Why do Koreans ferment so much?

History points to the existence of fermented foods in Korea as far back as 1500 BC. Evidence of fermented beans have been found in digs of historical Bronze Age sites in the Korean peninsula, suggesting that people were using fermentation in cooking up to 4,000 years ago. Nowadays, ferments are one of the cornerstones of Korean cookery, with many of the country’s most iconic dishes flavoured with fermented sauces and pastes. This collection of ingredients is often referred to as the ‘jangs’. Although there are loads of different jangs including eojang and cheonggukjang, the three most important are ganjang, doenjang, and gochujang.