Chicken thighs with a gochujang glaze

I think I fell in love this week. With a condiment. I think it’s likely to become as much of a staple in my kitchen as Worcestershire sauce, sesame oil and Mrs HS Ball’s chutney – the kind of thing that is always there, in case you fancy adding it to a dish you’re cooking.

I’ve tasted gochujang before, but never cooked with it. Every now and then it’s been listed on a menu as an ingredient of this or that dish I’m about to eat. It’s always been intriguing.

Funny how the food world changes, and our habits with it. I remember a time when soy sauce was a rarity. When nobody had heard of sesame oil outside of a Chinese restaurant. And less than 10 years ago, who had heard of matcha? I’m still trying to get my head around matcha. It’s just less interesting than most other trendy food products.

As for miso, I’m a fan, but I wish it was sold in smaller quantities. Aunty AI (my AIa) tells me that, while miso can last in the fridge for “3 to 18 months”, its high salt content “means it technically remains safe to eat for years”. But at the rate I use it, a tub of miso is likely to still be in my fridge at the turn of the next century. I suppose I could pass it down to my grandchildren.

What is gochujang exactly? I popped around to my AIa’s house next door, who confirmed what I knew: that it is a fermented paste of chillies and… no. Let’s rather allow Wikipedia to have a look-in. This online encyclopaedia of the people and for the people must be reeling right now, with AI having taken over its role as the go-to source for so much information.

Wikipedia says: “Gochujang or red chilli paste is a savoury, sweet, and spicy fermented condiment popular in Korean cooking. It is made from gochugaru (red chilli powder), chapssal (glutinous rice), meju (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. Traditionally, it would be naturally fermented over years in jangdok (earthenware) on an elevated stone platform called jangdokdae in the backyard.”

So, gochujang is not the sort of condiment you run up yourself. Just buy it.

You can make a substitute of your own, if you really want to. My AIa tells me that “the best authentic replacement for gochujang is a mix of miso paste, hot sauce or chilli flakes, and a pinch of sugar. If you want a quick fix, you can also use ssamjang, doubanjiang (Chinese spicy bean paste), or sriracha mixed with miso, depending on what flavour notes you need to match.”

But rather find a good Asian shop and buy the real product. 

There’s more than gochujang in this glaze, by the way. I added tamari soy sauce (a darker, less salty variation of soy sauce), a dash of sesame oil, and a touch of honey.

Tony’s chicken thighs with a gochujang glaze

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

8 thicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on

1 heaped Tbsp gochujang paste

1 Tbsp Tamari soy sauce

1 Tbsp raw honey

1 tsp sesame oil

Salt

Method

Mix the gochujang paste with the soy, honey and sesame oil in a small bowl or ramekin.

Smear or brush the chicken fillets on all sides with it.

Bake in a preheated air fryer oven at 180°C for 30 minutes, then  turn the heat up to 200°C for another 5 to 10 minutes. Be watchful, and remove the thighs from the oven before the skin starts to blacken.

And that’s it. So quick, so easy.

Now put the gochujang in the fridge and try not to forget about it until 2043. DM

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Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.

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