How a Gochujang Master Perfected a 100-Year-Old Recipe — The Experts

In Andong, South Korea, fourth-generation gochujang master Choi, Myung Hee works on a 100-year-old recipe for the fermented red chile paste. Due to the difficult nature of making gochujang, she has also created an award-winning method for others to make it at home.

Credits:
Producer: Carla Francescutti
Field Producer/Director: Nadia Cho
Camera: Gerald Lee, Tim Han
Editor: Charlotte Carpenter

Executive Producer: Stephen Pelletteri
Development Producer: Ian Stroud
Supervising Producer: Stefania Orrù
Associate Producer: Julia Hess
Audience Development: Terri Ciccone, Frances Dumlao, Avery Dalal
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eater is the go-to resource for food and restaurant obsessives with hundreds of episodes and new series, featuring exclusive access to dining around the world, rich culture, immersive experiences, and authoritative experts. Binge it, watch it, crave it.

[battleempoleon]

It’s so refreshing seeing traditionalists go out of their way to research and develop their recipes to be easier or more convenient, yet retain the same tastes and textures and subtleties!

[leezalee]

I love how she says her mother in law was a good person and that she taught her how to make this. Something about that kind of love and respect and acknowledgement of her elders, her mother in law none the less (we all know the jokes), was really heartwarming.

[paulachoi]

Aw man, I wish the translation was closer in accuracy for that last line:

“Making Gochujang is my family’s farming. But I see that raising a family is a form of farming in itself”

Love that!!

[yowhatsup]

That "kit" is genius! Yes, you can buy this everywhere. But to be able to do it at home and actually learn how it's done keeps the tradition. Brilliant!

[c.j.williams]

I love when chefs talk passionately about what they do it makes the experience of watching these stories that more exciting.

[littlsuprstr]

Gochujang is like a cheat code for making delicious food. Everyone ought to try it in their cooking.

[la]

I also had a wonderful, beautiful mother in law. I'm hispanic and I married a Chinese man and the only barrier we had in the beginning was language. But we learned to communicate. She taught me how to make lots of wonderful dishes, growing unique vegetables and beautiful traditions. I miss her and hope I make her proud.

[jeffreyaguilar]

I love that she took extra steps to allow the younger generation to learn the heritage.

[livingfinance]

I love cultures who are able to straddle the lines between keeping tradition and modernity. It’s amazing!

[crystal]

I’m not Korean but I use this sauce and make Korean food. It’s a fact that this sauce is as important as kimchi. I thought this was a factory-made sauce but I’m just amazed at what this lady doing here. I was always wondering how they make this sauce. It just blew my mind. The history, passion, hard work, and dedication behind this sauce just wow. 👏

[brakefree]

knowing how they made such a distinct sauce was a treat to watch. from the ingredients down to the very product made. it's lovely.

[li-ion]

it's great that she's open minded when it comes to the tradition of making gochujang. by innovating better methods to households, their traditional staple sauce is kept in the hearts of many across the country. great and strong women made this, and will continue to do so—you gotta love their passion for their craft.

[Gggobin]

Hello! I am your Korean subscriber.
First of all, thank you so much for covering Korean traditional gochujang. I study English and food while watching the video, and I am just glad that my home country's food comes out. Many of them are gone now, but in the past, they made their own intestines and ate them, so they influenced the taste of the food in the house. It is as important and essential as salt and sugar in Korea!

[Zipfei_Kloatscher]

After watching this I just had a small spoon of Gochujang and I enjoyed it even more. Wonderful stuff, thanks Eater!... 🙂👍🏻

[SJ-plrk]

Gochujang looks so spicy becasue of its color, but actually it is not as much as spicy we imagine(as I think). That sauce is widely used in almost Korean food which have a red color. It helps to have much rich flavor only with this. Please do try this one once!

[afdhalsoft]

Feels like watching Harry Potter Potions class scene! So much passion and dedication given to produce one of the key ingredients in Korean cuisine

[에레보르]

고추장 명인분이 Eater에 나오다니...감동이네요
한식이 새삼 사랑받는 것이 느껴집니다

[maddiredfern]

She looks absolutely amazing while doing all this work. What a Queen!

[saturnianalir]

Since I had to look it up- She mentions jocheong which is the rice and malt barley syrup. It is a traditional sweetener in Korea (long before sugar was introduced).

[carlbrittain]

I love using gochujang in my cooking. It adds excellent depth of flavor and is easy to work with. Plus it's tasty on its own.