Ganjang
Ganjang means Soy Sauce in Korean.
Pronounce it: “GAHN-JAHNG”
Gochujang, Doenjang and Ganjang form the three musketeers of Korean Jang (seasonings). Although Ganjang (aka soy sauce) is technically a by-product of Doenjang (soy sauce is the fermented juice of fermented beans that have had a long soak in brine), I’d say that for the beginner Korean cooking enthusiast, soy sauce is the essential ingredient to stock first.
You can buy Doenjang and Ganjang, but you will definitely be reaching for soy sauce on the regular. In other words, you should definitely be buying soy sauce first.
What is Ganjang?
Traditional Korean Soy Sauce is made of only 3 ingredients (sound familiar? Read the What is Doenjang post): Soybeans, water, salt. To think that with the only passage of time, these blandly yellow beans would make such a dramatically dark sauce is a beautiful thing.
However, do note that because an authentic Korean-style soy sauce doesn’t use wheat or koji to expedite the fermentation process, it can take 6 months to a year to reach maturity. Even then, it’s considered a young soy sauce and the result is very salty. It is also not very sweet- this is something that happens naturally given more fermentation time, at 5 years it will be rich with more sweetness.
This is to say that traditional Korean soy sauce, also marketed as “Soup Soy Sauce”, won’t taste good per se straight out of the bottle like the dipping soy sauce you’ll find at sushi restaurants. It is ideal for cooking however, as the high salt content allows you to use less. Plus, it’s gluten-free!
Why are there so many types of Ganjang?
Go to the Korean market and you’ll usually find an entire aisle of soy sauce. Products will vary from Jin Soy Sauce, Yangjo Soy Sauce, Soup Soy Sauce to Marinating Soy Sauce and Flavoured Soy Sauce (just to name a few).
Traditionally, soy sauce was made at home and it was used for all cooking. You’d water it down or sweeten as a recipe called for. 청장 Chung Jang is what Korean soy sauce was referred to as a young soy sauce (1 year - 5 years old). Especially at the first year mark, it’s very salty and light in colour. It would be used to make 나물반찬 side dishes made with wild edible/plants lightly seasoned in soy sauce dressing or to flavour clear soups.
Korean soy sauce aged over 5 years would be called 진간장 Jin Ganjang. The colour would have become dark and deep and the saltiness mellows to a delicious sweet and savoury umami. If the soy sauce turns out well, it can be aged indefinitely and there are companies that use some of their seed soy sauce aged for hundreds of years to make their yearly batches and charge a premium for it. When Donald Trump visited as US President, he was given soy sauce that was made with 360 year old seed soy sauce (read Korea JoongAng Daily’s Food Master discusses 360 year old soy sauce).
Commercial soy sauce doesn’t take this origin into account and has marketed Jin Soy Sauce as an all-purpose soy sauce. Neither traditional nor aged with time, it’s simply a cheap soy sauce. Most are made with wheat and koji to expedite the fermentation process and have flavour additives to replicate the real thing.
The other myriad of options is really a marketing ploy to get consumers to buy a single-use soy sauce for different recipes. You’ll find their core ingredients to be similar, with differences being found in the ratios or variety in sweeteners and flavouring agents.
Soy Sauce articles that started this Blog
What is Korean Soy Sauce?
Jin Soy Sauce vs Yangjo Soy Sauce
The Worst Sempio Soy Sauce
What’s the difference between Sempio 501 vs 701?
More obsessive articles about Korean soy sauce
Once you realize the differences in traditional and commercial soy sauces, you may find it beneficial to know there are still artisans making Ganjang they way it was meant to be enjoyed: A fermented seasoning that supports a healthy digestive system (gut health!) using whole foods without additives. It’s very easy to tweak the flavour of soy sauce, just add your favourite sugars and herbs when cooking (rather than leaving it to cost-effective corporations to add the cheapest sugars and processed additives available).
Premium Korean Soy Sauce (no additives)
Soy sauce has gotten a bad rap because of cheap chemical soys made by profit-greedy companies, and you may not have much choice when dining out at restaurants. But if you’re going to go to the trouble of cooking food at home, it’s good to know your options. Especially if you have food intolerances/sensitivities; Korean soy sauce is naturally Vegan and Gluten-Free.