Back in March I went to a Korean cooking class with the Food & Culture Academy of Korea. At the time of that posting a friend of mine, Darren Keeley, had asked for specific details on how to make the traditional red sauce used to season dakgalbi and many other Korean dishes. So this week’s post goes out to Darren and everyone else who would like to spice up their meals this summer. I apologize for the delay my friend, but here you are. (Keep in mind this sauce can be used to marinate meat or veggies for any dish, it doesn’t have to be dakgalbi.)

The dakgalbi we made at the Food & Culture Academy.

The coveted dakgalbi sauce for marinating the chicken and later, the veggies.

Ingredients for dakgalbi sauce:

Water: 100ml

Red pepper paste (in Korean, gochujang): 1.5 tablespoons

Corn syrup: 1 tablespoon

Soy sauce: 2 teaspoons

Sesame oil: 1 teaspoon

Minced garlic: 1 teaspoon

Cooking liquor: 1 teaspoon

Red pepper powder (in Korean, gochu garo): 1 teaspoon

Green or red peppers (if desired): 1/8 teaspoon

Add all ingredients above into one bowl and mix well. Once mixed, add meat to marinate for however long you desire. When ready to cook, add vegetables into the marinade and mix. Let veggies and meat sit for a few minutes, then throw it in the pan and get cooking!

Mixing in the cabbage, carrots and onions.

Pictures of most ingredients are below for those in Korea who may struggle with the Korean language (hangul).

Red pepper paste (gochujang). There is also the thicker paste you can buy in a stout red container. This one shown is vinegared red pepper paste but works just as well.

Corn syrup.

Soy sauce and sesame oil.

Garlic (not yet minced).

Cooking liquor.

Red pepper powder (gochu garo). Beware: this stuff can be expensive if you’re buying in Korea.

As mentioned, this sauce can be a base for any meat and/or veggie invention you want to make so feel free to whip this up and get creative. As our cooking instructor taught us, many Korean people make big batches of this sauce and leave it in the fridge for future cooking. It can keep for a couple months at a time so that is always an option as well. Happy cooking dear Readers!