Sep
These noodles take fifteen minutes and one pan, and they exist because of a snowstorm. I was coming home to Flushing from a late night at the office in Manhattan, the train was delayed, I was frozen through, and all I could think about was tteokbokki — that sweet, spicy, glossy sauce. I had no rice cakes and no energy to soak them anyway. What I had was a bag of frozen udon, a tub of gochujang, and honey. I boiled the noodles, stirred the two together with a splash of soy, and ate it standing at the counter. It was not tteokbokki. It was better on a night like that, because it was done.
I have made it enough times since that I no longer measure. The sauce is a ratio, and the ratio is the point of this post: 2 parts gochujang, 2 parts honey, 1 part soy sauce. Memorize that and you can put it on noodles, tofu, roasted vegetables, or leftover chicken without looking anything up. The only other thing to remember is a ladle of the noodle water — its starch is what turns a thick paste into a sauce that clings to every strand instead of sliding off.
Ingredient Notes
Udon. Chew is everything here, so I buy frozen sanuki udon (usually the Shirakiku brand) from H-Mart rather than the dried kind. Frozen udon goes straight into boiling water and is ready in about two minutes, which is part of why this recipe is fifteen minutes and not twenty. Dried udon, soba, rice noodles, or linguine all work — only the cooking time changes. Whatever you use, save some of the cooking water before you drain.
Gochujang. My default is Chung Jung One’s Sunchang gochujang, which I stock up on during weekend runs to the big H-Marts in Ridgefield, New Jersey, or Jericho on Long Island. Brands differ mostly in sweetness and heat: the mass-market Korean brands (Chung Jung One, CJ Haechandle) are on the sweeter, smoother side; smaller-batch or “traditional” pastes are darker, funkier, and often hotter. If yours is a hot one, start with less honey — you can always add. Most supermarket gochujang is labeled with a heat level on the front; medium is the safe bet for this sauce.
Honey. Maple syrup works one-for-one and makes the dish vegan. The sauce will be a shade darker and a little less floral; nobody at my table has noticed.
Scallions. Charring them in a dry, hot pan before the sauce goes in is the one step that makes this taste like a restaurant plate instead of a bowl of noodles with sauce. Two minutes, don’t move them, let them blister.
15-Minute Gochujang Honey Noodles
Ingredients
Method
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the noodles — about 2 minutes for frozen udon, or according to the package for dried. Before draining, scoop out ½ cup of the cooking water and set it aside.
- While the water heats, whisk the gochujang, honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and garlic in a small bowl. Loosen with 3 Tbsp of the noodle water until it pours like a thick glaze.
- Heat the neutral oil in a wide skillet over high heat. Add the scallions and let them char undisturbed for about 2 minutes, until blistered in spots. Remove to a plate.
- Turn the heat to low. Pour in the sauce and let it bubble for 30 seconds, then add the drained noodles. Toss for about 1 minute, adding more noodle water a tablespoon at a time, until every strand is glossy and coated.
- Divide between two bowls. Top with the charred scallions, sesame seeds, and egg halves if using.
Notes
Nutrition per serving (estimated, without egg): 465 kcal · 8 g protein · 82 g carbohydrate · 11 g fat · 3.5 g fiber · 21 g sugar · 1,245 mg sodium. Calculated from USDA FoodData Central reference values and the gochujang brand label; an egg adds about 70 kcal and 6 g protein. Most of the sodium is the gochujang and soy sauce — use a low-sodium soy sauce to cut roughly 350 mg.
Make It Yours
The peanut butter version (the one my kid asks for). The first time I served this at home, my elementary-schooler took two bites and reached for water, then more water. So I cut the gochujang back to 1 Tbsp and stirred a spoonful of peanut butter into the sauce. The heat rounds off, the sauce turns creamy and nutty — somewhere between a rosé sauce and dan dan noodles — and it is now a standing request for weekend lunch. If you are cooking for anyone under ten, start here.
Protein. A jammy egg is the easiest. Cubes of firm tofu, seared in the pan before the scallions, or shredded leftover chicken tossed in with the noodles both work.
Vegetables. Bok choy, sliced mushrooms, or a big handful of spinach go into the pan after the scallions come out; give them a minute before the sauce.
Less heat, same depth. Use half the gochujang and add 1 tsp of doenjang (Korean soybean paste). You lose some color but keep the savory, fermented backbone.
Storage
The sauce keeps in a jar in the fridge for about two weeks, which is the real reason to make a double batch. The finished noodles are best the day they are made; if you reheat them, add a tablespoon of water and toss over low heat so the sauce loosens instead of scorching.
Gochujang is the ingredient we are spending this week on — where it comes from, and whether it is actually good for you. Everything we have written about it lives on the gochujang ingredient page.
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