Every country has its own special seasonings. Korean special seasonings that Korean people usually add into food are called ‘jang’, such as gochujang and doenjang. Korean people add jang into food when they think that the food doesn’t taste great. They add it because the taste becomes better after adding it.
  In Korea, gochujang and doenjang are often used. Gochujang is added for making tteok-bokki and gochujang-tteok. Also, gochujang is added for making spicy bulgogi, which is made from bulgogi mixed with gochujang and has a Korean traditional taste. Doenjang, which was made and developed before gochujang, is added into a lot of foods. Doenjang is used in many kinds of side dishes and Korean stews. Also, it is used for removing fishy smells and meat odors.
  The Korean traditional seasonings gochujang and doenjang are important for making foods taste better in Korea. Namely, people cannot imagine Korean traditional foods without these seasonings. These days, the two seasonings are widely used  in Korean traditional favorite foods in every home. Now, people can buy them easily, and they have become essential ingredients while making food in Korea.
  As stated above, gochujang and doenjang, which people often use, are directly related to Korean people’s lives, so people think they are kinds of representative seasonings of Korea. Then, what do other countries add to make food taste better when they cook? A CBT reporter found out about special seasonings from other countries.

By Kim Ji-won
jw34@cbnu.ac.kr

Like the Korean seasonings jang, are there any seasonings that you add when you cook in your country?

Suwanpimolkul Peerut(Thailand) : Yes, it’s a kind of soy sauce called si iu kao.
Johanna Gnassounou(France) : We don’t really have a sauce we use for everything because we have tons of sauces. However, when eating, there is always salt and grey pepper available on the table.
Watanabe Miyu(Japan) : In Japan, there are five main seasonings. They are sugar, salt, vinegar, soy sauce, and doenjang. Adding them in order makes food taste better. These seasonings are basic but important seasonings in Japan.

If you do, how does it make the food taste better?

Suwanpimolkul Peerut(Thailand) : In my opinion, even though it’s a soy sauce, it tastes different from any other soy sauce. It gives a unique saltiness to the dish. I could say it has a stronger fermented taste than the Japanese soy sauce.
Johanna Gnassounou(France) : Salt and grey pepper make a greater taste. It makes the taste stronger and gives a little spice.
Watanabe Miyu(Japan) : They make Japanese food taste better, so people can feel the ingredients’ tastes better than before.

Are you willing to try putting other country’s seasonings in your dishes if you have the chance?(For example, Korean jang, Japanese soy sauce, etc.)

Suwanpimolkul Peerut(Thailand) : Sure, why not? 
ohanna Gnassounou(France) : I’m willing to try other countries’ sauces if I can and discover the tastes people from other countries enjoy.
Watanabe Miyu(Japan) : If I have the chance to try putting other country’s seasonings on, I want to try them.