Nigella writes how she has discovered a new ingredient, a Korean chilli paste called Gochujang. I suspect that this means that all UK supermarkets will now be stocking this, such is the merchandising power of Nigella! Anyway, I managed to lay my hands on a tub in a little Japanese shop here (the shop underneath the Gadong branch of Excapade for any readers in Brunei) and thought I'd give it a try.
This is indeed a quick and easy meal. It took about 10 minutes from start to finish once the ingredients were assembled:
For the sauce - Chinese rice wine, soy sauce, honey and Gochujang.
Aside from this, all that was needed was minced turkey (although I used chicken), frozen peas, and fresh coriander. Brunei seems to be all sold out of coriander this week so I didn't bother, but next time I'll make sure to use some.
My blog-friend Anna has very kindly typed out the recipe which can be found here, on her lovely blog. I completely agree with Anna that I think I'd use a touch more of the Gochujang if I made it again, although what I felt was lacking was any kind of chilli heat. The paste is described as 'Hot Pepper Paste' but despite its unusual smoky flavour (almost liquorice-like as Nigella describes it), it packs very little punch. This would make it great for the chilli-haters, but as we certainly don't fall into that category next time I'll be adding plenty of chopped fresh chilli to the dish.
Served with plain Jasmine rice and a side of garlicky kailan, this made a speedy and healthy supper.
5 comments:
My daughter keeps asking me to make this again! So it was definitely a hit with her.
You're lucky Kate that you can get hold of so many amazing ingredients :-D
Never heard of gochujang! sounds interesting =) I love all things spicy, and love keema. Kailan looks a bit like purple sprouting broccoli (or maybe a different colour but the same kind of thing?)
There are a couple of different varieties of Kailan here, but this is my favourite. Yes, it's very like purple-sprouting, but local, plentiful all year round and super-cheap. It's delicious, esp sauteed with a little garlic... slurp!
I was in Oxford yesterday and walked past the little Asian supermarket and thought of you!
I've been making this after Anna raved about it, and it's everything you say ... quick, easy and tasty. Not easy to source the gochujang paste, but worth looking for. Your tolerance for heat is way better than ours though, and this posting only increased it, I assume!
xo
Jody
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