A Riff on Eric Kim’s Gochujang Buttered Noodles

The New York Times cooking app is a wealth of inspiration – great ideas from one of the greatest food towns in the world can’t be anything but good. Last week, Sam Sifton spoke to something that I’ve preached over and over here – When you find a recipe you love and make it a few times, you’re bound to make changes by preference or expedience. Either way, what you land on becomes yours, and that’s as it should be.

Sam offered Eric Kim’s Gochujang Buttered Noodles, and then wrote of the variations he’s done with it – He subbed ssamjang for gochujang and frozen dumpling for the noodles, and another version with lap cheong Chinese sausage over Korean rice cakes. 

He finished the piece with this exhortation – ‘So this weekend, I put the challenge to you. Make Eric’s dish as he intended, or take it in whatever direction your pantry allows and your taste desires. Cook in confidence. It’s just butter, garlic, spice, sweetness, umami and starch. Perfection every time.’ So I did.

What I used was a lovely exercise in utilitarianism – I mentioned what I had in mind to the family, and suggestions for this and that came back to me. As Sam points out, this is a can’t lose dish, and whatever you do to it is gonna rock – so I’m passing the challenge off to y’all. Dive in and let me know what you come up with – for the record, I sent a thank you to Sam, along with a pic of the finished dish.

Notes – 

As Sam noted in his piece, make sure you find Gochujang paste, not sauce – you want the purest essence of those lovely sun dried chiles you can find – the sauce version tends to add a bunch of stuff you don’t want or need. Note that gochujang can be downright nuclear, so read the label and ask your grocer how hot the stuff you’re contemplating is. I buy what’s labeled as Medium Hot, and it’s still got plenty of kick – when it’s combined with great vinegar and honey, it’s stunningly good.

Use the best vinegar you’ve got – Erik Kim recommends sherry or rice for the dish. For the former, find a genuine Spanish Jerez, one that carries the D.O.C. symbol. It’s far cheaper than balsamic, and is truly delightful stuff. If you opt for the latter, make sure it doesn’t say Seasoned on the label – that’s got added sugar you don’t want. I went with the best thing I have – a smoky, subtle 10 year old handmade Baoning Chinese vinegar.

I garnished with sweet onion flowers and chives fresh from the garden – Use what you have and love, it’ll be perfect! Eric recommends thinly sliced scallion or finely chopped cilantro on his dish.

If you opt for lap cheong sausage, it should be fully cooked when you buy it – but make sure that’s the case!

A Riff on Eric Kim’s Gochujang Buttered Noodles

12 Ounces dried Ramen Noodles

8-12 cloves fresh Garlic

6 Ounces Unsalted Butter

1/4 Cup Gochujang Paste

1/4 Cup Honey

1/4 Cup Rice Vinegar

Salt and ground Pepper to taste

Optional: 8 Ounces Chinese Lap Cheong Sausage

Garnishes as you please

Peel, end trim, and mince garlic.

In a glass measuring cup, combine gochujang, honey and vinegar – whisk with a fork to thoroughly incorporate.

If adding sausage, slice into roughly 1/4” thick rounds and place in a bowl for service.

Prep garnish and place in a small bowl for service.

In a stock pot over high heat, boil noodles in salted water, per directions for whatever you’re using.

In a heavy sauté pan over medium low heat, add 4 ounces of butter and heat until melted.

Check noodles – turn off burner, transfer to a colander to drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.

Put drained noodles back into the pot, and place pot on the still hot burner (don’t turn it back on – residual heat is all we need here).

Add the garlic and sauté until soft, about 2-3 minutes.

Add gochujang/honey/vinegar and whisk to thoroughly incorporate.

Cook sauce for 3-5 minutes until it’s notably reduced and thickened.

Add sauce and remaining 2 ounces of butter to the hot noodles and stir to thoroughly coat and incorporate everything. Add splashes of pasta water until you get the consistency you like.

Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve it up with your garnishes, devour, and make yum yum noises.