Kochujang (hot pepper paste) is one of the fermented foods created by Korean people.

  The book ‘Tomundaejak’, written by Ho Kyun in 1611, who was the author of ‘Life of Hong Gil Dong’ in the feudal Joson dynasty, said about several foods and stressed that Chosi was the tastiest among them.

  Chosi was a soybean paste which was pungent by adding prickly ash instead of hot pepper so it could be considered as the origin of the Kochujang, that is, Kochujang was made after Chosi following the widely cultivation of hot pepper in our country. The recipe for Kochujang can be found in the historic record, ‘Sanrimgyongje’, which was published in early of 18^th century. It says that Kochujang was made by fermenting the soybean malt in addition with chili powder, glutinous rice flour and tasty soy. With its sweet smell, and hot and savoury taste to tempt appetite and promote digestion, Kochujang is now widely used in our people’s dietary life.