Gochujang (Korean Hot Pepper Paste) is magical, it’s a condiment on it’s own and a great base for soups, stews, sauces and stir-fries! It’s a key ingredient in Korean cooking, but there is a ton of other ways to use it! Gochujang has fermented umami flavor, it’s sweet, tangy, and very spicy. Did I mention spicy? This is HOT so if you aren’t into spicy then this will not be for you.
Ready to blend!
Tradition with a Twist
This recipe is made even more magical because it’s a quick blender recipe that comes together in 5 minutes or less and it ferments in the fridge. Traditionally Korean red pepper paste would have fermented outside in big clay pots buried in the ground and then dug up once ready. However, since most of us don’t have the time or space, this will have to do. 🙂
Also, by using chickpea miso, which is already fermented, you skip the long wait time. This will taste and look best after resting in the fridge for 3-5 days if you can resist for that long.
That swirl can’t be beat
Origin Story
This recipe is also free of common allergens found in commercially packaged Gochujang like gluten, soy & corn. Most Korean chili pastes in the store are made with wheat & soy ingredients and they almost all have corn syrup too, which is just not good for us. When I quit soy, corn & wheat my health improved drastically, however, I thought my days of enjoying my favorite spicy Korean sauce were over.
I decided to compare my favorite store-bought gouchjang brands and found they all had certain common ingredients and flavors. I worked through replacements that would match without containing soy sauce or soy miso, etc. After much experimenting trying to get this to taste and look like the real thing, this recipe was born! I hope you’ll enjoy.
- ⅓ cup gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
- ⅓ cup chickpea miso
- ¼ cup coconut aminos
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ of an onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp rice wine
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- Add all your ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until very smooth.
- Transfer to a mason jar and store in the fridge to ferment. The flavor will taste best after 3-5 days. This recipe will last for months in the fridge. Enjoy!
This looks phenomenal 😍! I’m so happy I found this recipe because I love Asian food so much but can’t really cook it because my hubby has an autoimmune disease where he shouldn’t eat soy or green tea products so basically can’t eat ANY ASIAN FOOD 🙁 it really sucks because even a lot of American Food has soy in it so we have to be very careful of what we buy at the store. When I get the ingredients I’m going to try my hand at this recipe 🙂 Thank you so much!
You’re so very welcome!! 💗💗💗
Thank you for this recipe! If we wanted to opt out of the rice wine could we use more rice vinegar instead? Also what chickpea miso did you use?
I just had my dietary world flipped by a discovery of 23 allergies that I did not know I had. I am so sad about loosing so many foods. I am allergic to wheat, soy, and rice to name three. I was super excited to find this recipe, cause I love Korean food, but sadly the only way I can find to make a soy free chickpea miso is with brown rice Koji. This looks delightful and I am so sad I cannot try it!
Could I put this in a earthenware pot and ferment it outside like traditional gochujang or for this recipe is it best to ferment it in the fridge?
I haven’t tried that! I would ferment in the fridge to be safe. 😊