Korea’s “Hottest” Sauce Event: The Sunchang Fermented Food Festival
Written by Lea Moreau.
This fall, let me introduce you to Sunchang, the city of gochu-jang (고추장, red chili pepper paste) – a city surrounded by beautiful nature and influenced by its long history of traditional sauce-making. Sunchang is particularly known across Korea as the birthplace of gochu-jang, and it has become the city’s speciality over the years. Every household in town makes its own sauce according to its age-old secret recipes.
Each year, the city holds an annual festival to celebrate the harvest season and showcase all the different ingredients needed in the fabrication of Korean traditional sauces. It is a great place to discover not only gochu-jang but also different fermented products such as doen-jang (된장, soybean paste), gan-jang (간장, soy sauce), ssam-jang (쌈장, soybean-chili pepper paste), and cheongguk-jang (정국장, a soybean paste). The festival offers different activities under the theme of traditional sauces accompanied by diverse experiences and shows. It offers a huge variety of food selections across the entire Sunchang Gochujang Folk Village. The dress code is red, so participants are all encouraged to enjoy the festival in red clothes, rocking the gochu-jang fashion style.
When you visit the village, you will be amazed to see traditional Korean jars stored in the backyards of each hanok, or traditional Korean house. Meju (메주, bricks of dried fermented soybeans), are often seen drying outside, giving you a reason to take out your camera.
The 14th Sunchang Fermented Food Festival (제14회 순창 장류 축제) will be held this year for three days, October 18–20. The festival itself has been selected as a Culture and Tourism Festival for nine consecutive years by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, highlighting the importance of the festival at a national level to preserve and celebrate the cultural heritage of traditional Korean ingredients, including its well-known sauces.
Participants can take part in cooking sessions, including cooking bibimbap using gochu-jang and eating tteokbokki (떡볶이, stir-fried rice cake). At the Gochujang Sauce Charcoal Grill Experience Zone, you can taste different types of meat cooked with gochu-jang sauces.
Inside the Sunchang Fermented Sauce Cave will be a chimaek (치맥, chicken and beer) experience, a perfect event for hanging out with friends while enjoying chicken and beer in a cave that showcases the sauce fermentation process and a collection of international sauces.
At the same time, the Sunchang International Fermented Sauce Expo will be held. The two events, held at the same location, will offer incredible opportunities to learn more about fermentation processes, taste local sauces, buy the products you most love, and have fun with a lot of different activities.
The Sunchang International Fermented Sauce Expo is an exhibition that celebrates world-famous sauces, invites chefs to different sauce lectures called “food shows,” offers traditional alcohol tasting, and organizes a cooking contest and a Street Food Zone. This specialized event highlights each country’s unique food culture, sharing both cultural and economic values of such resources, and it includes sauces, dressings, spices, syrups, jams, oils, and beverages. Kids can play in the outdoor playground, built especially for the occasion, that includes a tightrope, climbing experience, and zipline experience.
Another fun activity to add on your list would be to visit the incredibly beautiful Gangcheonsan County Park by night! In fact, Sunchang County just launched this new project, offering visitors the opportunity to walk around the park while enjoying colorful light shows displayed near the Cheonu Falls, Byeongpung Falls, and Golashi Rock. This new attraction features fairy-tale characters and classic Joseon Dynasty stories cherished by children and adults alike.
If you are seeking a fun getaway for the weekend or a chance to hang out with friends and family, then look no further – the answer is Sunchang.
Photographs courtesy of Sunchang County
The Author
Lea Moreau is a French travel specialist currently based in Sunchang, Jeollabuk-do. She works with local government entities in order to develop tourism in the Jeolla provinces and actively promotes both Jeollanam-do and Jeollabuk-do on social media and TV. She has created two YouTube channels in order to share her passion for travel, while giving useful tips and advice. You can follow Lea on Facebook at Leadventure and on YouTube at Leadventure. For more information about Jeolla Travel, check out Lea’s other YouTube channel Jeolla Go.