''Cheonggukjang'' () is a traditional Korean food made by fermenting

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

s. It contains whole, as well as ground soybeans.

Production

It can be made in two to three days through fermentation of boiled soybeans, adding ''

Bacillus subtilis ''Bacillus subtilis'' (), known also as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium, found in soil and the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, humans and marine sponges. As a member of the genus ''Bacill ...

'', which is usually contained in the air or in the rice straw, at about 40 °C without adding salt, compared with the much longer fermentation period required for ''

doenjang ''Doenjang'' * () or soybean paste is a type of fermented bean paste made entirely of soybean and brine used in Korean cuisine. It is also a byproduct of soup soy sauce production. It is sometimes used as a relish. History The earliest soyb ...

'', another, less pungent variety of Korean soybean paste. Like many forms of ''doenjang'', ''cheonggukjang'' is paste-like in texture, but also includes some whole, uncrushed soybeans. ''Cheonggukjang'' may also be made by fermenting boiled soybeans in a warm place, pounding a portion of them, and adding salt and red chili powder.

Food culture

is most often used to prepare a stew, which is also simply called , but may be called to avoid confusion. often includes additional ingredients, such as

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es,

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

s, and

tofu or bean curd is a food prepared by Coagulation (milk), coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness: ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', and ''extra (or super) firm''. It originated in Chin ...

History

There is no known historical source of where ''cheonggukjang'' originated from. One theory proposed by Chinese scholars is that ''cheonggukjang'' was introduced by what is now

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

to the Korean peninsula during the

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

era. However, ''Samkukjiwijidongijeon'' (''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', 三國志魏志東夷傳) suggests that ''cheonggukjang'' has existed in the Korean peninsula since before the

era, as there are records of such fermented foods dating back to first century BC, throughout the Koryo dynasty and the Kingdom of

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

Nutrition and health

''Cheonggukjang'' is generally considered to be a healthy food (particularly in the winter), as it is rich in vitamins and other nutrients, though its very strong odor is not universally enjoyed. ''

Doenjang ''Doenjang'' * () or soybean paste is a type of fermented bean paste made entirely of soybean and brine used in Korean cuisine. It is also a byproduct of soup soy sauce production. It is sometimes used as a relish. History The earliest soyb ...

'' may be used to replace it by people who dislike the smell. In 1993, odorless ''cheonggukjang'' was invented by Dr. Hyun Kyu Joo, a former professor at Kunkook University, who later obtained a patent in 1998 for a method for removing ''cheonggukjangs characteristic smell. ''Cheonggukjang'' is also believed to aid in digestion. For this purpose, ''cheonggukjang'' pills are produced in South Korea.

References

External links