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Gochujang and doenjang for muslims

Home › Forums › Korean food discussion › Gochujang and doenjang for muslims

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    • November 2, 2015 at 2:08 pm #65329
      xSena
      Participant

      Hi everyone,

      I have been eating gochujang, doenjang and korean food everyday for a year now. I just can’t live without it but I recenty discovered that there is alcohol “주정” in both of them. I’m muslim and when I found out, I was devastated bacause I cant eat korean food anymore. I want to make my own but because I live in the Netherlands my gochujang wont receive any sunlight and I dont have the korean crocks. It’s too expencive for me and I can’t wait 3 months for it to ferment. So my questions are:
      1)Does anyone know a brand that doesnt have alcohol in it? Both gochujang and doenjang(I will kiss your feet for this one hahaha)
      2) Can I make it without a korean pot?
      3) Can I eat it right after making too?
      Please help me fellow korean food lovers :(

    • November 2, 2015 at 4:02 pm #65330
      sanne
      Participant

      Hi xSena,

      The alcohol is just a byproduct from fermentation.
      What about bread? The yeast produces some alcohol there, too.
      And even juice contains a small amount of alcohol!
      The only difference there is that it has not to be declared there – yet… ;-)
      And you don’t eat/drink those to get drunk!

      I’d suggest you ask your Imam concerning all this.

      Bye, Sanne.

      • November 2, 2015 at 8:00 pm #65334
        xSena
        Participant

        Hi Sanne^^,

        Thanks for your reply! The alcohol formed naturally during fermentation from the food is allowed to eat within the food itself. However, if you put alcohol in it seperatly, we are not allowed to eat it. That’s bacause it counts as putting alcohol in food. Just like you said things like bread and pickles have alcohol too, even fruit! But that is naturally formed and not with the intention to make alcohol and adding it in something else.

        Bye, Sena

    • November 4, 2015 at 11:35 pm #65351
      nysya
      Participant

      Hi Sanne,

      Alcohol due to fermentation is not haram unless you deliberately put alcohol in it. Its just like soy sauce.

    • November 11, 2015 at 9:00 pm #65427
      Maangchi
      Keymaster

      Thanks to everyone for contributing to this discussion! I learned something about the Muslim religion and from now on I’ll refer any Muslims to this thread, so they can learn too. You guys are very helpful!

    • December 4, 2015 at 6:32 pm #65722
      Oxide
      Participant

      I am pretty sure any alcohol in gochujang or doenjang is negligible/insignificant and lost as soon as warmed or used in cooking a dish with the pastes. There are two kinds of fermentation; one that uses bacteria to ferment, like kimchi, that does not produce alcohol. And there is one that uses yeast to ferment, like beer. Yeast fermentation has two bi-products — CO2 (carbon dioxide) and alcohol.

      Unless gochujang and doenjang are fermented with the addition of yeast specifically for the purpose of fermentation, the only yeast available to create alcohol will be insignificant wild yeast that is always present on the soybeans or peppers.

      Btw, bread dough produces quite a bit of alcohol when it ferments or proofs. All of the alcohol is lost during the baking of the bread.

    • October 6, 2022 at 4:21 am #97464
      Jang-geum
      Participant

      Thanks Oxide!Even i thought the same thing that alcohol used in these pastes is in micro amount / very negligible as you rightly pointed out. Even some hindus are concerned about alcohol so this is very helpful. I am hindu but I personally didnt have any concern over this as my dad had already educated me that alcohol is sometimes used in foods in negligible/insignificant quantity as a preservative so i was fine hehe
      Thanks!

    • October 30, 2023 at 3:17 pm #100460
      Alina1019
      Participant

      Hi everyone!
      This thread is quite old now so I don’t know if anyone will see this haha, but I went to the Korean store to try to find some gochujang. All of the ones I picked up said that they had alcohol added to preserve freshness, meaning it was added and making it not halal. If anyone has any suggestions for a brand that doesn’t have added alcohol, I would really appreciate it! I have been wanting to try Korean recipes for a while.

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