J and I recently ran out of gochujang, a spicy fermented red pepper paste ubiquitous in Korean cooking. Since I’ve been trying more than usual to not buy things in plastic packaging, I was hesitant to buy a new container. (Although Wholly Jang offers gochujang and other products in glass, the company is currently on hiatus as they move to a different facility.) Fortunately, I discovered that you can make your own at home with just a few ingredients!!
So, J and I took a trip to the Korean grocery store! Yay! We were starving when we arrived, so we got food from the café conveniently located at the back of the store.
![](https://beansproutadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017-08-13-13.14.34-1024x766.jpg)
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Then we got ingredients for gochujang. It was hard to find ones not from China.
![](https://beansproutadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017-08-13-15.32.30.jpg)
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To tide us over until our gochujang is done, we also got gochujang. Unfortunately, it’s in a plastic container. But it seems high-quality! It has no weird additives, only ingredients that you would use to make it yourself.
![](https://beansproutadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017-08-13-14.33.15-766x1024.jpg)
The pictures from actually making the gochujang aren’t accessible yet, so I’ll make another post with the recipe. Stay tuned!