This fall, I’m excited to do my first workshop at Jazzed on Grains. When I moved to Copenhagen 3 years ago, I started my chef’s journey at Il Buco, where I centered my focus on the art of fermentation. I call it art because I was not anywhere close to knowledgeable on the subject compared to other chefs who were basically walking Wikipedia. However intimidated I was and I couldn’t even say the word aspergillus oryzae (fungi/mold that is used in food fermentation such as soy sauce, sake, etc.), I began to learn the joy of the process because it was extremely liberal & creative in the end just like any other cooking. Another thing I learned was to appreciate the diversity of the process and that taste depends on how and who makes it. Since Il Buco was strictly focused on Danish local and seasonal produce, I had to learn how to make koji with pearl barley and I made gochujang with fresh chili instead of dried one. While this statement will make many authentic Korean chefs cringe, I found it fascinating, exciting as well as delicious, which is the most important thing.

For this workshop, I would like to share two ways of making infamous gochujang, Korean fermented chili paste. One with materials from Korea and the other with barley koji made in Copenhagen by Lan-xin at Foo Ferments. I say infamous because many Korean food lovers always mention dukbokki ??? as their favorite Korean food, which is chewy rice cakes coated with sweet, gooey gochujang sauce. While this is one way to eat it and I like it too, there are many ways to enjoy the subtlety of the sauce from stew to dressing. I am very wary of popular, extremely strong flavored Korean instant food. I would like to showcase not how it is supposed to taste but what it can be, when made with love & creativity.

Making gochujang in Korea is a very seasonal thing. My mom would make it in November and the fermenting process happens outdoors with natural sunlight, wind and temperature. We will do ours ‘cityrat’ style, making it indoor-friendly and allowing us to see the success, surprise and failure. With already slightly fermented gochujang and with Simone’s delicious pasta, we will make a few dishes to share. I will also show a few other ways to prepare the sauce and you will get small jars to take home to enjoy the experiment on your own.

Warm hugs,

Haegeen