JOWA JOWA started how most good recipes do: making delicious food at home for the people we love most. During the pandemic, business was slow and our family started leading a sedentary lifestyle. We wanted to add more vegetables to our diet, but quickly grew tired of the repetitive rotation of ranch and hummus. That's when we started branching out and found the flavor that we couldn't get enough of: Korean gochu (chili peppers, but not the spicy kind) mixed with other perfectly umami ingredients.

We found ourselves wanting to add it to everything, from meat, fish, eggs to soup broth, pasta or as a salad dressing—the possibilities were endless!

As time went on and we were able to start sharing food with friends and family again, everyone who tried the recipe was amazed and needed to know where they could buy a jar. Unfortunately, unlike kimchi and gochujang, there was nothing like this readily available at the market. We love nothing more than sharing good food with those we love, and we decided we needed to share this one with the world. "JOWA" means GOOD in Korean, so in our case, JOWA JOWA means twice as GOOD!

We would like to honor and acknowledge Jung Soon Ree, a beloved mother and friend, for inspiring us with her perilla leaf recipe. During her life, she expressed her love through cooking; She was the type of woman who always made enough to share. We hope that we’ll continue to carry on her legacy and serve others through our delicious recipes!