5 ingredients and 5 minutes are all you need to make this sweet, spicy, and salty Korean chili sauce! It's the perfect condiment that gives a tasty kick to a variety of dishes, Asian or not!
You've heard of ketchup. And you've probably heard of sriracha.
But have you heard of gochujang?
If you've enjoyed many a Korean dish, like bibimbap or japchae, you must be familiar with this chili sauce that takes your taste buds up a notch!
Made from just a few ingredients and requiring no cooking, you can make this chili sauce lickety split.
All it takes it some miso paste, garlic, fine chili powder (not the flakes), rice vinegar, and honey. Mix it together really well with a whisk and add enough water to get it to your desired level of sauciness.
And much like my Broiled Miso Salmon Filets, this is another great use of miso and shows that this flavorful Asian ingredient can do so much more than just soup!
You've got spice from the chili powder, a slight tang from from the rice vinegar, sweetness from the honey, and the flavorful bite that garlic gives. The miso paste gives this Korean chili sauce its saltiness, umami, and body.
One thing to keep in mind that not all chili powders are the same. Depending on whether it is from Korea, Thailand, Mexico, Spain, etc., they may have different flavors and different levels of spiciness because of the different chili peppers they use! So that being said, I don't know what this sauce would be like if you were to use a chili powder, but you could certainly give it a try. You should be able to find the Korean chili powder in your Asian or Korean food market.
Think out of the box when using this condiment! While it's fabulous on japchae or bimbimbap or other rice and noodles dishes, use it as a dip for postickers, breaded chicken, or veggies. You could even drizzle it on fried eggs!
And you've heard of sriracha mayo, right? You can even make gochujang mayo and use it as a dip or to give your sandwiches a spicy Korean kick!
Five ingredients. Five minutes. Spicy, sweet, salty, and delicious. What are you waiting for?
~ Lisa.
Recipe
No-Cook 5 Minute Korean Chili Sauce (Gochujang)
Ingredients
- 3 tbs miso paste
- 2 tbs honey
- 2 tbs chili pepper flakes powder
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 3 tbs water
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a bow and mix well with a whisk.
- Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator.
Notes
- When buying chili pepper, make sure you are purchasing the fine powder form and not the chili flakes.
- If the sauce is too thick, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.
- Adjust the amount of the ingredients according to taste.
- If doubling or tripling the recipe, blend all the ingredients in a blender!
- Drizzle on bibimbap, japchae, eggs, fried rice...on anything you might you use with ketchup!!
- Mix with mayo to make gochujang mayo and use it as a dip or spread it in sandwiches!
Nutrition
Adapted from Unconventional Cooks Korean Chili Pepper Paste recipe.
Cheer says
Was looking for something to spice up my plain steamed potatoes, for a little snack before bed. Whenever I would sprinkle plain gochugaru along with other seasonings on potatoes or anything it wouldn't taste as exciting as I imagined.
This hit the spot! Thank you for teaching me such a simple and quick way to use gochugaru powder! Next time I'll just lessen the miso paste a bit to my taste 🙂
Cheer says
I didn't see the rating part! 5+ stars!!!
Thanks so much for the comments and 5 star rating! Thanks for trying my recipe and yes, adjust the ingredients so that it tastes right for you!
S.K. says
oops, forgot to post a rating!
S.K. says
A few reactions. First, I made this sauce to the word of the recipe (using gochugaru for the pepper flakes, as I assume many others here have) and it was phenomenal. Whatever you may have been looking for in this recipe, the result is nothing short of gustatory euophoria. Second, and relatedly, I'm seeing a few knocks in the comments against the verisimilitude of this recipe. At the outset, I'd caution these commenters against having unrealistic expectations with such simple recipes; they call it "5 minute" sauce for a reason. Also, while I may be a novice in these matters, to me this tasted damn near indistinguishable from the stuff I've had in restaurants situated in the middle of Korean population centers in central and northern NJ (perhaps that's just what they serve to culinary philistines such as I, but that's my experience). Hats off to Lisa for such a delicious and easy recipe!
Wow. Thank you so much! I was a bit apprehensive when I saw the long write-up, but I truly appreciate you taking the time to post your comments. And I'm also glad that you liked the sauce! 🙂
Daniel says
Thank you for posting this recipe. I tried this out today, after making it a yesterday in letting it sit in the fridge overnight. To me it did not taste like gochujang, but was tasty. I'll do it again.
I know it is not exactly like how traditional gochujang is made, but in a pinch, it works. Thanks for the comment, Daniel!
Cid says
Thank you. Very Delicious.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Aaron says
Um....what?! There is no such thing as an easy fast gochujang. It’s something that has to be aged and fermented. Just order some off Amazon. This recipe wouldn’t even come close to tasting like gochujang.
Absolutely, the traditional way to make gochujang involves aging and fermenting and is much more involved. I'm just offering one way for people try making it if they want to try it but don't want to go through the longer process, but obviously, everyone is free to try making it how ever they'd like! Thanks for the feedback, Aaron!
Lau says
I just made this and it tastes really amazing 🙂
Can't wait to use this sauce as a marinade on fresh salmon steaks cooked in a wood smoker, Yum!
Nigel says
Hi There, I made it and used it in kimchi but added too much, what can I add to make it less fierce?
I don't think there is anything you can add to make it less fierce. My first thinking, short of starting again, is to lightly rinse the cabbage to wash off some of the spice and then adjust your kimchi seasonings until you get it to taste how you want.
Ala says
Hi, can you please suggest a substitute for miso paste as it is not available in my region. Also, can soy sauce be used as a substitute?
You could use soy sauce, but the sauce will end up being quite thin. The miso paste not only adds flavor but thickness to the sauce. You could also try tahini which has similar paste-like qualities to miso paste, but not the same flavor. So you may need to add a bit of soy sauce to taste.
Rachael says
Hello, Rachael here, may i know how long can i store the sauce in the fridge?
I think you could easily keep this sauce for a week in the refrigerator. Thanks for the question, Rachael.
Cathy says
I must try this! I think my family would like it. Our daughter-in-law was born in Korea. 🙂
Also, I'm happy to find a new use for miso, because I like its flavour!
Thanks, Cathy! I hope you like it and that it passes the test with your daughter-in-law!
Marieke says
Thank you for this recipe! I am celiac and I have had a hard time finding a GF version in stores, so this is perfect!!
Thanks for the comment, Marieke! I hope you like it!