Why Doenjang Is Suddenly in Every Pantry — the Korean Fermentation Boom, Explained

Korean fermentation is one of the defining flavor stories of 2026. FoodNavigator's 2026 flavour-trends coverage names Korean and fermented flavors as central to the year [1], and doenjang — the savory soybean paste that underpins Korean stews, soups, and ssamjang — is showing up in Western pantries as a standalone umami ingredient, not just a Korean-market staple.

The boom is a cluster: doenjang with gochujang, kimchi, and a wider appetite for fermented, gut-friendly, umami-rich ingredients.

Doenjang is made from cooked soybeans, a starter mold, and salt, fermented in blocks or jars into a savory paste. It belongs to Korea's jang culture, with roots in the Three Kingdoms period and Buddhist temple kitchens, where fermented soy foods sustained monastic vegetarian cooking [2]. Through the Joseon dynasty it became a household staple with family jang cultures and seasonal fermentation calendars.

It is the Korean counterpart to Japanese miso — same family of fermented soybean pastes, different tradition.

The 2026 boom reframes doenjang as a global umami ingredient, but the food-history value is that it is not new: it is a 1,000-year-old pantry staple meeting a new audience. For cooks, that means the "trend" ingredient has a deep recipe tradition behind it. See the full doenjang history, the gochujang and miso articles, and the fermented-foods collection below.

Doenjang is a Korean fermented soybean paste, and it is not the same as miso or gochujang. It is made by cooking and grinding soybeans into firm blocks called meju, which are dried and hung to ferment with wild molds, then submerged in brine. As the blocks age, the brine becomes ganjang, Korean soy sauce, and the softened solids become doenjang, a chunky, earthy, long-fermented paste. It is saltier, rougher, and more pungent than Japanese miso, which is usually smoother and shorter-fermented. It is the base of doenjang-jjigae, the everyday stew, and it is a fermented protein food, not a seasoning you use by the spoonful. For the full histories of doenjang, gochujang, and miso, read below.