The Ultra-Flavorful Korean Condiment To Totally Elevate Cabbage

Cabbage is a cheap, blank template of a food. Full of vitamins and minerals, it easily absorbs flavors to create many tasty, healthy, and simple-to-make dishes — a fact that Koreans have acted on for centuries. For a quick and easy, spicy-sweet cabbage dish, go out and buy some gochujang.

Gochujang is a fermented pepper paste brimming with spicy, sweet, and umami flavors. It's absolutely packed with taste, and functions as a versatile cooking ingredient, just as good for Bobby Flay's steak glaze as it is as in Edward Lee's gochujang chili cheese nachos. On cabbage, store-bought gochujang mimics the flavors of classic kimchi without the lengthy fermentation process. Additionally, since it works as both an ingredient and a condiment, gochujang can add flavor no matter how you prepare your cabbage. 

With just a couple of tablespoons, you can transform a bland vegetable dish into something vibrant and loaded with the well-rounded, developed flavors of fermentation. Thanks to its ingredients, gochujang lasts for over a year in the fridge, though the top layer may darken slightly after exposure to air. With its rich flavor and longevity, you'll be able to enjoy plenty of gochujang cabbage anytime you want!

Because gochujang is edible raw, it's highly versatile in how you apply it to cabbage. To retain its probiotics, add it once the cabbage has finished cooking; otherwise, the heat will kill them off. If you're just after the flavor, there are nearly infinite ways to use it.

Stewed cabbage dishes exist worldwide and are a great way to use gochujang. Take one or two tablespoons, depending on taste, and drop it into the pot with the liquid. As the cabbage simmers, it exchanges its naturally held water for the flavorful juices, becoming saturated with sugar, spice, and savoriness.

For something more traditionally Korean, try gochujang and cabbage as the stars of this mildly insane kimchi bokkeumbap. The key here is to combine gochujang with butter, which essentially elevates your cooking fat. As the butter spreads through the dish, it carries all that signature spicy sweetness with it. The best part is that the mixture is added as a condiment, so the probiotics stay alive and well!

But what if you like your cabbage raw in salads or coleslaw? No problem — simply mix gochujang to taste into your dressing for a touch of heat and sweetness. Just note that it thickens the sauce, so you may need to thin it out with extra vinegar, oil, or other liquids.