A saucy explosion of sweet, sticky, and savory, jam-packed with flavor that will twirl your tastebuds! Korean BBQ Sauce!
This is one of my favorite sauces! Korean BBQ Sauce is used in a variety of Korean dishes, giving a salty, sweet, savory, garlicky, gingery explosion of flavor that gives any dish a Korean-twist. I use this sauce with Soy Curls, spread it on tofu before pan-searing, mixing it with seitan and placing in a wrap. It is also excellent on a plant-based burger covered with grilled onions and kimchi!
Korean BBQ sauce is a primary component of Bulgogi. It would also be amazing as a topping or dipping sauce for Mung Bean Pancakes. You could also use it as a topping for Bibimbap. Above you can see a Korean BBQ burger with kimchi!
Try replacing the BBQ sauce in our Sloppy Jacks or BBQ Soy Curls Wrap with Korean BBQ sauce for an Asian twirl!
Check out our other Korean-inspired Sauces, like Gochujang Sauce, Yak Gochujang Sauce, and Doenjang Sauce!
Ingredients
- Tamari
- Date syrup
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Gochugaru Pepper
- Miso
- Rice Vinegar
- Cornstarch, or other thickener such as tapioca powder or arrowroot
See recipe card for quantities.
The tamari, or soy sauce if you use it, give the sauce part of its characteristic taste.
The sauce is meant to be a bit sweet, the date syrup gives it a deeper, more complex flavor than other sweetners, though coconut sugar would also be excellent.
The miso is there to give the sauce all important umami.
The cornstarch is to give the sauce body.
Instructions
- Step 1: Place the tamari in blender.
- Step 2: Chop the ginger and crush the garlic.
- Step 3: Add the garlic and ginger to the blender.
- Step 4: Measure out the gochujang pepper and miso
- Step 5: Add the gochujang pepper and miso to the blender.
- Step 6: Add the rice vinegar into the blender.
- Step 7: Process the contents of the blender until smooth.
- Step 8: Place the contents of the blender into a small saucepan. Have the cornstarch mixed in water ready.
- Step 9: Once the sauce is boiling, add in the thickener.
- Step 10: Lower the heat and cook the sauce until thickened, about 5 minutes. Once the sauce is thick, turn off the heat. As the sauce cools, it will thicken further.
- Step 11: Your sauce is done! Enjoy!
Substitutions
If the gochugaru flakes are not to your liking, consider using paprika.
The date syrup gives the sauce a deeper flavor, but other sweeteners can be used, such as coconut sugar or agave.
If you need the sauce to be gluten free, stick with the tamari, otherwise you can use soy sauce. Also use chickpea miso instead of other misos since other misos have gluten in them.
If you would like an even funkier taste, use doenjang instead of miso. "Funky" is not a bad term here! Doenjang is a fermented soybean product from Korea that has a much stronger and more complex taste when compared with miso. Both are giving the sauce umami, so you really want to use one or the other. Sempio has a vegan doenjang. You can find it online or possibly at a local Asian Market, I bought mine at my local H Mart.
Equipment
You will need the following equipment.
- A blender
- A small saucepan
- Measuring spoons
- A measuring cup
- A rubber spatula to mix the sauce and remove all of the contents from the blender
Storage
This sauce will keep up for a week in the fridge.
It should last 2-3 months in the freezer.
Related
Looking for other Korean-inspired recipes like this? Try these:
Looking for other sauce recipes? Try these!
Recipe
Korean BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup tamari I use low sodium, can also use soy sauce. See Notes.
- ¼ cup date syrup See Notes.
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger chop finely
- 1 tablespoon Gochugaru chili See Notes.
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar I use unseasoned
- 1 tablespoon miso Can be any kind. See Notes.
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Peel the ginger if desired. Chop into small pieces.
- Peel the garlic and chop.
- Place all ingredients but the water and cornstarch into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Mix the cornstarch with the water until well mixed.
- Pour the blender contents into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil.
- Once the contents of the saucepan are boiling, add the water with the cornstarch. Cook until thick, about 5 minutes.
- Let cool.
- Enjoy!
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