I always admire audacious chefs who treat ingredients as play dough. I, on the opposite side, tend to be fearful and often follow what is laid on the ground. Perhaps that’s why I like to watch cooking competitions. Soaking up novel ideas but somehow never trying them at home. This time is an exception because the trick is so simple – just add gochujang to a tomato sauce pasta!
Recently, I saw an Italian chef called Antimo putting Korean fermented chilli paste into a fresh tomato sauce pasta, which served as a soothing dish to his pregnant wife. It’s intriguing that I followed it to cook the next day, and it somehow worked!
Cooking Notes
Gochujang pasta is very easy to make, with just a few notes to help you get started:
- Tomato: Use fresh and ripe cherry tomatoes, as they offer natural tomato flavour. Tinned ones are usually too acidic.
- Gochujang: Starts conservatively as the heat varies among brands. I used one teaspoon for my own bowl of pasta.
- Mushroom: I’d like to keep it vegetarian, but you can also use seafood, such as octopus, like Chef Antimo did in the show. Prawns will work, too!
Pasta Alternatives
Gochujang is one option to pair with fresh tomato sauce; the other is basil, which forms a classic combination in Italian cuisine. I still think a slow-cooked fresh tomato and basil pasta is the best, and adding ketchup (kind of a Western-Japanese thing) is the second, like this easy tomato sauce pasta.
Tomato Gochujang Pasta Recipe
It’s addictive once the gochujang’s effect kicks in. Just add a teaspoon, and it livens up a whole bowl of pasta. Simple, easy, and healthy, and it’s something you won’t find in a restaurant.
Ingredients
Serves 1
- 150 g ripen cherry tomatoes
- 80 g mixed mushrooms
- 3 cm long courgette, sliced (optional)
- 3 fat cloves of garlic, sliced
- 70 g spaghetti
- 1 tsp gochujang
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
How to Make
- Warm the olive oil in a pan over low heat; gently fry the garlic slices until coloured.
- While the garlic is frying, place all the tomatoes into a chopper and blitz. Also, prepare a pot of salted water for cooking the pasta.
- When the garlic turns golden brown, stir in the tomatoes with a pinch of salt, and bring it to a simmer. Start cooking the pasta.
- Once the tomatoes begin to look dry, add in the mixed mushrooms and courgette and continue to cook. The vegetables will release some water. If it looks dry, add some more pasta cooking water.
- Add the gochujang and mix well. Have a taste and adjust accordingly. Use more gochujang if intense heat is desired.
- Freshly crack in black pepper before serving.
