[News Today] GLOBAL PROMOTION OF KOREAN ‘JANG’

[LEAD]
K-food is capturing hearts all across the globe. Chefs worldwide that are currently visiting Korea have also fallen for Korea's traditional ingredient, 'Jang'.

[REPORT]
Doenjang, gochujang and ganjang or soy sauce... the basis of Korean cuisine.

The traditional seasonings called 'Jang' come in many varieties - from freshly made ones to others made with meat and fish.

Koreans are familiar with 'Jang' but it's still an unfamiliar ingredient to many foreigners.

Park Sung-bae/ Chef
Soy sauce is called 'gamjang' as in 'sweet ganjang' because it gets sweeter as time passes. It's often used as medicinal soy sauce.

Although Korean cuisine is captivating the world, the traditional sauces or 'Jang' is still an acquired taste.

To make Korean 'Jang' more accessible, the Korean government and the Korean Food Promotion Institute invited star chefs and media industry professionals from abroad.

The aim was to broaden the base of Korean cuisine by letting them experience Korean jang culture and Korean food using jang.

The chefs were intrigued by the unique flavors.

Jorge Vallejo/ Mexican Chef
It's been super interesting to get to know how it's the process of making the different types of 'Jang'. I think it's something that I will bring back home and try to adapt to the way I cook.

Korean celebrity chefs also joined in the effort to promote Korean jang.

They believe the future of Korean cuisine would be long and viable when ingredients with great local popularity and rich history garner global recognition and appreciation.

Kang Min-goo/ Chef
When Jang combines with other ingredients, is cooked, the sweet, savory and nutty flavors are amplified inside the dish, bring out the flavors of the ingredients.

The government plans to further promote Korean cuisine so that Korea's jang-making culture can be inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in December.