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Thick dark red Korean gochujang chili paste in a container, ready to be mixed into sauce

Gochujang Sauce Recipe

A gochujang sauce recipe built on one ratio worth memorizing: 2-1-1-1. Thin it for dressing, tighten it for glaze, with an honest substitute for each part.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings: 180 ml
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 60 ml / 4 tbsp gochujang, Korean fermented chili paste — 2 parts
  • 30 ml / 2 tbsp Korean rice syrup or honey — 1 part
  • 30 ml / 2 tbsp soy sauce — 1 part
  • 30 ml / 2 tbsp rice vinegar — 1 part
  • 10 ml / 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced very fine
  • 15-45 ml / 1-3 tbsp water, to thin
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds, optional, for dips and spreads

Method
 

  1. Mince the garlic as fine as you can, or grate it on a microplane so it disappears into the sauce.
  2. In a bowl, measure the gochujang, rice syrup, soy sauce, and rice vinegar: 2 parts, 1 part, 1 part, 1 part.
  3. Whisk hard for about 30 seconds. The mixture looks streaky and broken at first, then suddenly turns smooth and glossy.
  4. Stir in the toasted sesame oil and the garlic.
  5. Add water 15 ml / 1 tbsp at a time until the sauce falls off the spoon the way you want it to: thick and slow for a glaze, ribboning for a dressing.
  6. Let it sit 10 minutes, then taste. Add vinegar if it's flat, rice syrup if it's harsh, a splash of soy sauce if it's dull.
  7. Transfer to a clean jar and refrigerate. It keeps about three weeks and gets rounder after a day.