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Fermentation Atlas

Soy and legumes from Korea

Cheonggukjang청국장

Boiled soybeans are kept warm under a blanket with rice straw for two or three days, while Bacillus from the straw coats them in sticky threads and a strong, savoury smell. Unlike the other Korean jang it is ready in days and contains no salt until it is cooked into a stew. Made in 5 steps over 36 h – 3.7 days. The longest step, keep warm under straw and a blanket, takes 24 h – 3 days (Kwon D.Y 2019) and runs at 25–45 °C (Shi B 2024). Salt is 2–9.4 % (Park Y.K 2020). Bacillus from rice straw, mainly B. subtilis and Bacillus velezensis, B. subtilis, B. amyloliquefaciens and B. licheniformis isolated from commercial products do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 3 daysReported[kwon2019][sic-natto3]Keep warm under straw and a blanket
Temperature25–45 °CMeasured[shimoon2024][park2020]Keep warm under straw and a blanket
Salt2–9.4 %Measured[park2020]Mash part of the beans
AciditypH 6.4–7.1Measured[park2020]Mash part of the beans
Fully documentedSoy and legumes36 h – 3.7 daysMore soy and legumesMore from Korea

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHousehold process with no fixed batch size. The beans and the straw are the whole ferment.
Soybeans · Washed, soaked and boiled until tender[kwon2019][sic-natto3]
Rice straw · The source of the Bacillus; its middle part carries the most bacilli[kwon2019][heu1999]
No salt in the fresh product · Salt and chilli paste go in when it is cooked as a stew[kwon2019]
Salt, garlic and red chilli (to taste, optional) · Mixed in when the paste is mashed to keep until winter[sic-natto3]
Starter: spontaneous (Bacillus from rice straw); modern makers use selected Bacillus strains

Total time across the recorded steps: 36 h – 3.7 days

Start
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Close-up: water moving into a bean

What changes: Starting material: soybeans, washed and soaked

Step 1 of 5
Wash and soak the soybeans
Time
12–16 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Bacillus

Output: soaked beans.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Cheonggukjang is ready in two to four days and has no salt, while doenjang, gochujang and ganjang are salted and aged for months. It is close to Japanese natto but is usually mashed and cooked, not eaten whole and raw.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Damsujang / dambukjangMade the same way but with no spices.
  • Starter-made cheonggukjangSelected Bacillus strains instead of rice straw, for steadier quality.

Safety

Tyramine built up in many retail products, up to 14 times the recommended limit, mostly from Enterococcus faecium. Fermenting cooler and for less time lowered it in a lab study. Use clean straw from fields free of sewage and livestock waste.

Hazards the sources name: Coliform bacteria on some rice straw from areas polluted by sewage or livestock waste.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

No firm origin record exists. Kwon, Chung and Jang (2019) argue that similar fermented beans appear in Chinese texts from before 40 BC and that the Korean food has a long continuous history; treat this as one school's view.

  1. [kwon2019] Kwon D.Y., Chung K.R., Jang J.S. 2019, The history and science of Chongkukjang, J Ethnic Foods 6:4, doi:10.1186/s42779-019-0004-8paper
  2. [park2020] Park Y.K., Jin Y.H., Lee J.H. et al. (Mah J.H.) 2020, The role of Enterococcus faecium as a key producer and fermentation condition as an influencing factor in tyramine accumulation in Cheonggukjang, Foods 9:915, doi:10.3390/foods9070915paper
  3. [shimoon2024] Shi B., Moon B. 2024, Effects of soybean cultivar and starter strain on biogenic amines formation during Cheonggukjang fermentation, Food Chem X 22:101280, doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101280paper
  4. [heu1999] Heu J.-S., Lee I.-J., Yoon M.-H., Choi W.-Y. 1999, Adhesive microbial populations of rice straws and their effects on Chungkukjang fermentation, Korean J Agric Sci 26(1):77paper
  5. [sic-natto3] Shurtleff W., Aoyagi A., History of Natto and Its Relatives, SoyInfo Center (Korean joenkuk-jang and damsue-jang)book
  6. [wp] English Wikipedia, Cheonggukjangwiki