How To Cook With Doenjang Seasoning, According To A Pro

Doenjang, an essential ingredient in Korean cuisine, is an umami-laden and thick fermented soybean paste, and it should become a new staple in our pantries. While people often mistake it for miso, Japan's own fermented soybean paste, doenjang is quite different. For one, with doenjang, the soybeans are not mashed fully into a paste like you find in miso. In doenjang, you'll often see coarse or even whole beans. Since the flavor can be cutting, briny, brackish, and stronger than that of miso, we consulted Ji Hye Kim, chef and owner of Miss Kim in Ann Arbor, MI, to pick her brain on all things doenjang and to ensure we're using it properly.

She immediately stated, "Use judiciously so doenjang doesn't totally take over your dishes or add way too much saltiness. If I'm using doenjang to season a dish that is typically not doenjang forward (like doenjang-jjigae [soybean paste stew] or meat marinated primarily in doenjang), I tend to use a small amount in the early part of the cooking process." Additionally, Kim said, "When I make meaty braises or soup, I add just a dollop of doenjang in the braising liquid or the stock early on to add a bit of seasoning, but also to add more depth and complexity than salt would give. Adding it early gives it time to harmoniously 'disappear' into the dish while adding that umami complexity."

We advise tasting the dish throughout the cooking process to ensure that the flavor aligns with your palate; doenjang can be an acquired taste, after all. Thus, a little doenjang can go a long way, so we don't recommend swapping miso with doenjang 1:1. In addition to using doenjang to make doenjang-jjigae as Kim suggested, what else can we make with this salty condiment? Well, it's great as a base seasoning for soups, noodles, and stews like budae-jjigae (army stew). You can also use it as a marinade for proteins, braises, as a dipping sauce, or as a salad dressing. We would argue that you could even use it to make savory-sweet treats like cookies and cakes.

Ready to incorporate doenjang this week into your cooking and baking? You can grab a container of CJ Haechandle doenjang on Amazon. A good place to add a dollop of this condiment would be our Korean beef stew recipe. Cut most of the soy sauce in the recipe and replace it with some doenjang. As for baking, try our double miso chocolate chip cookie recipe and swap out the miso with doenjang — just be sure to use less doenjang. Here's a good place to start: For every tablespoon of miso, replace it with a ½ tablespoon of doenjang.