Story

Hi, I'm Bora 👋🏼

I nearly cried over a piece of lettuce.

Let me explain.

 

It was lockdown. A toddler who wouldn't nap. 

And me, standing in the kitchen holding a supermarket Korean sauce, thinking: this tastes nothing like what I grew up eating.

Too sweet. Too flat. No depth.

So I'd add soy sauce. Then sesame oil. Then garlic. Then sugar. Then chilli flakes. Taste. Adjust. Taste again. Thirty minutes and a sink full of dishes later, I'd have something almost right.

For one meal.

Here's the thing. My husband Jake is a chef. Nineteen years in professional kitchens. The kind of person who tastes something once and knows exactly what's missing.

One night I asked him: "Can you make me a sauce I can just open and use? One that actually tastes like real Korean food, not a compromise because I'm in a hurry?"

He made two.

Smoky Gochujang. Green Chilli Ssamjang. 

I tried the ssamjang first. Dipped a piece of lettuce in it.

That's when I nearly cried.

It was better than any ssamjang I'd ever tasted. Including back home. And it was sitting on my kitchen bench in Melbourne.

Dinner that night took twelve minutes.

Turns out I wasn't the only one. When we ran a restaurant together, regulars used to call Jake the sauce master. They kept asking if they could buy the sauces. We always said no.

Until now.

Those two sauces have since become six, with Honey Pepper Ganjang, Hot Bae, Tiger Crunch and Kimchi Relish joining the range.

Why ChamCham?

Cham (참) means two things in Korean. Truth. And full.

That's what we wanted these sauces to be. Honest ingredients. Full flavour. Nothing else.

One thing surprised us

These aren't just for Korean food. People put Smoky Gochujang on cheese toasties. Ssamjang on steak (one customer told us to ditch the mustard). Honey Pepper Ganjang on salmon, roast veggies, salad dressings.

We made them for busy people like me. People who want a proper meal without an hour in the kitchen. People who care what goes into their food but don't have time to make it all from scratch.

Every batch is handmade by Jake. Small batches. Fresh.

I hope ChamCham makes your mealtimes easier and a lot more flavourful.

That's all I ever wanted.

Bora x