Gochujang

Korea's iconic fermented chili paste — sweet, spicy, and deeply savory with a sticky, glossy texture.

Gochujang is the beating heart of Korean spice culture, a thick, brick-red paste fermented from gochugaru (Korean red chili powder), glutinous rice, fermented soybean powder (meju-garu), and salt — a combination that gives it a flavor profile uniquely its own: simultaneously hot, sweet, savory, and faintly tangy. Historically, chili peppers arrived in Korea via Japan in the 16th or 17th century, and within a few generations Korean cooks had incorporated them into the ancient tradition of meju-based fermentation to create gochujang, which is now inseparable from Korean culinary identity. The city of Sunchang in North Jeolla Province is considered the spiritual home of gochujang and hosts an annual festival celebrating the paste, where hundreds of large onggi jars line hillsides during the autumn fermentation season. Beyond its role as a cooking ingredient in dishes like tteokbokki, bibimbap, and dak-galbi, gochujang is eaten raw as a condiment — a small mound placed beside rice with doenjang and kimchi in the classic Korean peasant meal. Commercially produced versions now dominate most households, but traditionally made farmhouse gochujang, aged in outdoor jars over winter, commands premium prices and devoted followings.