Creamy Korean Ssamjang (쌈장) Pasta Recipe - EricTriesIt (2024)

FAQs

What do you do with Korean ssamjang? ›

It has a rich, savory, and slightly spicy flavor profile with a depth of umami from the fermented soybeans. It is often used as a sauce for Korean BBQ, lettuce wraps known as ssam, or served with dinner as a dipping sauce for fresh veggies.

Gochujang is more widely used in many korean foods. It's spicy whereas ssamjang is not. Ssamjang is more of a bean basted slightly spicy salty nutty sauce used when you are eating meat. Gochujang is a pepper based sauce that is more spicy and less salty and nutty.

As with the soybean paste that it's made from, it's perfect for soups and stews, and a great condiment to many Korean meals. Spread ssämjang on meat or fish before putting it under the grill, or add it to stir fry for extra depth of flavor. You can even dip dumplings into it.

Whether you smear it on meat, use it as a dip for your favorite veggies, or wrap it up with rice in steamed cabbage leaves (no, I won't stop talking about this), you'll discover that ssamjang is so versatile it just might become your new favorite condiment.

It also has a little bit of garlic and some rice wine or some chopped fresh peppers, and definitely plenty of sesame oil. The recipe, like any good food, varies from house to house and is a specialty condiment used in a lot of meals, or even by itself.

If you have a tub of ssamjang, it's great as a bibimbap sauce as well. The salty, spicy, and slightly sweet and umami packed gochujang doesn't really need much of anything else for bibimbap. I simply use some water to thin it out for easy mixing and add a little bit of sugar and sesame oil.

If you don't want to make your ssamjang sweet, you can skip sugar, honey, or syrup or use less of it. You can also buy premade ssamjang in Korean grocery stores, but I guarantee this will be fresher and more delicious. It's best just after you make it, but you can store it in the fridge about 10 days, if you need to.

The two have almost nothing in common, beyond being fermented and pastes (though doubanjiang is only sort of paste-like). The ingredients (broad beans and chilies versus soybeans) and the taste are very different. That's not to say that you're not allowed to make a sauce for your ssam with doubanjiang, of course.

Gochujang traditionally also gets its gentle sweetness from its fermentation process, which takes place over several years (all good things to those who wait and all that). That process sees the starches in the rice convert to sugars, resulting in all kinds of boom-boom-pow-knock-your-socks-off addictive awesomeness.

Etymology. Ssam means "wrapped" and jang means "paste" or "thick sauce". Together as ssamjang they mean "wrapping sauce".

How to use store-bought ssamjang? ›

Ssamjang is used in some Korean wraps, but you can also use it as a vegetable dip. Also marinate meats with it.

Gochujang (Korean: 고추장; Korean pronunciation: [kotɕʰudʑɑŋ]) or red chili paste is a savory, sweet, and spicy fermented condiment popular in Korean cooking. It is made from gochu-garu (chili powder), glutinous rice, meju (fermented soybean) powder, yeotgireum (barley malt powder), and salt.

In Korean cuisine, green garlic and scapes—the glamorous, loopy stems of garlic flowers that farmers harvest early so the bulbs grow bigger—are often pickled in soy sauce and rice vinegar and eaten raw as a crunchy springtime snack.

In Korea, we like to eat fresh carrots and cucumbers with Ssamjang. If you are looking for something more filling, use it in lettuce wraps. Grab a few pieces of lettuce, place a spoonful of rice, and give it a few dabs of Ssamjang. It will taste great - even without any meat!

Red leaf lettuce is probably the most common in modern ssam but other lettuces, steamed or parboiled cabbage, and kaenip (also known as perilla) leaves are also are popular.

2Can be enjoyed as a dipping sauce for fresh vegetable sticks, grilled meat, or can be used to make a light Korean dish called 'Ssam:' rice and ssamjang wrapped in a leaf of lettuce.

You can also buy premade ssamjang in Korean grocery stores, but I guarantee this will be fresher and more delicious. It's best just after you make it, but you can store it in the fridge about 10 days, if you need to.

Put cooking oil, green onion, and red pepper powder in a pot and stir-fry over low heat. If it smells like green onion, add soy sauce and stir-fry over low heat. Add water and ramen powder and boil. When the water boils, add ramen and ssamjang and boil.