Doenjang is Korean fermented soybean paste: boiled soybeans shaped into blocks, dried through the winter, then brined. The liquid that drains off becomes soy sauce; the solids become doenjang. It is saltier, coarser and louder than Japanese miso, which starts from the same bean but is fermented with a cultivated mold and usually rice or barley. The practical difference for a cook: doenjang is meant to be boiled, and miso is not.
Start Here
- Twenty-Minute Doenjang Jjigae — the stew Korea eats more than any other (Nov 10)
- Miso Butter, Three Ways — one stick, two tablespoons, a month of better dinners (Nov 11)
- Doenjang vs. Miso: Same Bean, Different Jar — The Report (Nov 12)
- Two-Minute Ssamjang — the lettuce-wrap paste you should stop buying (Nov 13)
- Five Tubs of Doenjang and Miso, Read by the Label — Buying Guide (Nov 14)
- Miso Butter Under the Skin, Doenjang in the Gravy — a Thanksgiving roast (Nov 18)
Korean Pantry 101: Which Paste for What
- Doenjang for anything that simmers: jjigae, soups, braises, a spoon in gravy or stock. Start with less than you think; brands vary a lot in salt.
- White (shiro) miso for anything raw or finished off the heat: butter, dressings, marinades, a glaze brushed on at the end. Sweet and mild.
- Red or awase miso sits between the two: deeper than white, smoother than doenjang. Use it at half the quantity of white.
- Ssamjang is doenjang plus gochujang, two to one, with garlic, scallion and sesame. Make it; the tub is the same thing with corn syrup.
Buying and Storing
- Compare sodium per 100 g, not per serving. Doenjang runs roughly 3,500 to 5,000 mg per 100 g; white miso is lower. A tablespoon of either is most of a dish’s salt.
- Traditional-style (jaeraesik) doenjang is darker, chunkier and stronger than the mass-market tubs; it is worth it for jjigae and not necessary for ssamjang.
- Both keep for a year or more in the fridge. The surface darkens; that is oxidation, not spoilage. Stir it in.
- Miso loses its aroma when boiled. Add it off the heat, or at the very end.
The five tubs we compared, with the numbers, are in the Buying Guide; why the two pastes end up so different is the Report.
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