Asparagus with Gochujang Sauce

March 22, 2015
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Here’s a quick and easy Korean side dish you can make with spring asparagus. Simply blanch the asparagus and dress with a sweet and vinegary gochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste) sauce, called cho-gochujang (초고추장). Cho is a short form of sikcho, which is vinegar. Dishes seasoned with a vinegary sauce is often called cho muchim, so you can call this dish “asparagus cho muchim” or simply “asparagus muchim”.

Cho-gochujang is used in various dishes. It’s also popular as a dipping sauce for vegetables and seafood such as squid and raw fish (saengseon hwe, 생선회). Everyone makes the sauce a little differently, but the key ingredients are gochujang, vinegar, and sugar (or corn syrup). Adjust the amount of vinegar and/or sugar to your taste.

This sauce is also great with blanched broccoli or soaked miyeok (aka wakame).

Asparagus with gochujang sauce

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Asparagus with Gochujang Sauce
a quick and easy Korean side dish made with asparagus and gochujang
Servings: 4
Author: Hyosun Ro
Ingredients
  • 1 pound asparagus
  • 1 tablespoon salt
Sweet and sour gochujang sauce (Cho-gochujang)
  • 2 tablespoons gochujang Korean red chili pepper paste
  • 2 tablespoons vinegar - more if you like
  • 1 tablespoon sugar - more if you like
  • 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
Instructions
  1. Remove the tough ends of the asparagus. Cut into about 2-inch lengths.
    Asparagus with gochujang sauce
  2. Blanch the asparagus in salted boiling water until softened, about 1 to 3 minutes depending on the thickness. Remove with a strainer, and shock in icy cold water. Drain very well.
    Asparagus with gochujang sauce
  3. Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over the asparagus, and toss well to mix.
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Filed Under: Recipes, Side Dish, Vegetables, Vegetarian dish 14 Comments

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  1. Nathalie says:
    March 23, 2015 at 7:05 pm
    This look very good! I note the recipe, I'm gonna try this for sure! ☺
    Reply
  2. Jerry says:
    March 23, 2015 at 10:54 pm
    is it rice vinegar or regular distilled vinegar.
    Reply
  3. Tim says:
    March 23, 2015 at 11:39 pm
    'Twas delicious.. thank you for the recipe! Finally I can make some good chojang!! :D
    Reply
  4. Ginger and Scotch says:
    March 24, 2015 at 3:37 am
    Made this recipe today - delish!
    Reply
  5. marti says:
    March 31, 2015 at 5:03 pm
    Hi Hyosu n...just tried this dish last night, and we looooved it!! Another definite keeper! Thank you for creating this wonderful food blog on Korean cooking.
    Reply
  6. Andreas says:
    June 4, 2015 at 5:00 pm
    At this time of the year It's "Spargel" Season in Germany again .... and I just love this recipie. Although I substitute the sugar by honey. In my opinion rice vinegar is the way to go (I get the vietnamese one here, don't know if there are any differences) the destilled one is much stronger - at least to my taste.
    Reply
    • Hyosun says:
      June 8, 2015 at 11:25 pm
      Oh that's the German name for Asparagus? I learned something new today. Yeah I prefer rice vinegar in most of my recipes. Thanks for coming by and for the feedback!
      Reply
      • Tony says:
        August 31, 2017 at 9:00 pm
        Hi Hyosun, I haven't made this yet but I had some Korean style green beans the other night day and was wondering if this sauce would work with them. On a side note have you ever heard of milk powder cookies? I found a recipe in Korean on YouTube that I took a bunch of screenshots of and had them translated. They were incredible. They seemed very French to me. Very light and flakey.
        Reply
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