Gochujang Is the Hero of Condiments. Learn How to Use It to Elevate Your Dishes. (2024)

FAQs

What is the purpose of gochujang? ›

As gochujang is very concentrated, it's typically used to add depth to dishes in collaboration with other ingredients, rather than as a standalone condiment.

Use it as a base ingredient in Korean dishes, soups, stews and stir-fries. Its spicy flavour means it also works well as a marinade or with tacos and burgers.

Gochujang (Korean: 고추장; Korean pronunciation: [kotɕʰudʑɑŋ]) or red chili paste is a savory, sweet, and spicy fermented condiment popular in Korean cooking. It is made from gochu-garu (chili powder), glutinous rice, meju (fermented soybean) powder, yeotgireum (barley malt powder), and salt.

Although it is rarely, if ever, used as a finishing sauce, gochujang can be used straight from the tub. In fact, many Koreans will eat it as is as an accompaniment to raw vegetables (like crudité) and dried anchovies.

Fermented soybeans in Gochujang makes it a great source of probiotics that can boost healthy gut microbiomes. Probiotics are live bacteria that are beneficial for digestion and overall gut health. However, it's important to note that Gochujang also contains chili peppers, which can be spicy.

Sure, gochujang has heat — depending on the brand, it can be extraordinarily spicy — but it also has a salty, almost meaty depth and a slight sweetness. In other words, it's not a one-note hot sauce that you add to a dish after the fact. If you want to see Korean chefs bristle, tout gochujang as the “next Sriracha.”

The most authentic gochujang replacement combines miso paste and sriracha with a little pinch of sugar. If you try to just swap in another Asian sauce like sriracha or sambal oelek as a 1:1 gochujang substitute, your dish will be spicier and more acidic than intended. Hot sauces contain vinegar, and gochujang does not.

Meet gochujang, the savory Korean sauce that, like sriracha, is made from fermented red peppers, but has a more savory, salty, deep flavor. “It's like hot sauce-meets-umami flavor,” chef Edward Lee, owner of 610 Magnolia & Milkwood in Louisville, Kentucky, told ABC News.

“You can eat gochujang straight up [with fried rice or spread on crusty bread, say], mix it into dips like hummus to jazz them up, or cook it, and dissolving it into soups and stews, for example.”

Gochujang, a fundamental ingredient in Korean cooking, is a thick and spicy-sweet crimson paste made from red chile pepper flakes, glutinous rice (also known as sticky rice), fermented soybeans, and salt.

What is the Chinese name for gochujang? ›

The Chinese word that represents gochujang [“Chojang (椒醬)”] is mentioned in the book “Sikui-simgam (食醫心鑒, Book for Alimentotherapist),” a book published in the year 850 ad (Fig.

Most other modern gochujang pastes are made using corn syrup, MSG, and other additives including pre-loaded spices that take away from the pure fermented flavor that develops during an extended urn fermentation process.

The result is a flavorful sauce that pairs well with grilled chicken, pork, and shellfish like shrimp.

On its own, gochujang is quite pungent, so it's usually mixed with other ingredients to balance its intensity.

Today, gochujang is widely accepted as a condiment and is used in the same way you would use ketchup. Some people will drizzle it over a bowl of rice, while others will use it as a marinade. The reason it is so popular is due to its flavor and numerous reported nutritional values.

So, what does gochujang taste like? To compare it with two popular sauces that almost always comes up in the same breath, gochujang is like the love child of sriracha and miso—spicy like the former, pungent like the latter—with a hint of sweetness.

While they share some similarities, gochujang and Thai red chili paste have distinct flavors. Gochujang is thicker, fermented, and has a richer taste, while Thai red chili paste tends to be thinner and focuses on the heat. Substituting one for the other may alter the flavor profile of the dish.