Korean Gochujang Gravy

Gochujang is a fermented chilli paste, thick and dark red, more savoury and sweet than it is hot. Made into a gravy it gives you something with real depth that still tastes bright, and grated pear does the same job here it does in bulgogi marinade: sweetness plus a bit of tenderising enzyme. This is very good over fried chicken, pork belly or rice.

Ingredients

Makes about 400ml, enough for four

• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 4 cloves garlic, grated
• 15g (½oz) fresh ginger, grated
• 1 small nashi or conference pear, coarsely grated
• 3 tbsp gochujang Korean fermented chilli paste, in a red tub. Korean supermarkets, larger Tesco and Sainsbury's world food aisles and online. Brands vary in heat, so taste yours
• 1 tsp gochugaru Korean chilli flakes, coarse and bright red. Ordinary chilli flakes are hotter and less fruity, so use half as much
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey or brown sugar
• 400ml (14fl oz) hot chicken or beef stock
• 2 tsp cornflour slaked in 2 tbsp cold water
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds to finish

Kit

• Saucepan
• Box grater
• Whisk

Method

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for one minute, stirring, until fragrant but not coloured.

2. Add the grated pear and cook for three minutes until it softens and gives up its liquid, which will start to reduce and go syrupy at the edges of the pan.

3. Turn the heat down to low and add the gochujang and gochugaru. Fry the paste gently for two minutes, stirring constantly. It will darken and start to smell toasty rather than raw, and this step is what separates a good gochujang sauce from one that tastes like paste stirred into stock.

4. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar and honey and stir until the honey has dissolved.

5. Pour in the hot stock in two goes, whisking to break up the paste completely. Bring to a simmer.

6. Simmer uncovered for six or seven minutes until slightly reduced and the raw fermented edge has softened into something rounder.

7. Stir the cornflour slurry and pour it in while stirring. Cook for one minute more until the gravy turns glossy and coats a spoon. Take it off the heat.

8. Stir in the sesame oil, taste, and adjust with more honey if it is too sharp or more vinegar if it is too sweet. Scatter over the sesame seeds and serve over fried chicken, rice bowls or grilled pork.

Tips worth knowing

• Frying the gochujang for a couple of minutes before any liquid goes in makes a real difference. Straight from the tub it tastes flat and slightly raw in a sauce.
• Gochujang brands vary hugely in heat and sweetness. Start with two tablespoons if yours is unfamiliar, then taste and build up.
• Grated apple works if you cannot find a suitable pear, though it is a little sharper. Tinned pear in juice, drained and mashed, is another decent stand in.
• This is not gluten free as written. Most gochujang contains wheat, and so does standard soy sauce. Gluten free gochujang exists but you have to look for it.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps a week in the fridge and the flavour rounds out after a day. Reheat gently with a splash of stock. Freezing works for two months, though the cornflour texture loosens, so a quick simmer brings it back.

Questions people ask