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The next article and recipe had been featured within the You Can Ferment That! column within the March/April 2023 Zymurgy journal.
By Amahl Turczyn
As a follow-up to fermenting kimchi at dwelling within the Jul/Aug 2020 situation of Zymurgy, that is the best way to make some of the common sauces in Korean delicacies, and a key ingredient in kimchi. Gochujang is as ubiquitous to Korean tradition as ketchup is to ours, but it surely’s extra of a base seasoning for cooking than a condiment. It’s often both cooked with meals or used as a marinade ingredient. As such, it’s a constructing block for soups, stews, rooster wings, seafood, galbi and bulgogi.
Whereas gochujang could be very simple to seek out at Asian markets, the place it’s usually offered in vibrant purple plastic tubs, the do-it-yourself model has a way more complicated taste, you possibly can tailor the warmth degree to your liking, and you’ll keep away from the heavy sweeteners (generally rice or corn syrup) industrial producers use. The dangerous information is, like home-fermented purple miso, it takes time to ferment conventional gochujang—rely on two to 3 months a minimum of, although it is going to proceed to enhance past that.
Another excuse to ferment your individual model of this versatile chile paste is that, as a homebrewer, you most likely have already got one of many key substances at dwelling—barley malt. This gives an earthy, grainy base for the bottom soybeans and chile peppers used, with out getting issues too candy. Coarse-milled malt, husks included, are mainly mashed with heat water to transform the starches to a liquid barley wort after which concentrated by boiling the liquid down, decreasing it by about half. Sounds acquainted, proper? And for a sooner model, you possibly can skip the all-grain mash and simply use unhopped, diastatic pale malt extract. You want these lively enzymes intact, since a part of the method includes conversion of one of many different most important substances, specifically glutinous rice powder. Additionally referred to as “candy rice flour,” glutinous rice powder is simple to seek out at Asian markets, and goes by the title of chapssal garu (찹쌀) in Korean.
Coarse-ground malted barley known as yeotgireum (엿기름), and it has a number of culinary purposes in Korea past brewing beer. For a 3-quart (2.8-liter) batch of completed gochujang, you’ll need about 4 liters of pretty skinny (SG 1.036) wort. When utilizing milled, malted grain or yeotgireum, you’d simply conduct a one-hour single infusion mash for a extremely fermentable wort, after which separate the spent grains from the wort, simply as you’d for brewing. Chances are you’ll discover it best to mash in a mesh bag relatively than sparge, however do no matter works for you.
If you’re utilizing diastatic pale malt extract relatively than grain, you’ll need to dilute it to that very same energy and quantity. To this wort, you’ll be including a bit of over a pound (500 g) of glutinous rice powder and letting the wort enzymes work on these starches at about 140°F (50°C) for 2 hours. It’s finest to keep up this temperature throughout conversion; because it’s a comparatively low quantity, you possibly can simply preserve the entire kettle or stockpot in your oven if it may be set that low. Stirring each half an hour helps with conversion however shouldn’t be strictly mandatory.
That’s actually probably the most troublesome a part of the method; the remainder of the recipe is simply boiling the wort and transformed starch combination down to cut back it from 4 quarts to 2, and cooling it again right down to conversion temperature of about 140°F. You then add the ocean salt, stirring to dissolve. The fermented soybean powder, referred to as meju garu (메주가루) in Korean, and fine-ground purple chile powder or gochugaru (고추가루) are added to the candy, lowered wort liquid subsequent. This types a thick, sticky paste that ought to by now be round 100°F (38°C), and it now should be scooped into an acceptable fermentation vessel and allowed to ferment. How thick? The combination must be skinny sufficient to slowly drop from a spoon, however thick sufficient that any peaks that type on the floor keep up. Thicker than ketchup then, however not as thick as miso. Suffice to say, your arms will likely be getting a reasonably good exercise stirring these powders right into a paste of uniform consistency.
For the chile powder, Korean purple chile has probably the most genuine aroma, taste and colour, and you should buy this goun gochugaru (고운 고추가루) in giant luggage at Asian markets. Ensure that to get the fine-grind powdered chile, and you may get a spread of warmth, from delicate to additional spicy. For my batch, I additionally used homegrown purple chiles that I ripened to a full purple colour, dried in a meals dehydrator, and floor to a tremendous powder with a spice grinder. It’s clearly simpler to simply use purchase Korean chile powder, however the scorching New Mexico chiles I used, particularly Lumbre and Rattlesnake varieties, had the spice degree I wished. (Plus, it gave me a superb excuse to make use of my heavy-duty grinder. I’m form of a kitchen gadget nut.)
As with different fermented merchandise, salt performs a giant function in moderating the pace of fermentation, in addition to stopping molds and undesirable micro organism from getting a foothold and spoiling the batch. Historically, genuine, coarse Korean sea salt referred to as cheonilyeom (천일염) is used. It undergoes a particular course of to verify minerals within the seawater don’t make the salt bitter. Grocery store sea salt is ok to make use of…salt is mainly salt. Manufacturers like Maldon work simply as nicely. When the gochujang is transferred to the fermentation vessel, as with miso, coarse salt shouldn’t be solely blended into the paste, but in addition sprinkled liberally on the floor to forestall microbes from rising there over its months of fermentation.
Additionally, you will want to verify your fermentation vessel is clear and sanitized earlier than you fill it with gochujang. Historically, an onggi (옹기) is used, the identical semi-porous pot used to ferment kimchi and makgeolli. The outdated means of creating certain it’s sterilized is to fill it with scorching coals from a wooden fireplace, which additionally offers the completed gochujang a delicate smoky taste. As of late, dwelling fermenters can merely invert the vessel over a low fuel flame for five minutes or so to heat-sanitize it. As soon as it’s cooled down, you should use a spatula to switch the gochujang into the vessel, securing the highest with a bit of fabric that may enable fuel trade throughout fermentation whereas protecting out bugs and mud.
Diehard gochujang traditionalists preserve that the highest of the vessel must also be uncovered to direct daylight for additional mould prevention. This, nevertheless, isn’t sensible until you might have a specifically made vented glass prime for the aim; the glass prime retains out rain and permits in sunshine, whereas the vented mesh sides let in air. It’s an ingenious invention to make certain, however not strictly mandatory. I want to ferment indoors in my cool basement, with simply the fabric cowl secured with a rubber band. It takes longer, but it surely appears considerably safer than leaving pots of fermenting chile paste out within the yard.
And talking of fermentation, precisely how will these things ferment and not using a yeast addition? We’ve deactivated the barley malt enzymes with the lengthy boil, so what does the fermenting? It simply so occurs that the funky-smelling meju garu is probiotic and enzymatically lively, and it’s what does the fermentation, though the purpose is to not produce alcohol right here, however relatively to interrupt down starches, lipids, and proteins. Amylase tackles the starches, lipase the lipids, and protease breaks down proteins into umami-rich amino acids akin to glutamate and aspartate.
It’s similar to the fermentation course of for Japanese miso, which additionally makes use of soybeans as a protein base—in that course of, koji (Aspergillus oryzae, a food-friendly species of mould) gives the required enzymes. For gochujang, that’s why the cooling step after boiling to cut back the candy wort is essential—you need to keep away from stirring in your meju garu till the wort is cool sufficient to not deactivate the enzymes within the fermented soybean powder.
That’s about it! You need to be able to make your individual batch now.
Contemplating that koji, like barley malt, incorporates amylase, I made a decision to take issues one step additional. As an experiment, I milled a few half a pound of purple wheat malt right into a tremendous powder utilizing a Mock Mill Kitchenaid attachment (yep, one other kitchen gadget) and added it with the meju garu. For the reason that barley malt enzymes had been deactivated, I figured this batch of gochujang may use a bit of additional amylase. It’s not conventional, and simply notice that there’s a slight danger anytime you eat any uncooked agricultural product*, however I used to be pleased with how this batch turned out. The recipe accompanies this text. Blissful fermenting!
*Rodent feces often flip up in luggage of brewer’s malt—the FDA permits for a small proportion in lots of meals merchandise—however hantavirus, salmonella, leptospirosis, listeriosis, tularemia, and meningitis are just some ailments that may consequence from human ingestion. It’s uncommon, but it surely occurs. One thing to remember subsequent time you brew that uncooked, no-boil ale!
Amahl Turczyn is affiliate editor of Zymurgy.
Gallery: Making Gochujang
Batch Quantity: about 3 qt. (2.84 L)
EQUIPMENT
- 6-liter kettle (for barley wort)
- BIAB mesh brewing bag (optionally available)
- giant mixing bowl
- lengthy wood spoon (for mixing in powders)
- giant onggi or related fermentation vessel (about 3 L capability)
- mesh or material cowl, or devoted gochujang fermentation lid
- oven or different temperature-controlled area
INGREDIENTS
- 500 g (1.1 lb.) milled pale barley malt (yeotgireum)
OR the equal quantity of unhopped diastatic pale malt extract - 500 g (1.1 lb.) glutinous rice powder (chapssal garu)
- 250 g (0.55 lb.) fermented soybean powder (meju garu)
250 g (0.55 lb.) coarse sea salt (cheonilyeum) - 500 g (1.1 lb.) fine-ground purple Korean chile (gochu garu), divided
- 250 g (0.55 lb.) finely milled barley or wheat malt (optionally available)
PROCESS
Mash sufficient filtered brewing water with the pale barley malt in a mesh bag to attain 4 liters of 1.036-gravity wort at 50°C (140°F). (Alternately, use sufficient pale diastatic malt extract to attain the identical quantity and gravity.) Stir within the glutinous rice powder and proceed to carry the identical temperature till conversion of starches is full, about two hours. Take away spent grains and produce mash kettle to a boil. Cut back quantity to about 2 liters. Cool concentrated wort to under 50°C and dissolve many of the salt into it, reserving a number of tablespoons to sprinkle on prime of the completed gochujang previous to fermentation.
Wait till the combination cools to 100°F (38°F) or much less, if mandatory, and add the fermented soybean powder and floor chile. Add the finely milled malt powder, if utilizing. Mix nicely. Combination must be very thick. If peaks fall again into the gochujang, add extra chile.
Sanitize the onggi or fermentation vessel. Spatula the gochujang in, sprinkle the floor liberally with the rest of the salt, and canopy with a material or breathable glass lid. Ferment in a cool place 2 to six months, checking often for mould or different microbial development. As with miso fermentation, if mould types, scrape it off, wipe with a food-grade ethanol akin to Everclear, and sprinkle the world with extra salt to forestall regrowth. When gochujang reaches a passable taste, it must be saved in hermetic containers within the fridge to be used.
