salt, hold some back and add as necessary after mixing in the dry ingredients. Stir to dissolve. (This is about 250ml [1 cup] less than what’s required so you can add the rest or optional ingredients as needed.

Using a whisk, beat in the fermented soybean powder and mix well until you see no lumps.

Stir-in the gochugaru powder and mix thoroughly until there are no large lumps. Continue to stir, using a large wooden spoon or spatula this time. If the gochujang is too thick, add more malt liquid or the optional rice syrup (jocheong), plum extract, and/or soju to adjust the thickness and sweetness. It should be thin enough to slowly drop from the wooden spoon or spatula like a thick batter. Let it sit for a few hours until the dry ingredients fully absorb the liquid, and salt is completely melted. Adjust the saltiness, sweetness, and thickness as necessary. Gochujang should be a bit too salty to eat as is.

Transfer to a jar(s) or an earthenware pot (onggi hangari), if you have one. Lightly sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Cover with a fine mesh fabric or cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band.

Secure a lid. Keep the gochujang outdoors in cool temperatures or at room temperature next to a sunny window. On sunny days, remove the lid and allow some exposure to sunlight. For this small batch, it takes 60 to 90 days to ferment. After that, you can store in your refrigerator.