About
Where Korean fermentation begins.
Chez · 메주
Chez is French for the home of, while maeju (메주) is where Korean fermentation begins.
Made from soybeans, shaped by hand, and slowly transformed through time and air, maeju becomes the foundation for soy sauce, doenjang, and gochujang — the essential flavors of the Korean table.
The name Chez Maeju reflects that same respect for time, patience, and tradition.
- Chez French
- “The home of.” The name on the door of somebody who cooks for you like family.
- 메주 Maeju Korean
- A hand-shaped block of soybeans, dried and aged with time and air — the beginning of ganjang, doenjang, and gochujang.
- Happy Kitchen Our Mantra
- Every slice of vegetable, every stir of the pot, in harmony. If the kitchen isn't joyful, the food will tell on us.
Chez Maeju
Food knows no borders, but it always has roots.
Chef Soojin Kim · Chez Maeju
From Our Crocks
Three jang, one soybean.
Chef Soojin continues to make jang, kimchi, and jangajji each year, carrying forward traditions passed down through her grandmother and mother. From one soybean block come the three sauces that season everything on the menu.
Ganjang
간장 · Soy Sauce
The clear liquor drawn off the crock, aged in onggi and salted with Korean sea salt.
Doenjang
된장 · Soybean Paste
What stays behind in the crock — deep, savory, unhurried. It seasons our jjigae, our greens, and our dressings.
Gochujang
고추장 · Chili Paste
Korean chili, glutinous rice, and our own meju powder. Sweet before it is hot, and hot for a long while after.
The Chef
Soojin Kim
Chef Soojin Kim was born and raised in Seoul, where she grew up surrounded by the cooking of her mother and grandmother.
From an early age, she learned to appreciate good ingredients and the care behind the food of Seoul, watching each season bring its own kimchi, pickles, and jang.
After moving to San Francisco in 1998, Soojin graduated from Le Cordon Bleu and built her career through restaurants, the French hotel industry, and corporate dining. At Zynga, she led a culinary program spanning cuisines from around the world, and later founded her own catering business, producing dining experiences and events for companies including Apple, Netflix, and Dell.
The more cuisines she explored, the more deeply she returned to her own. She continues to make jang, kimchi, and jangajji each year, carrying forward traditions passed down through her grandmother and mother.
Chez Maeju is where those worlds come together — rooted in the food memories of Seoul and the traditions of Korean fermentation, shaped by a life and career in California.