Comments on: Spicy/Sweet Red Sauce for Korean dish?

Question: Spicy/Sweet Red Sauce for Korean dish?

universal_qlc — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 00:40:12 -0800

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)?

By: graytona

graytona — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 01:51:40 -0800

is it go-chu-jang? or a variant thereof?

By: curiousleo

curiousleo — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 02:57:48 -0800

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

By: atomly

atomly — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 03:52:11 -0800

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.

By: shokod

shokod — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 03:57:43 -0800

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

By: savagecorp

savagecorp — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 08:04:47 -0800

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.

By: wuzandfuzz

wuzandfuzz — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 10:40:16 -0800

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.

By: suedehead

suedehead — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 16:05:30 -0800

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.

By: Joseph Gurl

Joseph Gurl — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 18:27:37 -0800

Suedehead is correct.

By: kkokkodalk

kkokkodalk — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 23:48:56 -0800

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.