Gochujang: what it is and how to use it
Okay. Kimchi module's done. New module, and it's the one I get the most questions about — gochujang.
People see it, get intimidated by the jar, and either avoid it or dump in way too much and wonder why dinner tastes like a punishment. Let's fix that.
What it actually is
Gochujang is a thick, dark red paste made from fermented chili, glutinous rice, and fermented soybeans. It's salty, a little sweet, and it has this deep savory pull to it that plain chili paste doesn't have. Gochugaru — the flakes we used for kimchi — is just chili. Gochujang is chili plus fermentation plus sweetness. Different tool, different job.
Texture-wise it's closer to a thick jam than a hot sauce. You're not shaking it out of a bottle. You're scooping it with a spoon, and it'll stick to the spoon, and that's normal.
Write this down: gochujang is a base, not a garnish. You build sauces and marinades around it. You don't sprinkle it on like a condiment unless you're thinning it first.
Buying it
You can get gochujang at the Korean grocery up in Salt Lake, and a decent one has started showing up at some regular grocery stores too. Check the international aisle at Macey's before you make a special trip. Look at the ingredient list — the better ones list rice, chili, and soybean high up, not corn syrup as the second ingredient. Both work for learning. The cheaper corn-syrup version is sweeter and a little flatter. That's fine for a weeknight. Just don't expect it to taste like your friend's homemade batch, because it won't, and that's not the recipe's fault.
Once opened, it keeps for months in the fridge. It doesn't really go bad the way fresh things do — it's already fermented, so it's stable. Keep the lid on tight and it'll outlast most things in your fridge door.
How much to use
Here's the thing — gochujang is salty and intense, so a little goes further than you think. Start with a tablespoon in a sauce for two to three servings and taste before you add more. You can always add. You cannot un-salt a dish.
This is where I have to tell on myself a little. Early on, I got it into my head that marinating longer, or using more, was automatically better. I did this with a bulgogi marinade once — left the meat sitting overnight instead of the few hours it needed, figuring more time meant more flavor. It didn't. It meant mushy meat that tasted like a salt lick. I served it anyway because I'd already made the rice and I wasn't about to start over at 6pm on a Tuesday. Nobody at the table said anything. I knew, though. Gochujang punishes the same impulse — more is not better, it's just more.
Three ways to use it, starting tonight
1. Bibimbap sauce. Mix 2 tablespoons gochujang, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, and a splash of water to loosen it. Stir until smooth. That's it. Spoon it over rice and vegetables and mix at the table.
2. Quick marinade for pork or chicken. 2 tablespoons gochujang, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, a clove of garlic minced, a little grated ginger if you have it. Marinate thin cuts 30 minutes to an hour — this isn't the overnight kind of marinade, don't do what I did. Pan-fry or grill.
3. Stew base. A spoonful of gochujang stirred into a simmering soup or stew with some gochugaru and doenjang gives you that deep red-brown color and a rounder heat than chili flakes alone. We'll do more with this when we get to jjigae later in the course.
A real caution
Gochujang scorches easily because of the sugar content, so if you're using it in a pan sauce, keep the heat at medium and stir it, don't walk away. It'll go from glossy to burnt-bitter fast, and burnt gochujang tastes like regret. If you're marinating meat for the grill, know that the sugar means it'll char quicker than a plain soy marinade — watch it, don't leave it.
Also: it stains. Wooden spoons, plastic containers, that white shirt you were going to wear. Just something to know going in.
Don't overthink it
You need one good jar and a spoon that measures. That's the whole barrier to entry here. Everything else is proportion and taste.
Before next time: grab a jar of gochujang if you don't have one, and if you're feeling good about it, make the bibimbap sauce above and taste it plain off a spoon before you put it near food. You want to know what it's doing on its own before you start building with it.