You’re Thinking About Gochujang All Wrong (Published 2023) (2024)

Whenever Euny Hong’s mother flies Korean Air, she asks for an extra tube of gochujang, the crimson fermented chile paste, for her in-flight bibimbap. Later, at restaurants, she’ll take the tube out of her purse and squeezesome gochujang onto her plate.

“It’s so embarrassing,” said Ms. Hong, a cultural critic who has written multiple books on Korean culture, including “The Birth of Korean Cool” and “The Power of Nunchi.” But recently, while talking to somefriends, she learned that many other Korean mothers of a certain generation seemed to do this, too.

The thing is, gochujang — a mix of glutinous rice, fermented soybeans and gochugaru, the glorious red-pepper powder, among other additives — might be good in a pinch when you’re out and about, and in need of spice, but it’s not quite a sauce. Not in the way Sriracha or Tabasco are, anyway. It’s a jang, a foundational ingredient in Korean cooking, meaning you usually need to add other ingredients to it: Soy sauce, vinegar and garlic are common accompaniments, turning it into a sauce, glaze or marinade. (Swirled with brown sugar and butter, it also works surprisingly well in a cookie.)

Recipe: Gochujang Buttered Noodles

But even in bibimbap, which Ms. Hong referred to as “the gateway drug to gochujang,” most recipes call for cutting the hot pepper paste with nutty sesame oil.