Gochujang paste is life. In Korea, it is said that if you have kimchi at home, you will always have something to eat. It is exactly the same for me with gochujang - if you have it in your pantry, you will never be hungry! I add it to soups, sauces, salads, rice, veggies, BBQ marinates, grilled stuff... our love is truly eternal and mutual. That is why I usually don't need a recipe to use it and I always buy 1 kg boxes and never have the problem "what to do with the rest".
But, I know that many people don't want to buy one ingredient for one recipe and then be left with any remains. So, for some recipes I will try to navigate you on how to use less common ingredients!
That is also why this recipe is so short, just a sauce with a couple of ingredients, but... next recipes will have this sauce as an ingredient! Just a heads-up!
Before we get into details, what is gochujang paste even? For those, who have already fallen in love with Korean food, probably already used and follow such amazing cooks like Maangchi, but for those, who have not yet cooked with it, gochujang paste is a fermented soybean paste with chili flakes, some glutinous rice and salt. It is often used as a quick substitute of chili flake porridge for kimchi, however, I never make kimchi with it.
The best part are the chili flakes - different in both taste and spiciness from our chilies, grind in a special way, add amazing flavout and aftertaste to the dishes, not to mention the beautiful colour... You can find it in any Korean store or even so-called "Asian stores" and definitely available in many online shops as well.
My favorite brand is the one in the picture above by Sempio, but try also others. While on the ingredient-hunt, look also for a Korean soy sauce - it is different than Chinese or Japanese ones, and I know it's more fuss, but really wroth getting the right taste. At home, I have one cupboard for Chinese products and a separate one for Korean stuff... but that's just me. Or maybe I am not alone?
Now let's get to the recipe!
INGREDIENTS
200 g gochujang paste
150 g Korean soy sauce (or regular light soy sauce)
100 g brown sugar (or white sugar)
2 garlic gloves (pressed, or finely chopped
for the kicks:
15 g toasted sesame oil
20 g fish sauce
20 g rice vinegar
Place all ingredients in a jar, twist the lid and shake until mixed. I keep it in refrigerator up to 7 days (however, usually, lasts max. 3 days...).
Ingredients for the kicks are optional and will just give more flavour, but even the basic ingredients are already amazing, so if you don't have extra ingredients, don't sweat it. It will work well without them as well!
For question of how to use it... like I already mentioned, EVERYTHING. Noodles, hot or cold, rice, salads, you name it! When you heat it on a pan, it thickens and sticks to anything you cover it with. It is sweet, spicy, savory, it is anything you need it to be!
