Korea · 10 min · Vegan · Sauce & seasoning · For beginners
Ssamjang
For 6 servings · US units
Korean dipping paste of doenjang and gochujang — ready in 10 minutes
Ssamjang is the little bowl that shows up on every Korean barbecue table: salty, fermented doenjang meets fiery gochujang, with garlic, sesame and just enough sweetness to pull it together. You dab it onto a lettuce leaf, pile on rice and grilled meat, then roll the whole thing up into a ssam. It comes together in ten minutes, and it turns even a plain bowl of rice into something worth eating.
Ingredients
- 2⅛ ozbase of the paste, salty and fermentedKorean fermented soybean paste, dark, coarse and strongly salty with a deep, earthy flavour.Substitute: Dark, robust miso comes closest, but it is milder, sweeter and smoother; use a little more and add it towards the end of cooking. It does not quite reach the pungent, deep fermented note of doenjang.Read more
- ⅔ ozfor heat and colour, amount to tasteKorean chili paste made from glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, chili powder and salt, thick, hot, salty and faintly sweet.Substitute: There is no real substitute, because the fermented depth and the sticky sweetness together carry the dish. As a stopgap, light miso paste stirred with Korean chili powder or other mild chili flakes and a little honey or sugar roughly matches the salt, heat and sweetness, but tastes flatter and less rounded. Chili sauces such as sriracha are too thin and too sour and change the dish noticeably.Read more
- 1⅓ tbsprounds out aroma and textureDark oil pressed from toasted sesame seeds, with a strong, nutty, roasted aroma; usually added at the end in small amounts as a seasoning.Substitute: There is no real substitute, as no other oil carries the roasted aroma; at a pinch, a neutral oil with freshly pan-toasted, crushed sesame seeds helps, though the flavour stays clearly weaker.Read more
- 2 clovesGarlicfinely minced
- 2 tspSesame seedstoasted, partly for sprinkling
- 1 tbspas sweetener: honey, sugar, maple syrup or Korean green plum syrup (maesil cheong)In Korean cooking this usually means a light starch or rice syrup (mulyeot, jocheong): thick, mildly sweet, and used for gloss.Substitute: Glucose syrup or light corn syrup come closest to the original, as does rice syrup. Honey or agave syrup also work but are noticeably sweeter and bring their own flavour, so use less; sugar dissolved in water sweetens but gives little gloss or body.Read more
- 2Spring onionfinely chopped, partly as garnish
- 1finely chopped; Korean putgochu, jalapeño or fresnoA fresh chili picked unripe, grassy and bright, ranging from mild to very hot depending on the variety.Substitute: For the mild variety, use long green peppers or mild green peppers such as Italian frying peppers; for the hot one, jalapeño or serrano. The fresh character stays the same, and you only need to adjust the amount for heat.Read more
- ½ ozOnionvery finely chopped; or 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ ozWalnutsblended in for nutty flavour and creamy texture (optional)
- 1⅔ ozTofucrumbled and squeezed, tones down saltiness (optional)
- 1 tbspmayonnaisefor a creamy body (optional)
- 1 tspfor a touch of acidity (optional)A mild, pale vinegar made from rice, less sharp and slightly sweeter than wine vinegar.Substitute: Cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, diluted with a little water and rounded off with a pinch of sugar, comes close but tastes fruitier.Read more
- 1 tbsploosens the paste (optional)A clear, mild wine made from fermented rice, used in Korean cooking mainly for marinades and to tame fishy smells.Substitute: Dry sherry or a dry white wine come closest, though they taste a little fruitier. If you use Japanese mirin the dish turns sweeter, so cut back slightly on the sugar in the recipe.Read more
Method
- Finely chop the garlic, green onions and green chili pepper, and dice the onion very finely. Set aside a little of the green onion and sesame seeds for garnish.
- If you're using tofu, squeeze the extra firm tofu well between your hands or in a clean towel, then crumble it finely.
- In a bowl, stir the doenjang and gochujang together with the toasted sesame oil and the syrup until the paste is smooth and free of lumps.
- Mix in the garlic, green onion, chili, onion and sesame seeds. Work in the walnuts, crumbled tofu, mayonnaise, rice vinegar or mirim as well, if you like.
- Alternatively, put everything in a blender and run it for about 1 minute until you have a smooth, creamy paste.
- Taste the paste and adjust the saltiness, heat and sweetness with more doenjang, gochujang or syrup.
- Spoon into small bowls and garnish with the reserved sesame seeds and green onion, a few drops of sesame oil, and slices of garlic or chili.
- Serve with lettuce leaves, grilled meat and rice. Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
Tips and variations
Blended smooth with walnuts and a little apple, the paste turns especially silky and rounded; with crumbled tofu and a spoonful of mayonnaise it comes out milder and creamier, and the tofu also soaks up some of the salt. If you want it plain, just stir together doenjang, gochujang, garlic, sesame, your sweetener and mirim, and leave out the green onion and chili. For a fresher version, add a splash of rice vinegar and top it with raw garlic slices, jalapeño and black pepper. For the sweetness you can use honey, sugar, maple syrup or Korean green plum syrup (maesil cheong). Serve ssamjang the classic way, in a small bowl on the barbecue table, with crisp lettuce leaves and rice for wrapping.
Allergens
Contains: Sesame, Soybeans
May contain if you use the optional ingredients: Eggs, Tree nuts, Sulphur dioxide and sulphites
Not every ingredient in this recipe has been checked, so nothing is promised as free from.
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
