Sweet Soy Base Sauce (Jomi Ganjang)
Contributors
Cookbook
The Korean Table: From Barbecue to Bibimbap 100 Easy-To-Prepare Recipes
Published by Tuttle Publishing

Editor's Note: You'll love incorporating the Sweet Soy Base Sauce (Jomi Ganjang) in a number of recipes, including your favorite stir-fry dish. If you like to make meal prep a little bit easier, then you'll love that you can make this sauce — it will keep for up to three months in the fridge! You can also use the base sauce in this recipe for Korean Hot Wings (Dak Gangjung).
Soy sauce is the base but garlic, ginger, wine and brown sugar make this smooth sauce a unique combination of flavors. It is the foundation for many of the sauces, marinades and stir-fries in this book. The first step when making this sauce is to create an essence. First aromatics—ginger, garlic and pepper—are simmered in water for 10 minutes. Then the remaining ingredients are added. Use any wine you have open at the time. We’ve provided two yields for this essential sauce. Since it keeps for over 3 months in the refrigerator we suggest that you make the larger of the two amounts. With a large jar of this on hand, preparing many of the recipes in this book will go much faster.
Preparation Time20 min
CostInexpensive
Total TimeUnder 30 minutes
Make Ahead RecipeYes
Type of DishSauces
Ingredients
- Makes Approximately 8 cups (1.75 liters)
- 1 cup (250 ml) water
- 16 large cloves garlic (about 4 oz/100 g), thinly sliced
- One 2.5-oz (50-g) piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into 1/8-in (3-mm) slices
- 2 tablespoons black peppercorns, crushed
- 4 cups (1 liter) soy sauce, preferably low sodium
- 2 cups (500 g) light brown sugar
- 1 cup (250 ml) red or white wine
- Makes Approximately 1 3/4 cup (425 ml)
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water
- 4 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- Six 1/8-in (3-mm) slices peeled fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed
- 1 cup (250 ml) soy sauce, preferably low sodium
- 1/2 cup (125 g) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (65 ml) red or white wine
Instructions
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Combine the water, garlic, ginger and peppercorns in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Be careful not to let the liquid evaporate completely.
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Add the soy sauce, brown sugar and wine. Turn the heat to high and boil for 2 minutes.
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Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
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Strain the sauce through a sieve into an airtight container. Discard the ginger, garlic and peppercorns.
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Store the sauce in the refrigerator. It will keep for 3 months.
Copyright 2015 Taekyung Chung and Debra Samuels