Doenjang is a thick, coarse, deeply savoury Korean fermented soybean paste, the funky brown backbone of Korean home cooking. Soybeans are boiled, crushed and pressed into brick-like meju blocks, dried and fermented, then steeped in brine; the liquid drawn off becomes ganjang (Korean soy sauce) and the leftover solids, mashed and re-aged, are doenjang. Earthier, rougher and funkier than Japanese miso, it is the soul of doenjang-jjigae stew and the dipping paste ssamjang.