Gochujang is Korean fermented chili paste: chili powder, glutinous rice, fermented soybean powder and salt, aged until it is sweet, hot and savory at once. It is the jar that turns a plain pan of noodles or a tray of sweet potatoes into something people ask about. A teaspoon seasons; a tablespoon is spicy.
Start Here
- 15-Minute Gochujang Honey Noodles, and the Sauce Worth Memorizing — Weeknight
- Crispy Gochujang Roasted Chickpeas — the snack that replaced the chips
- Gochujang: How a Chili From the Americas Became Korea’s Red Heart — Origins
- Is Gochujang Actually Healthy? Sodium, Sugar and the Ferment, Checked — The Report
- Gochujang-Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes — for the Thanksgiving table (Nov 15)
- Two-Minute Ssamjang — gochujang meets doenjang (Nov 13)
Buying and Using It
- Read the sugar line. Gochujang is sweet by design, but brands range from about 10 to 20 g of sugar per 100 g; some add corn syrup. The ingredient list tells you.
- Heat level is printed on Korean tubs as a scale (mild to extra hot). Medium is the right default for most American kitchens.
- It does not need cooking. Whisk it into a sauce, a glaze or a dressing; a little honey or maple and something acid balance it.
- Fridge after opening. It keeps for a year or more; the surface darkens with air, which is harmless.
One Tub, Read by the Label
We will add tubs here as we buy them. First up, the one in our fridge, read off the physical label on November 5, 2026.
| Chung Jung One (O’Food) Sunchang Brown Rice Gochujang, 500 g, Medium Hot | |
|---|---|
| Ingredients, in order | tapioca syrup, water, brown rice, red pepper powder, salt, alcohol (to preserve freshness), soybean, garlic, onion |
| What that tells you | Syrup is the first ingredient, so this is a sweet, smooth, mass-market style; the “no corn syrup” badge is true, but it is tapioca syrup instead. Brown rice replaces the traditional glutinous rice. |
| Serving on label | 1 tsp (6 g); about 83 per tub |
| Sodium | 150 mg per tsp (7% DV); about 2,500 mg per 100 g |
| Sugar | 2 g per tsp, of which 1 g added; about 33 g per 100 g, higher than the 10 to 20 g range above, which is why the sugar line is worth reading |
| Calories | 10 per tsp |
| Allergens | soybean; made in a facility that processes wheat |
| Claims on the tub | Vegan · Kosher (OU) · “No corn syrup” · HACCP · Eco Label · made in Sunchang, Korea (Daesang) |
| Dates on our tub | made 2025.07.19 · best before 2027.01.18 (18 months); refrigerate after opening |
Per-100 g figures are our math from the label serving. One tub is one data point; the full comparison will come as the batch grows.
Your turn
What’s the most un-Korean thing you’ve put gochujang on, and did it work? Tell me in the comments. I read and answer every one.
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