Ipdong marks the end of autumn and heralds the beginning of winter.

For women of rural Korea, Ipdong signals the start of preparation for the long and rigorous winter ahead.

One of the most important things to attend to around Ipdong is making meju, the bricks of fermented soybeans, from which essential Korean condiments are made.

To make fine meju, one needs a fresh crop of soybeans ripened under the autumn sun. Beans are placed on a wood board for sorting. When the wood board is slightly tilted and gently shaken, large ripe beans tumble down to the bottom first.

These carefully sorted beans are then rinsed in clean water.

Meju is made through the collaborative effort of village women, who usually gather on a clear winter day for this cooperative work.

An important step in meju making is boiling the soybeans.

Beans are boiled in an old iron cauldron, which helps bring out their deep rich flavor. The cauldron is wiped dry with straw, and well-drained beans are poured into it.

The beans are boiled until completely soft. Just the right amount of water must be used for boiling the beans, as too much or too little water can result in poor-tasting meju.

Using too high heat tends to make beans burn on the bottom. The beans must be slowly simmered at low heat. For best results, one must keep a watch on the beans while they are being cooked. Once cooking has started, the lid should never be lifted, even if they boil over.

This is to make sure that the cooking process completely eliminates the strong 'beany' flavor.

[Interview]: How long do you need to boil them? About seven hours.

They sit and watch the beans boil for six to seven hours.

Cooked beans are placed inside a large stone mortar and crushed. For best results, they must be quickly crushed, while still hot.

A few strokes of the pestle are generally enough to crush well cooked beans. The beans must be finely crushed until no grains can be felt.

All steps in making meju require great care and effort.

In addition to boiling and crushing the beans, there are several other things village women must attend to. They must prepare rice straw to tie and hang meju. Rice straw is the only type of straw used to tie meju. This is because certain bacteria found in rice straw are essential for the fermentation process to take place successfully, giving meju the right kind of flavor and aroma.

Finely-crushed beans are shaped into bricks, using a wooden mould, lined with a hemp cloth.

As meju bricks are hung to dry and get slowly fermented for several months through the winter, it is important that they be solid bricks that can't be easily broken. They are stepped on so that they become hard, dense bricks. One must also pay attention to the size and thickness of meju bricks.

Too large or too thick meju bricks are slow to dry, increasing the chance for unnecessary mold to develop.

Ideally, the bricks should be flat and thin in the middle, which helps the bacteria spread throughout and make the meju evenly flavorful.

When the meju bricks are dry enough, they are removed from the mould and tied with straw.

Meju bricks are solidly tied cross-wise.

They are then hung to dry.

The best place to hang meju to dry is under the roof eaves where it is sunny and breezy.

Cold winter breezes and an adequate amount of sunshine are what is needed for an ideal fermentation process that gives meju a perfect taste.

The flavor of meju is more than the sum of its ingredients. What this labor-intensive condiment that requires slow maturing delivers to our taste buds is the flavor of time and the care that went into its making.