Have you had a chance to try the Korean chili paste, gochujang? If not, I recommend you find some. I certainly haven’t explored the full range of possibilities for using it. I do know it makes an amazing component of a marinade. If you have an Asian grocery near you, I am sure you will be able to find it. As I don’t, it was available to order on Amazon.

Gochujang

According to Google…

Gochujang or red chili paste is a savory, sweet, and spicy fermented condiment popular in Korean cooking. It is made from gochu-garu (chili powder), glutinous rice, meju powder (fermented soybean powder), yeotgireum (barley malt powder), and salt. The sweetness comes from the starch of cooked glutinous rice, cultured with saccharifying enzymes during the fermentation process.

It is hot, but not overwhelmingly so. And the heat seems to dissipate when it’s cooked. It takes a starring role in this marinade recipe. I have used this marinade on both bone-on and boneless chicken breasts, and a whole roasted chicken. However, it would be equally delicious on a flank steak or baked tofu. You can marinate for an hour, or even better, overnight in the fridge.

Gochujang Marinated Korean BBQ Chicken

Korean BBQ Marinade 

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons gochujang
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
• 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 tablespoons of unsweetened rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
• For the sauce – 2 tablespoons of honey
• Garnish – chopped cilantro, chopped scallions

Method:

1. For the marinade, combine all the ingredients, whisking to mix well.
2. Set aside about 1/3 of the marinade and mix it with the honey. You will use this to drizzle over the finished dish.
3. Brush all over the chicken, cover, and refrigerate in the refrigerator for an hour or overnight.
4. When ready to cook, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Brush with any remaining marinade and roast for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. The internal temperature should be 160 degrees F. I cooked my chicken breasts (boneless but with skin on) in the air fryer for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Gochujang Marinated Chicken

The inspiration for this recipe came from a New Zealand Airlines inflight magazine.

I served it with a Thai-influenced chopped cabbage and kale salade.

Thai-influenced chopped cabbage and kale salad

I’ll post that recipe later this week. It came from the blog Pinch of Yum.

Korean BBQ chicken and Thai-influenced chopped cabbage and kale salad

It was a great combination.