Like butter in French cooking or olive oil in Italian jangs are the soul of Korean cuisine.
These umami sauces are found in every meal from soups and stews to salads marinades and
even desserts adding depth and complexity to every dish. The foundation of the three main
jangs- gochujang doenjang and ganjang-is simple. Soybeans water and salt are dried aged
and fermented in earthenware pots extracting flavor from their environment and slowly
blossoming into intensely flavored jangs. Few understand these ingredients better than chef
Mingoo Kang who has dedicated his Seoul restaurant to the exploration of jangs. In his first
cookbook Kang expertly weaves jangs' history and methods into 60 accessible recipes to bring
the sauces to life. Dishes like Fish Dumplings and Gang-Doenjang Bibimbap showcase the sauces'
traditional Korean roots while Western-inspired recipes like Doenjang Cráeme Brulee and
Ssamjang Cacio e Pepe reinvent favorite meals. Through artisan profiles sidebars and
step-by-step photographs Jang uncovers one the culinary world's best-hidden secrets--
