Korean Soy Sauce

KOREAN SOY SAUCE.jpg

ganjang.

“ GAAHN - JAAHNG ”

If you want to cook Korean food at home, Korean soy sauce is an essential staple to have. It is used for seasoning, flavoring, marinating, grilling, frying… basically everything, in addition to dipping. A byproduct of fermented bean paste, it has protein from soybeans and saltiness from the fermentation process. Seasoning your food with soy sauce adds depth of flavour that is referred to as umami.

So you go to the Asian grocery store all proud and empowered to make your own Korean food at home. Then stop. Frozen and horrified.

“Why is there an entire aisle of soy sauce??”
— befuddled soy sauce consumer

The quick answer


OK, don’t panic. A lot of Korean people don’t know why this is either: They usually go for Sempio 501 which is the # 1 selling soy sauce in the country. So you can stop reading right now and just grab some SEMPIO 501 and off you go (Upgrade a level to Sempio 701 if you’re feeling flush).

 
Click to check out the product page on Amazon.

Click to check out the product page on Amazon.

If you want to know more, read on. There are many names and categories for soy sauce, but it’s basically the fermented juice made from fermented soybeans.

A lotta fermentation (should be) going on.

The byproduct is soybean paste (DOEN-JANG), or rather, GANJANG is the byproduct of DOENJANG. Anyway, check out this amazing person who tried making it at home.

soy sauce types

Click for detailed blog posts about a particular soy sauce:

  1. Guk-Ganjang: 국간장: Very salty but light in color- mainly used for soups, stews and marination.

  2. Yangjo-Ganjang: 양조간장: Made using natural process taking 6 months-1 year. All-Purpose.

  3. Jin-Ganjang: 진간장: Mixture of chemically processed sauce + Yangjo = Cheapest option. All-Purpose but usually inferior quality.

  4. Mat-Ganjang: 맛간장: Mat means taste; flavored (garlic/mushroom/kelp) soy sauce. All-Purpose.

If people try to talk to you about Whe/Joseon/Jip/Honhap/Sanbunheh Ganjang, just walk away. They are either variations of the listed above or they want to tell you why they use what they do, which is you know, pointless. Unless you’re interested, then by all means, encourage further conversation.

What we buy

We prefer to get YANGJO soy sauce because it’s “naturally brewed” so, ya know, it sounds better. But have been known to grab some JIN GANJANG (we like the one from CHUNG JUNG ONE) soy sauce (But not SEMPIO JIN GANJANG which is mostly a chemical concoction) when it’s on sale. We used to think YANGJO is better for eating raw like dipping foods and for cooking we’d use the cheaper stuff but I just read the label on our YANGJO bottle and it’s got a lot of additives like glucose and yeast extracts not to mention a whole load of unpronounceable chemicals. So, best to go by the ingredients list!

So where to draw the line? Ask your wallet. We’re only talking about a difference of a few dollars anyway. Put those brain cells to work somewhere else.

If you have GUK GANJANG and find it’s way too salty, just water it down (you can use less than recipes state with this product). Problem solved.

Edit: Commercially-made “GUK GANJANG” by Sempio is so far from the authentic product (80% chemically blended crap)- just stay far, far away from this one. If you’re looking for the closest thing to what used to be Korean soy sauce and are willing to adjust (and use less!) for saltiness, choose JOSEON soy sauce from SEMPIO or CHUNG-JUNG-ONE’s GUK GANJANG. There are more varieties out there but these are the two most likely ones you’ll encounter at the store or online.

 
SEMPIO: Water, meju (fermented soybean), sea salt, fermented alcohol.

SEMPIO: Water, meju (fermented soybean), sea salt, fermented alcohol.

 
Chung-Jung-One: Water, meju (fermented soybean), sea salt.

Chung-Jung-One: Water, meju (fermented soybean), sea salt.

 

Edit: Due to the popularity of this post, I decided to read up on all the why’s about Korean soy sauce (mostly why the heck does it have so many names for basically one thing?!) I have made a series detailing all you’ve ever wanted to know- and wish you didn’t know- about Korean soy sauce. Head on over to the FAQ SECTION and check out the Soy Sauce section 😊.

You may also be interested in: How to Store Korean Ingredients

Want to try some of the good stuff? Only 3 ingredients: Soybeans, Salt, Water.

Yoon Ji-Young Ganjang (No Preservatives, Non-GMO, Gluten Free, traditionally made).

Q-Rapha Premium Korean Ganjang made by a Korean Artisan in Virginia, United States (Unpasteurized Aged 3 Years)

Interested to Learn More?

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Abbiesmom