Ssamjang

Ssamjang

What it is

Ssamjang is named for the wrap and not for the paste — ssam means wrapped — and it exists because neither doenjang nor gochujang works alone inside a lettuce leaf: one is too salty, the other too sweet. The blend runs about two parts doenjang to one of gochujang, loosened with sesame oil, garlic and chopped onion or spring onion.

In the kitchen

Do not cook it: the sesame oil and the raw garlic are the whole point, and heat turns them flat and bitter. If it is too stiff to spread on a leaf, loosen it with a spoonful of the pork's own rendered fat rather than water.

Goes with

Pork belly Lettuce Garlic Toasted sesame oil Rice Kkaennip (Korean perilla leaf)

Same species

Chunjang Dark soy sauce Doenjang Douchi Edamame Fermented bean curd

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