These noodles are perfect for spicy food fans. Saucy, tangy, and crave-worthy noodles covered in Korean Gochujang chili sauce balanced with a sweet, salty, and rich flavour from added spices and pork. This meal is ready within 30 minutes!
Don’t you just love how versatile noodles can sometimes be? Choose your favourite noodle, make a sauce, add some protein and voilà! Your meal is ready! Noodles absorb the sauce so well and make every bite even more flavourful. If you are a fan of spicy chili, this dish is for you!
If you are looking for other noodle recipes, you can read about them here:
*Good To Know*
- What is Gochujang?
Gochujang [ ‘koh-choo-jan’ ] translates to ‘chili pepper paste’ and is popular in Korean cooking. It is a fermented red chili paste that tastes sweet, savoury, and spicy. It is made from gochu-garu (chili powder), salt, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, and malted barley powder. The texture is thick, sticky, and dark red in colour. You can find Gochujang at your local Asian supermarket or at the international section of your local grocery store. - What type of noodles should I use?
Your options are limitless; rice noodles, wheat noodles, egg noodles or even gluten-free noodles are great for this dish. As per package instructions, cook noodles and drain them, but do not rinse them with cold water. The noodles have a better chance of soaking up and clinging to the sauce while still warm.
Ingredients you will need
For the noodles
- any noodles you have on-hand such as rice, wheat, egg or gluten-free noodles (I used flat Taiwanese noodles)
For the sauce
- garlic
- ginger
- pork shoulder (or pork belly)
- kosher or sea salt
- red chili flakes
- soy sauce
- white sugar
- rice cooking wine
- yellow or white onion
- Gochujang
- napa cabbage
- sesame oil
For the garnish
- green onion or chives
Tip
- Do not rinse noodles after you drain them. By keeping the noodles hot, they cling to and absorb the sauce better.
- Be sure to follow the package instructions to cook your noodles. Every noodle package has different cooking instructions. Some will have the cooking time for al dente noodles; if not, the general rule is to subtract 2-3 minutes off the recommended cooking time.
Boil noodles and start on the sauce
Cook enough noodles for 4 servings. Set a timer while the noodles are boiling and start on the sauce. After you drain the noodles, place them into a large mixing bowl.
Heat 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil on medium-high heat in a large nonstick pan. Add minced garlic, grated ginger and fry until fragrant and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the pork and spread it in the pan. Sprinkle kosher salt on the pork and cook the meat until it is slightly browned.
Add red chili flakes, soy sauce, rice cooking wine, white sugar, and sliced onion. Continue to stir and cook everything on medium-high heat (5 minutes). Create a small opening in the pan by moving some meat aside and add the Gochujang paste. Use a spatula to stir the chili paste into the sauce, then combine everything once the paste has mostly dissolved. Lastly, add sliced napa cabbage, then sesame oil and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Remove pan off the heat and add the content into the large bowl with noodles. Use a tong to combine everything until the noodles are mixed with the sauce.
Plate noodles with pork and sprinkle on chopped green onions. May I suggest slurping these noodles because they are THAT good! Enjoy!
Spicy Gochujang Noodles with Pork
Ingredients
For the noodles
- 4 bundles Taiwanese flat noodles (67 g each), or noodles of your choice that serves 4 people
For the sauce
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
- 3 teaspoons fresh garlic (4 cloves, minced or pressed), or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger (2-inch knob, peeled & grated), or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1½ pounds boneless pork shoulder (or pork belly), cut into thin, 1-inch bite size pieces
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon white sugar
- 3 Tablespoons rice cooking wine, or water
- 1 large yellow or white onion, halved & thinly sliced
- ½ cup Gochujang
- 2 cups napa cabbage (4 large leafs), rinsed, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
For the garnish
- ¼ cup green onions or chives, trimmed & chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
- Boil noodles according to package instructions. Set your timer and get started on the next step. When noodles are done, drain noodles but DO NOT rinse. Place noodles into a large mixing bowl.
- While noodles are cooking, heat a large nonstick pan on medium-high heat with 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil. Add garlic, ginger, and fry until fragrant and lightly browned (about 3 minutes). Add sliced porked and sprinkle salt on the pork. Cook meat until it is slightly browned.
- Add chili flakes, soy sauce, rice cooking wine, and sugar. Mix to combine and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Add sliced onion and keep mixing everything while cooking on medium-high heat for another 5 minutes.
- Create a small opening in the pan by moving some meat aside and add the Gochujang paste. Use a spatula to stir the chili paste, then combine everything once the paste has mostly dissolved into the sauce. Add napa cabbage, then sesame oil and continue to cook for 5 more minutes.
- Remove pan off the heat and add the content into the large bowl with noodles. Use a tong to (carefully) combine everything.
- Plate noodles into 4 shallow serving bowls and sprinkle each bowl with chopped green onion or chives. Serve and enjoy!
