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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Raphael Rashid in Damyang county, South Korea

‘Without time, there is no flavour’: a South Korean grand master on the art of the perfect soy sauce

Ki Soon-do inspects one of her 1,200 prized earthenware jars. She is the only person in South Korea officially designated as a grand master of jinjang (aged soy sauce).
Ki Soon-do inspects one of her 1,200 prized earthenware jars. She is the only person in South Korea officially designated as a grand master of jinjang (aged soy sauce). Photograph: The Guardian

In the lush foothills of Damyang county, South Jeolla province, rows of earthenware jars stand under the Korean sky. Inside each clay vessel, a quiet transformation is taking place, one that has been occurring on this land for centuries.

This is the domain of Ki Soon-do, South Korea’s sole grand master of traditional aged soy sauce, where patience isn’t just a virtue but the essential ingredient in her craft.

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