Spicy Gochujang Bucatini to be more specific, because it might just be my favorite pasta shape ✰ A delicious 20 minute pasta recipe!

Today, we’re making Spicy Gochujang Pasta 🍝🥢♡ ༘*.ﾟ

We’re not adding any thick creams to this recipe (of course, you can if you’d like; all recipes can be changed based on preference), but I’m not personally including it because I want the beautiful umami flavors to speak for themselves. With just a tad of evaporated milk as a lighter alternative to heavy cream, and by tossing our pasta in the starchy pasta water, it’s going to grip onto our sauce so well and create a glossy, flavorful dish—without needing the thickness from heavy cream.

All we need is our sauce mixture, some starchy pasta water, and just a couple tablespoons of butter. In just 20 minutes, we’ll have a beautifully cohesive and creamy pasta dish ♡

Few tips:

• We only cook the pasta in water for about 6 minutes so it’s just firm enough to finish cooking in the sauce. This way, the bucatini has time to soak up all the flavors from the gochujang, miso, and soy sauce mix while it softens and finishes cooking in our sauce. It makes such a difference.
• When you’re sautéing the green onions, keep the heat low to medium. We want them soft and flavorful, not crispy. The red pepper flakes just need a few seconds to open up their flavor—no need to go over 30 seconds.
• Give the gochujang a couple of minutes to cook out the raw edge. This is going to help develop a bit more depth in our gochujang base before we add the rest of the sauce ingredients.
• You can mix together your sauce ingredients beforehand in a separate bowl before starting your pasta, but if we’re making a quick 20-minute pasta, it doesn’t make sense to dirty another dish. It just makes sense in my head that way:) lol
• Start with about half a cup of pasta water, and add more if needed to get the consistency you want. The evaporated milk keeps it creamy but light. No heavy cream necessary here.
• Turn off the heat and add the butter last—it gives the sauce that smooth finish and a nice shine without being greasy.
• Also, this is by no means an authentic recipe – just me having fun with Korean flavors, and I hope you enjoy!

Here’s a video to guide you along the process:

Process:

Spicy Gochjang Pasta

Spicy Gochujang Bucatini to be more specific, because it might just be my favorite pasta shape ✰ A delicious 20 minute pasta recipe!

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Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine korean

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 1 lb bucatini 453 grams

Pasta base✮⋆˙

• 2-3 green onions whites & greens separated, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup Gochujang leveled

Sauce✮⋆˙

• 2 tbsp white miso paste
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp pure sesame oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup reserved pasta water you can save 1 whole cup just in case you feel like your pasta might need a bit more
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 2 tbsp butter unsalted

Garnish✮⋆˙

• sesame seeds
• your thinly sliced green onions

Instructions

 

Pasta✮⋆˙

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the bucatini and cook until al dente. I only boiled my pasta for 6 minutes – we'll finishing the cooking process when we add it to our sauce.

Pasta base✮⋆˙

• In a large pot, heat the two tbsp of sesame oil over medium heat. Add the white parts of the green onions and sauté for 3 minutes on low-medium heat.
• Add the red pepper flakes and cook for about 30 seconds to release their flavor.
• Add the Gochujang to the pot, cooking for 2–3 minutes while stirring frequently to cook it down a bit and deepen the flavor.

Sauce✮⋆˙

• Lower the heat and add the soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, and miso paste. Stir to combine.
• Raise the heat back to medium and let the sauce simmer for 1 minute to meld the flavors.
• Add 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water and the 1/4 cup evaporated milk, mixing well until smooth.

Combine✮⋆˙

• Add the drained bucatini to the skillet, tossing to coat each strand in the sauce.
• Simmer the pasta in the sauce for about 5 minutes on medium heat, until fully cooked and the sauce has beautifully coated the pasta. Adjust with more pasta water as needed for a silky consistency. (I personally didn't need any more pasta water for those that may be wondering)
• Turn off the heat and add the butter, tossing until melted and the pasta has a nice shine.

Lastly✮⋆˙

• Garnish with sesame seeds, and the green parts of the sliced green onions.

Keyword 20 minute pasta, dinner idea, gochujang, pasta