Meju
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.jpg) Air-drying meju, tied with rice straws | |
| Place of origin | Korea |
|---|---|
| Associated cuisine | Korean cuisine |
| Main ingredients | Soybeans |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 메주 |
| RR | meju |
| MR | meju |
| IPA | [me.dʑu] |
Meju (Korean: 메주) is a brick of dried fermented soybeans.[1] While not consumed on its own, it serves as the basis of several Korean condiments, such as doenjang (soybean paste), ganjang (soy sauce), and gochujang (chili paste).[1] Meju is produced by pounding, kneading, and shaping cooked soybeans, and undergoes fermentation with Aspergillus oryzae and/or Bacillus subtilis.[1][2]
The word meju (메주) is derived from Middle Korean myejo (몌조), which is itself derived from myeoju (며주), as recorded in the 1527 book, Collection of Characters for Training the Unenlightened.[3][4] Earlier forms transcribed using hanja (Chinese characters) include miljeo (밀저; 蜜沮) as recorded in Things on Korea, a 12th-century book on Korea written by a Song scholar.[5]
History
The custom of fermenting soybeans is assumed to have begun prior to the era of the Three Kingdoms (57 BCE to 668 CE).[6]
The Records of the Three Kingdoms, a Chinese historical text written and published in the 3rd century, mentions that "Goguryeo people are good at brewing fermented soy beans." in the section titled Eastern foreigners, in the Book of Wei.[7][8] Jangdoks (pots) used for soy sauce brewing are found in the mural paintings of Anak Tomb No.3 from the 4th century Goguryeo.[9]
In the historical text Samguk sagi, meju was reported to be one of the wedding presents offered by King Sinmun in February 683.[10][11] According to History of Korea, citing the New Book of Tang, meju was also a local specialty of Balhae's Chaekseong region.[12]
The Treatise on Food and Money, a section from the historical text Goryeosa, recorded that ganjang and doenjang were included in the relief supplies in 1018, after a Khitan invasion, and in 1052, when a famine occurred.[13][14] Joseon texts such as Concise Reference for Famine Relief and Revised and Augmented Farm Management contain the detailed procedures on how to make meju for good quality ganjang and doenjang.[6][15][16]
