If You Like Sriracha, You Need to Know Gochujang
Meet gochujang, the savory Korean sauce with a savory, salty, spicy flavor.
— -- Sriracha has taken the condiment world by storm in recent years, showing up in more and more chain restaurant dishes (Subway, Taco Bell, Wendy’s and more) and even teaming up with Heinz ketchup for an all-new hybrid sauce. So once something makes the big leagues, does that mean it’s over?
We still love sriracha -- cool or not -- but there’s a new condiment aiming for the top spot that is bound to be a crowd-pleaser to sriracha lovers. 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. “What makes gochujang different from sriracha or tabasco is that fermented, salty flavor, which you’re not going to get with other hot sauces.”
Lee recently teamed up with Korean food company Chung Jung One to bring a version of the condiment stateside in a more Americanized form without the MSG and corn syrup commonly found in Korean versions.
“We wanted to do something that was kind of small batch, just a little bit made with more care,” he said. “The gochujang itself is gluten free, no MSG, no corn syrup, so it’s really a very clean version.”
For those unfamiliar with the condiment’s applications -- other than as a hot sauce on its own -- Lee recommends diving in by combining the spread with an equal amount of ketchup.
“It’s the simplest thing you can do, but it’s so much better than regular ketchup for your French fries and hamburger,” he said. “Anywhere you want a little bit of spice flavor, but not something that’s going to melt your face off, it’s just a perfect thing. The other thing is, because of its texture of the paste, it adds body to a lot of things, like thickening stews. Anything where you want to add flavor or texture with umami, it’s all good.”
Try incorporating gochujang into your diet with one of Edward Lee’s recipes below.
Edward Lee's Green Tea Noodles with Gochujang Dipping Sauce