Doenjang

Method

1. Pick over 200 g of dried soybeans, discarding any split or discoloured ones, and rinse in several changes of cold water until the water runs clear. Cover generously with cold water and soak 12 hours at room temperature; the beans should double in size and split their skins when squeezed.
2. Drain the beans, put them in a deep pot with fresh water to cover by 5 cm, bring to the boil and skim the grey foam. Lower to a bare simmer, lid ajar, and cook about 3 hours, topping up with hot water as needed, until a bean mashes to cream between finger and thumb. Drain, reserving a cupful of the cooking liquid.
3. While the beans are still hot, pound them in a mortar or crush with a potato masher to a coarse paste with a few whole beans left for texture, loosening with a spoonful or two of the reserved liquid only if it will not hold together. Squeeze and slap the mass into one dense, tight brick roughly 5 cm thick, knocking out air pockets. Rest it on a rack in a warm, airy place for 2 days, turning once, until a dry skin forms.
4. Wrap the meju loosely in 1 handful of clean rice straw and tie it, or bed it in straw inside a ventilated box. Keep it at 25-30C, out of draughts, for 5 weeks: a white, then yellow-green bloom of mould should cover it and the block will smell sharply cheesy and become light and hard. Brush off loose mould with a dry brush and sun-dry the block for 3 days until it rings hollow.