National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea This element encompasses the entire process of making Korean sauces and pastes out of soybeans, including preparing the necessary ingredients, making the sauce, and fermenting it. It is known that soybean-based sauces and pastes have been made in Korea since at least the Three Kingdoms period. During the Joseon Dynasty, there was a designated place to store sauces and pastes for the royal family, and a court woman assigned to their management. This indicates how traditionally important sauces and pastes have been in Korean culinary culture. The Korean practice of sauce and paste making—spanning the steps including growing soybeans, making bricks of fermented soybeans (meju), soaking the crushed meju in brine, and fermenting it—is distinguished from soybean-based sauce-making traditions in China and Japan. Characteristics unique to the Korean practice include producing two types of sauce from the soybean base: The crushed meju soaked in brine is fermented and then separated into a solid (doenjang, or soybean paste) and a liquid (ganjang, or soybean sauce). In addition, soybean sauce from the previous year would be added to the brined meju to deepen the flavor. The sauce and paste making tradition has been designated as National Intangible Cultural Heritage for its time-honored history, potential for advancing studies of cooking methods and culinary culture, and close associations with Korea's housing culture, seasonal customs, folk beliefs, and traditional science. Active inter-generational transmission and nationwide participation is another important factor contributing to its heritage value. * As sauce and paste making is being actively practiced across the nation, no particular holder or holder groups have been recognized for this element.