Step 1

Place the barley malt in a large bowl. Stir in 10 cups of warm water, and let it sit for an hour or two, up to overnight.

Step 2

Rub the malt between palms and squeeze out milky liquid. Strain the malt liquid through a fine sieve into another bowl. If you don’t have a fine sieve, line a strainer with a cheesecloth. Then, squeeze the malt husks with your hands through the sieve to drain out the remaining liquid. Transfer the liquid to a large heavy bottom pot.

Step 3

Place the malt husks in the first bowl and add another 10 cups of water. No need for an additional soaking time. Repeat the squeezing and straining process. Transfer the liquid to the pot with the first batch of milky liquid. This will yield about 17 to 18 cups of malt water.

Step 4

Add the sweet rice powder to the malt water and stir well. Turn the heat on to warm it up. Warm but not too hot to touch. Turn the heat off, and let it sit for two hours. During this process, the enzymes in the malt will break down the starch in sweet rice and convert to sugar.

Step 5

Turn the heat on to medium and boil the liquid down to a half, stirring once in a while. Measure the depth of the liquid with a wooden spoon or spatula, so you can easily tell when the liquid is reduced to a half. This will take about 2 hours and the resulting liquid will be around 8 to 9 cups. You’ll need about 8 cups for this recipe, but a little bit of extra is nice to have just in case. If you're using other optional liquid, you can reduce it further. Stir once in a while. Let it cool down a bit.

Step 6

While the liquid is still warm, pour 7 cups of the malt liquid into a large bowl, and add the salt. If you're not using Korean sea salt, hold some back and add as necessary after mixing dry ingredients. Stir to dissolve. This is about a cup less than what’s required so you can add the rest or optional ingredients as needed.

Step 7

Using a whisk, stir in the fermented soybean powder and mix well until you see no lumps.

Step 8

Stir-in the gochugaru and mix very well until there are no big lumps. Continue to stir. You can use a large wooden spoon or spatula this time. If the gochujang is too thick, use more malt liquid or optional rice syrup (jocheong), plum extract, and/or soju to adjust the thickness and sweetness. It should be thin enough to slowly drop from the wooden spoon or spatula like a thick batter. Let it sit for a few hours until the dry ingredients fully absorb the liquid, and salt is completely melted. Adjust the saltiness, sweetness, and thickness as necessary. Gochujang should be a bit too salty to eat as is.

Step 9

Transfer to a jar(s) or an earthenware -- onggi hangari, if you have one. Lightly sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Cover with a fine mesh fabric or cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band.

Step 10

Place the lid on. Keep it outdoors in cool temperatures or at room temperature, if cooler, next to a sunny window. On sunny days, remove the lid and allow some exposure to sunlight. For this small batch, it takes 60 to 90 days to ferment. After that, you can refrigerate.

Step 11

Clean with warm water, and place it upside down to remove excess water. Then, place it upside down on the stove. Turn the heat to medium to heat it up, and then reduce to medium low. Leave it on the heat for 5 to 7 minutes. Longer for bigger ones.