If you like Korean food, you'll love this Korean Gochujang chicken thighs stir fry recipe- juicy chicken thighs are coated in a fingerlicking spicy sauce. Needing only a short marinade, this easy Korean recipe using gochujang is perfect for busy weeknight family dinners. (Under 30 minute meal.)
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🥘 Ingredients
You will need a few simple ingredients for this Asian chicken thigh recipe:
- chicken thigh (boneless, skinless): please remember to remove the skin before cutting into bite-sized pieces- if not, your filling will be very oily! (See photo below.) If your boneless chicken thighs have a lot of fat, either remove it or use less cooking oil. (You can substitute with chicken breasts but I don't recommend it as they're much dryer and easy to overcook. If using white meat, I recommend marinating overnight to make the meat juicier.)
- Gochujang korean red chili paste: you want the gochujang paste in the (usually red) tub and not the gochujang sauce in the squeeze bottle (which is already seasoned. If you use the gochujang sauce from the squeeze bottle, you most likely won't need to add the other condiments such as the soy, or you may overseas the dish.) If you can't get Korean Gochujang where you live, click through for a homemade Korean paste recipe.
- Mirin: Although mirin is a Japanese condiment, I use it for its sweetness. If you want to be authentically Korean, use soju and increase the amount of white sugar added. (Alternatively, you can add Asian pear juice for natural sweetness (this is common in Korean cooking), but you'll need to head to the Asian grocery store for to get those pears. You can't just use the regular pear.))
- Light Soy Sauce: You can substitute with fish sauce but not with salt, sweet soy or dark soy as the umami from soy gives the dish a savory flavor. (The fish sauce to soy sauce may not be a 1:1 substitution as the saltiness of the soy sauce and fish sauce are different.) A gluten-free substitute is coconut aminos but I've not tested it personally.
- White Sugar: I have not tried this with maple syrup or honey or light brown sugar (Don't use dark brown sugar- we don't want the meat to taste of molasses!)
- Sesame oil: accentuate the flavor by garnishing with toasted sesame seeds at the end
- Fresh Garlic cloves: this is used in most Korean cuisine recipes so having garlic in your freezer is a good meal prep tip if you cook a lot of Korean at home
- Fresh Ginger
- Bell pepper: To make this an all-in-one dish (i.e. it has protein + fibre), we're adding bell peppers. I recommend using green bell peppers to make the dish more attractive.
- Gochugaru red pepper flakes: these Korean red chili flakes are optional. To make the dish more spicy, you can add some Korean chili powder. Go sparingly though as it can be very spicy (the spiciness varies from harvest to harvest.)
Optional Garnish: thin slices of green onions and lightly toasted sesame seeds
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
1a. Remove the chicken from the fridge, cut into 1 inch chunks.
1b. In a large bowl, mix the gochujang paste, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, sesame oil, and gochugaru Korean chili flakes well.
1c. Add the skinless thighs into the spicy gochujang sauce, ensuring each piece is well-coated and leave for 20 minutes. (You're simultaneously marinating and letting the marinated chicken come back to room temperature.)
2a. Add vegetable oil or olive oil to the pan/ large skillet over medium heat to medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, carefully add the ginger and garlic. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
2b. Once fragrant, add the marinated meat (including the korean chili paste marinade juices) and stir fry.
2c. Just before the chicken is cooked, add the bell peppers and stir fry till the internal temperature of the chicken is 165F. (About 7-10 minutes for me.)
Serve with a side of rice (brown rice or cauliflower rice if you want to be healthy), sweet potatoes, or Korean pancake.
🥡 How to Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for no more than 2 days.
Make sure the spicy chicken is thoroughly heated before serving.
🥗 Suggested Accompanying Recipes
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Gochujang Chicken Thighs (30 min)
Equipment
- 1 Large skillet
- 1 heat proof spatula
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken thigh 460g, remove the skin and bones and any excess fat
Sauce
For stir fry
- oil neutral vegetable oil- the amount depends on how fatty your meat is
- 4 cloves garlic peeled, minced
- 1 inch ginger peeled, minced
- ½ Bell Pepper Slice into strips. First choice is green bell pepper to make the dish look more appetising, followed by yellow and lastly red peppers.
Instructions
- Remove the chicken from the fridge, cut into 1 inch chunks.
- Add the chicken into the gochujang mixture, ensuring each piece is well-coated and leave for 20 minutes. (You're simultaneously marinating and letting the chicken come back to room temperature.)
- Add vegetable oil to the pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, carefully add the ginger and garlic. Stir fry.
- Once fragrant, add the chicken chunks and stir fry.
- Just before the chicken is fully cooked, add the bell peppers. Stir fry till the internal temperature of the chicken is 165F. (About 7-10 minutes for me.) Garnish with sliced scallions and sesame seeds and serve with a bowl of rice.
Notes
Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.
Nutrition
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