Mission: Gochujang Sauce

The first time I heard of gochujang sauce was several weeks ago when my husband and I were brainstorming ideas for eating in. We wanted to take something that is generally thought of as "fast food" or "take out" and make it at home. Soon we were remembering the delicious Korean-style tacos from the Kogi truck that we tried on a trip to LA last year.

Much to my delight, I found the exact recipe for the BBQ sauce used in the Kogi Korean tacos here, as well as a recipe for some tasty pickled cucumbers. Only problem was, I wasn't sure where to find the spicy fermented chile paste known as gochujang. We asked around and finally found some at a local Korean market (I know, go figure). There are many brands, but most look something like this:


We made the Korean tacos - they rocked. Now that we have a huge tub of sweet/spicy gochujang, we've been experimenting with more Korean dishes like Pork Bulgogi:

And a spicy chicken dish called Dak Gochujang Boekum:

It's so fun discovering new ingredients that make cooking an endless adventure in taste, not to mention fun places like a Korean market that I never would have thought of entering before.