Spicy/Sweet Red Sauce for Korean dish?

February 4, 2007 12:40 AM

What is the spicy and sweet red sauce that comes with hwe dup bop (or chirashi bowl) at Korean (Japanese) restaurants?

...because my boyfriend and I are addicted to it and are wondering where we could find it, or how we could make some for ourselves; going out to a restaurant and ordering it every time we get a craving for it could get kind of expensive.

Also, any unusual suggestions for what it would go well with (aside from hwe dup bop)?

posted by universal_qlc to food & drink (9 comments total)

is it go-chu-jang? or a variant thereof?
posted by graytona at 1:51 AM on February 4, 2007

It is your regular go-chu-jang.
Nothing more... Nothing less...

You can pick them up at any Korean/Asian Market or Internet shops... They may come in tubes also.

It goes well with bi-bim-bop (same as hwedup bop but replace fish with meet and sorted vegies... some sesame oil)

Go-chu-jang goes well with most any fresh vegies like chile pepper, cabbage... etc.. (try some in a salad...)

I think it works best with fried rice dishes... Make your everyday fried rice with some meat/fish/chicken/vegies,etc... and add go-chu-jang sauce while you make it.

The real best is making duk-bok-ki...

http://thedeliciouslife.blogspot.com/2005/08/its-not-rice-cake-dammit-dduk-bok-ki.html
posted by curiousleo at 2:57 AM on February 4, 2007

Are you sure? I don't associate go-chu-jang with "Spicy/Sweet" as much as "Spicy/Salty," though I guess it could theoretically be a sweeter gochujang than I'm used to.

I have seen some Korean restaurants serve Sriracha, even though it's not Korean.
posted by atomly at 3:52 AM on February 4, 2007

Thirding Go-Chu-Jang and seconding duk-bok-ki.
In order to easily spot it in the Asian grocery store, just look for these nifty red tubs.
wow, this is my 2nd pro-Go-Chu-Jang post in 24 hours
posted by shokod at 3:57 AM on February 4, 2007

It's totally Go-Chu-Jang. Sometimes the restaurants will mix it with certain things i.e. sugar, sesame oil, sesame seeds... but that's what it is.
posted by savagecorp at 8:04 AM on February 4, 2007

Well, there is a milder version called sam-jang that looks similar, and tastes similar, just sweeter. It's a mixture of gochujang and denjang, (the fermented soybean paste in denjang jigae) giving it that sweet taste you may be thinking of.

My mom used to give me this stuff as a kid in my bibimbap because 1)my dad preferred sweet food and 2)I was a spicy food wuss up until my 18th birthday. Give it a try, it might be the right one!

As a footnote, savagecorp may be right. A common practice for korean fusion restaurants is to put sugar in everything to make it palatable to non-koreans. So if your restaurant isnt really authentic, this could be a possibility too.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 10:40 AM on February 4, 2007

It's called Cho-go-chu-jang (초고추장), and it's a traditional Korean spinoff of Go-chu-jang, not a fusion thing. It's usually served with hwe dup bop, or bi-bim bap, or korean pancakes (pah-jun), or with boiled seaweed.

Normal Go-chu-jang is thicker, a bit grainer, more paste-ish. Cho-go-chu-jang is smoother, sweeter, more liquidy (it runs off your spoon).

Here's a simple recipe: Mix 1 part Go-chu-jang, 1 part vinegar, 1 part (or less) sugar. You should also be able to buy some at a Korean food store.
posted by suedehead at 4:05 PM on February 4, 2007

Suedehead is correct.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 6:27 PM on February 4, 2007

Also here to chime in that suedehead is correct. It's not fusion at all and is a traditional condiment made from gochujang used for a variety of things.
posted by kkokkodalk at 11:48 PM on February 4, 2007