16 Recipes That Get a Spicy-Sweet Kick From Gochujang

From sauces and spicy stews to bibimbap, stir-fried anchovy banchan, and crispy skillet rice, here are our favorite ways to enjoy gochujang's sweet heat.

By
Yasmine Maggio
Yasmine Maggio
Yasmine Maggio
Associate Editor
Yasmine is an Associate Editor at Serious Eats. Her work has been featured in Women’s Health and on L’Officiel USA, and she recently graduated from New York University with a master's in journalism. You can find her at Bleecker Street Pizza on any given weekend.
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Updated May 09, 2024
Overhead view of bowl of birria and assorted sides

Serious Eats / Lorena Masso

If you're familiar with Korean cuisine, then you've probably come across gochujang, a spicy-sweet chile paste that's as versatile as it is delicious. The pungent paste is made from gochugaru (coarsely ground Korean chile powder), fermented soybean powder, glutinous rice syrup, and salt. It's traditionally fermented for many months, and sometimes years, during which the starches from the rice are converted to sugars, helping create gochujang's iconic, subtle sweetness.

Because it's not just cooked, but fermented, gochujang does much more than add spice to your favorite dishes. We love its complex layers of flavor that make it spicy, sweet, salty, and funky all at once. It also has a thick consistency and deep red color that adds texture and brightness when used, especially in sauces and marinades. You'll often find gochujang in Korean dishes like bibimbap, soondubu jjigae, tteokbokki, and several types of bulgogi, as well as sauces and a number of a number of stews, like soondubu jjigae and buddae jjigae.

From bibimbap and spicy, cheesy buldak chicken to stir-fried anchovy banchan, bossam, and crispy skillet rice, these are our favorite ways to enjoy the sweet heat of gochujang.

  • Bossam (Korean Boiled-Pork Wraps)

    Overhead view of a platter of bo ssam with assorted sauces and toppings.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Thin slices of velvety boiled pork belly are dunked in spicy salted shrimp-soju dip and wrapped in cabbage leaves with gochujang-flavored preserved radish kimchi and a healthy dollop of ssamjang. For those keeping track, that's two gochujang-enriched condiments in one tasty parcel. Hi, score!

  • Homestyle Bibimbap

    Overhead view of bibimbap

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    An assortment of banchan (side dishes), a dollop of gochujang, and a drizzle of sesame oil makes this homestyle bibimbap a perennial favorite.

  • Ssamjang (Korean Barbecue Dipping Sauce)

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    Vicky Wasik

    Gochujang is the backbone of this Korean barbecue sauce. The paste is mixed with the savory flavors of doenjang (fermented Korean soybean paste), along with garlic, scallions, and toasted sesame oil and seeds. The result is a condiment with layers of complex flavor. The best way to enjoy ssamjang is by spreading it on lettuce before piling on grilled meat, seafood, and vegetables. In addition to bossam, pictured above, check out Sunny's Thanksgiving-inspired turkey ssam, which includes a wonderfully sweet-and-spicy roasted squash ssamjang.

  • Kimchi-Brined Fried Chicken Sandwich

    9:49

    Kenji's Kimchi-Brined Fried Chicken Sandwich

    With pickle-brined fried chicken being as popular as it is, we decided to use the same technique with a different kind of pickle: kimchi. The kimchi brine gives the chicken flavor and helps it stay juicy, while also lending some texture to the dry dredging mixture. After frying the chicken until it's crispy and golden brown, it gets slathered with a gochujang-based sauce that incorporates more heat from gochugaru and more sweetness from honey. We can't think of a better way to serve this than on Stella’s flaky black sesame buttermilk biscuits.

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  • Stir-Fried Anchovy Banchan (Myeolchi Bokkeum)

    20200224-MYEOLCHI-BOKKEUM-Stir-fried-anchovy-banchan-vicky-wasik-8
    Vicky Wasik

    The ideal midday snack should be sweet, savory, crunchy, and irresistible all at once, just like this stir-fried anchovy banchan. Baby anchovies are coated in a glaze made up of gochugaru, soy sauce, fish sauce, and gochujang. The recipe comes together in minutes and keeps well in the fridge. So next time you're craving a certain je ne sais quoi, you can count on myeolchi bokkeum to satisfy your every last craving.

  • Grilled Korean Bulgogi Burgers With Kimchi Mayo and Pickled Daikon

    20170617-bulgogi-burger-matt-clifton-1.jpg
    Emily and Matt Clifton

    These burgers get much of their flavor from what's on the outside, not the inside. While grilling, they're brushed with flavorful bulgogi sauce that includes soy sauce, brown sugar, and gochujang. They get another coating of the sauce after grilling, and then are loaded with spicy kimchi mayo and pickled daikon radish before being sandwiched between toasted sesame buns.

  • Korean Kimchi Barbecue Sauce

    20150604-barbecue-sauce-daniel-gritzer-36.jpg
    Daniel Gritzer

    A sauce that combines the funky Korean flavors of kimchi and gochujang with the sweet tang of a barbecue sauce? Say no more. We use a blender to create a purée out of the kimchi and its juices, along with extra onion, garlic, and ginger. Then, we move to the stove and combine this mixture with ketchup, rice vinegar, gochujang, Worcestershire sauce, and molasses and simmer until the sauce has thickened and all the flavors have combined. The result is a flavorful sauce that pairs well with grilled chicken, pork, and shellfish like shrimp.

  • Sweet and Spicy Chile Sauce For Korean Fried Chicken

    20200513-korean-fried-chicken-sweet-spicy-chili-sauce-reshoot-vicky-wasik-1-7
    Vicky Wasik

    The crisp crunch of Korean fried chicken combined with this sweet and spicy sauce is a match made in fried chicken heaven. Here, gochujang is whisked together with soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil. Because the thickness of gochujang can be inconsistent, you may need to add up to two tablespoons of water until the sauce is thin enough to spread easily, yet thick enough to cling to the crispy outer layer of the chicken.

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  • Korean-Style Fire Chicken (Buldak) With Cheese

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    Vicky Wasik

    Forget Buffalo wings: Fire chicken is the ultimate game-day treat. To make the Korean bar food, start by marinating chicken thighs in a spicy gochujang-spiked sauce. In addition to the gochujang, this sauce gets an added layer of depth from gochugaru (Korean chili powder), red chile peppers, and black pepper, along with a surprise addition of Sprite. In order to keep the chicken from drying out, we grill the thighs whole before cutting them into bite-size pieces. Finally, the chicken is covered in mozzarella cheese and broiled until bubbling. Game day or not, this is one delicious treat that'll be gone in no time.

  • Homemade Shin Cup-Style Spicy Korean Ramyun Beef Noodle Soup

    20140120-beef-ramyun-homemade-recipe-15
    J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

    Gochujang can do more than serve as a base for sauces and marinades. Here, it finds its way into instant noodles by adding flavor to both the short ribs and the broth. If more spiciness is desired, you can always add more gochujang, especially after dividing the soup into individual bowls. We suggest topping your bowl with mushrooms, scallions, kimchi, and a soft-boiled egg.

  • Crispy Cheese- and Kimchi-Topped Skillet Rice

    20191014-cheesy-rice-vicky-wasik-13
    Vicky Wasik

    Fried rice isn't the only answer to your leftover rice problem. Loaded with an array of flavors and textures, there’s no question that this cheese- and kimchi-topped skillet rice should be added to your rotation. The rice gets mixed thoroughly with gochujang, soy sauce, and rice vinegar before moving to the skillet. Both mozzarella and Gruyère find their way into the dish in between layers of the rice, which is then cooked and broiled in the oven. Adding kimchi and cotija during the last two minutes of broiling helps the skillet rice char nicely. Before serving, you can finish the dish with a generous amount of sliced scallions for an added crunch.

  • Korean Spicy Marinated Pork With Chiles and Kimchi (Jaeyook Kimchi Bokum)

    20140912-korean-pork-kimchi-daniel-gritzer-9.jpg
    Daniel Gritzer

    This easy stir-fry is perfect for a weeknight dinner. Strips of pork shoulder are marinated in a mixture that gets its subtle sweetness from gochujang and Asian pear, an ingredient that also helps tenderize the meat. After sitting in the marinade for at least two hours (but up to eight for maximum flavor), all that's left to do is cook the meat with onions, green chili pepper, scallions, and kimchi. Serve with lettuce leaves and rice for a secretly easy, but supremely flavorful dinner.

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  • Crispy Bulgogi-Filled Scallion Pancakes

    20150817-Bulgogi-Scallion-Pancake-Quesadillas-Overhead-Morgan-Eisenberg.jpg
    Morgan Eisenberg

    This Korean spin on quesadillas brings together flaky Chinese-style scallion pancakes with bulgogi-style steak and two types of cheese. Gochujang makes its way into the marinade, along with ingredients like soy sauce and brown sugar. After preparing both the meat and the scallion pancakes, the rest is all about assembly. Top two scallion pancakes with bulgogi meat, as well as shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, then close it off with the remaining pancakes. Once the cheese is melted and the pancakes are browned, you can drizzle the quesadillas with additional gochujang and top with scallions and cilantro.

  • Dwaeji Bulgogi (Korean-Style Spicy Grilled Pork)

    A closeup of the author cradling a piece of dwaeji bulgogi in a lettuce leaf.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    If you want to throw a Korean barbecue feast at home, make sure to include this spicy, char-grilled pork. The marinade uses a full cup of gochujang, plus some extra gochugaru for good measure.

  • Birria de Res (Beef Birria)

    Overhead view of bowl of birria and assorted sides

    Serious Eats / Lorena Masso

    Octavio's recipe for this classic braised beef dish from Jalisco features a complex consomé flavored with a blend of chiles, achiote paste, and the unexpected addition of gochujang, which adds a funky, sweet, and savory element.

  • Soondubu Jjigae (Korean Soft Tofu Stew)

    Closeup of the surface of a bubbling pot of soondubu jjigae.

    Serious Eats / Jessica Leibowitz

    This spicy and intensely savory stew gets its flavor from a dried anchovy-kombu stock, pork belly, ripe, extra-fermented kimchi, plenty of gochugaru, and a big spoonful of gochujang. Once the pork-kimchi broth is bubbling, silken tofu is stirred in, along with a four eggs, which fortify the stew with their runny yolks. File under "sinus-clearing comfort food."

June 2020

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