Hello.
This is Gaheun Cho, founder of Lentila.
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"Why did we go out of our way to use lentils, and then ferment them?"
Lentila didn't start as a flashy trend.
It began with a small unraveling in my own everyday life.
For years, I lived as if chased by study and work, and I always turned to food to cope with stress.
Filling each day with sweet and stimulating things, there came a moment when the person in the mirror felt like a stranger.
"If I keep going like this, something is really going to go wrong."
So I decided to start by changing the white rice I ate every day.
I began eating lentils because I heard they were good for me, but the reality was not so easy.
They had to be soaked for a long time, they were dry and dense, and they didn't taste good.
"How can I eat something healthy in a way that's delicious, and that I can actually keep up with every day?"
That small question was the beginning of Lentila.
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I tried making Greek yogurt with lentils, and lentil porridge too.
But no matter how many food experiments I repeated, the dryness and rough texture of lentils would not go away.
Then one day, a single remark from my father.
He mentioned that his digestion hadn't been great lately, and he was drinking fermented cheonggukjang bean powder mixed in water.
That smelly, not-so-tasty powder.
He said, "It just makes my stomach feel at ease."
In that moment, it hit me like lightning.
"Ah, if you ferment the beans, you can eat them every day without the digestive burden."
Something my parents and my whole family could reach for every day without any strain.
But it couldn't be tasteless like the powder my father was drinking.
In the end, I wanted to capture both of those things at once.
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So, I decided to buy time.
There were plenty of fast and easy roads.
But I deliberately chose the hard one.
🌱 20 hours of fermentation, the time it takes to gently break down the rough components of lentils.
🌱 2 weeks of cold aging, the time to clear away the smell unique to fermentation and leave only deep flavor behind.
🌱 Choosing high-oleic peanuts, a pricier ingredient, but one that resists rancidity and is gentler on the body.
Some might think, "You could just mix it all together, so why take the difficult path?"
But we wanted to make it from the perspective of the person who would eat it every single day.
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The very first thing we're sharing with our supporters is Lentila's own little "bean routine."
Above all, what Lentila hopes to deliver is a value that goes beyond a single stick.
Beyond a healthy product, we want to pass along a "healthy routine" that quietly settles into your everyday life.
We want to build something that lets a healthy routine continue, without you having to struggle alone.
Thank you for reading Lentila's heart tonight as well.
Warmly, Gaheun Cho, Founder of Lentila.