I don't go in for the make-your-own basics level of cooking. Too much work! I'm the main meal provider in this house, and we got a bunch of humans eating it all. Although I love to pursue excellence and tend to approach my cooking from the viewpoint of a chef wanting the customer to have an inspiring and ecstatic experience, I don't really have the time or space to pursue cooking as a sort of a hobby.

I have made a few of my fav dishes from scratch, like kamja tang (potato soup) or ddeok mandu guk (rice cake & dumplings soup), by creating the broth from scratch, most of the time, I use the shortcuts of ready made bought dashida, etc.

That said, with ssamjang, I'd say its primarily a matter of focusing on your own liking. More salty, more spicy.... your choice.

That said, I'm a traditionalist, and I find it really hard to abide folks who make "kimchi" in their own image. To me, that's not kimchi. That's something inspired by kimchi but it ain't Korean cuisine, and it ain't kimchi. (I did a small kimchi workshop the other week for a few friends. LOL. I found out one of them cannot eat hot foods due to a health conditions and prescription by her Han yak (Chinese medicine) doc. So, she went ahead and used garlic and ginger, but basically no gochu karu!!! The purist in me had to grin and bear it.

I'll defer to your broader knowledge and experience with desserts. I mean, what do I know? I don't really do desserts. But, I have a strong nostalgia with the Korean desserts, because.... well, because. So, that's a bias I'm prepared to live with.