Author: Umi Fatimah
If you like Korean food and want to learn how to cook authentic Korean food, you need to know the important spices in Korean cooking. The reason is, these various basic spices will make your Korean dishes more authentic.
Who isn’t tempted by delicious Korean cuisine that is rich in taste and aroma? For Korean food lovers, you might be interested in trying to make Korean food. Unfortunately, making Korean dishes is not easy, because this typical ginseng country dish requires a variety of basic spices that foreigners rarely know about.
However, you don’t need to be confused anymore! In this article, ResepKoki will share 7 important basic spices that you must have to make Korean dishes. Yuk, check out the article!
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1. Gochujang
Gochujang or red chili paste is a famous Korean cooking spice. This fermented chili paste has a spicy, sweet and slightly sour taste.
Gochujang made of gochugaru (Korean chili powder) finely ground, fermented soybeans, sticky rice, and salt. Many Korean foods have a spicy taste, so gochujang is a common basic spice in Korean cooking.
This Korean hot sauce is often used in Korean main dishes, such as kimchi, bibimbap, marinades, soups and fried rice.
2. Doenjang
Doenjang is a typical Korean fermented soybean paste. Different from miso In Japan, doenjang is spicier than miso, with a salty taste and contains an umami taste. This spice is important for making various kinds of soups and jjigae (a kind of Korean stew), like doenjang-jjigae, and provides a rich and delicious taste to Korean dishes.
3. Gochugaru
Besides Gochujangmost of the famous spicy flavors in Korean cuisine come from Gochugaru. This spice is known as chili powder.
Gochugaru it has a bright red color and a mild to moderate spicy taste, with the addition of a slight sweetness. You might describe gochugaru Same taste as cayenne pepper powder, but texture gochugaru much milder compared to other types of chili powder, with a different taste.
This typical Korean chili powder consists of two types, namely gochugaru which is finely ground and gochugaru coarsely ground.
For gochugaru fine is used to make gochujang (red chili paste) homemade and for making sauces tteokbokki. Temporary gochugaru coarsely ground ones are used to make kimchi or other dishes, such as stews and soups.
4. Chamgireum (Sesame oil)
You will definitely find it Sesame oil in many Korean recipes. This is because sesame oil has been traditionally used in Korean cooking since time immemorial.
This oil is found in many Korean dishes because of its distinctive and strong aroma, as well as a slightly spicy taste, thus adding to the main flavor in Korean cuisine.
Generally, sesame oil is used as a seasoning finishing or flavoring in all kinds of typical Korean vegetable and meat dishes, such as pada bibimbap or I’ll be happy.
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5. Ganjang (words)
Soy sauce or in Korean it is called wedgehas been used as a base spice for many marinade and sauces in Korean cooking. Korean people usually use wedge to adjust the taste of cooking as a substitute for salt.
Apart from its salty taste, you can also taste a light and unique sweet taste. There are two types wedge which is often used by Koreans.
The first type is jinganjang, which has a sweet taste and is salty enough that it is used for frying dishes or as a sauce for many Korean foods. While other popular types are gukganjangwhich is often used to complement the flavor of the broth in Korean soups and stews.
6. Garlic
Garlic is an important basic spice in Korean cooking. In fact, it is so important that garlic is mostly consumed by Korean people.
Koreans put a lot of garlic in their dishes when cooking, so they will usually grind a large amount of garlic at once and store it in the freezer. Then every time they want to use it, they just take it out and don’t have to waste a lot of time cutting it with a knife.
Not only that, Korean people usually process garlic into pickled form and become the most basic side dish in Korean dishes.
7. ChamKkae (Sesame Seeds)
Sesame is not the most important basic spice in the cooking process, but if you often eat Korean food, you might realize that sesame appears very often in Korean cooking. Starting from being sprinkled on bibimbap, bulgogi, japchae, as well as tteokbokki. It could be said that sesame is one of the characteristics of Korean food.
The use of sesame seeds in any Korean dish helps enhance the taste of the dish and enriches its taste. Sesame also helps neutralize dishes that are too spicy or too salty.
Now, by knowing the basic spices in Korean dishes above, you will be more confident in making your own favorite Korean dishes at home. To get these basic Korean spices, you can buy them at supermarkets that sell Korean food products or order them online. While being creative in making Korean dishes!
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Atsarina Luthfiyyah (Senior Editor)
Has educational experience in the fields of Culinary and Journalism. His hobbies are writing, traveling and cooking. Masters in Communication Sciences at Gadjah Mada University
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