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If you are into the many uses for Thailand’s Sriracha like we are, here’s a new one for you: Korean Gochujang Chili Sauce. I got a hold of a bottle after we Food Partied! about these red-siren super sauces in Sriracha + Ketchup + Hoison.

Gochujang (Korean for hot pepper paste) is spicy and umami-rich, but less sweet and more complex than her sister from another mister, Sriracha. I’d describe her as more mysterious, more alluring with depth, more …well…like me. 🙂

Go ahead, squeeze this little strumpet over everything. Last week, I matched her up with my pea soup. Developed the recipe for a Redwood City company making National Schools Lunch Program soups from USDA commodities and local produce. This noble effort should still succeed, but at least for now, the recipes did.

Here’s a perfect one for the rainy and snowy days ahead.

Kick-and-a-Split Pea Soup Serves 6

1 tablespoon oil
2 cups onion
1 ½ cup celery, chopped
1 ½ cup carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 2/3 pounds (approx.) ham hock
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs parsley
1 pound (1 bag) green split peas, rinsed
6 cups water
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
Pinch freshly ground white and black pepper
Garnish with Gochujang chili sauce

Wash peas and rinse; set aside. Add oil to heavy large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onion – garlic and sauté until they begin to soften, about 8 minutes. Add pork – parsley; stir 1 minute. Add peas and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Partially cover pot; simmer soup until pork is tender and peas are falling apart (about 1 ¼ hours) stirring every so often. In the last 15 minutes add dry mustard, salt, pepper and vinegar. Continue cooking, letting flavors blend. Adjust seasonings. Remove ham hock, shred meat off the bone, return to pot and stir. Ladle into soup bowls with drizzled Gochujang. Try writing the initials of the person eating the soup on top.

Perfect for Valentines Day…..

Find Gochujang in the Asian foods aisle.

Local Flavor
SOS Seafood Festival: Sustaining Our Seas
Saturday, January 30th 10 AM – 5 PM
Seafood for Thought Chefs Pavilion Hosts Cooking Demos & World-Class Panel
Princeton-By-The-Sea (Half Moon Bay)
https://www.sosseafest.org/

Look Who’s Cooking! Class with Chef Edward Lee
Saturday, February 20th 2 PM
Macy’s Union Square
O’Farrell, 170 O’Farrell St, San Francisco, CA 94102
Top Chef Edward Lee will be in the Cellar Kitchen cooking up dishes with Gochujang

Yolks – here you go:

I've been attracted to food for good and bad reasons for years.

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