Gochujang Glazed Chicken Thighs

Cook this on

Gochujang is a Korean condiment and ingredient made by fermenting chilis, rice, and soybeans.  The end product is a rich, sticky, sweet, and spicy paste that adds heat and tremendous depth of flavor to soups, stews, BBQ, and any number of preparations.    I love it, and I’m happy that it’s become a popular enough ingredient in the last few years that you can now find it in many grocery stores.

This recipe uses gochujang as a base for both a marinade for brining the chicken, and in a glaze that creases a sweet, spicy, slightly charred crust that nicely contrasts the tender meat. 

We’ll brine the meat for a couple days in a mixture of the pepper paste, additional salt, sugar, a touch of vinegar, and ginger.   Then roast it in a hot oven – or even grill it – basting with a sweet and spicy glaze. You can control the spiciness of the dish by choosing mild, medium, or hot Gochujang, or by adding additional gochugaru – Korean chili powder or even simply adding a little cayenne pepper to the final glaze. This recipe calls for bone-in, skin on thighs.  It Is possible to use boneless thighs, but you’ll want to adjust the final cooking – use lower temps and shorter cook time –  to account for the loss of fat and the protection the skin affords.  Without shorter gentler cooking, skinless thighs will dry out.

Gochujang Glazed Chicken Thighs

Recipe by DrewCourse: MainDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Marinade

12

Hour

Sticky, spicy gochujang glazed roasted chicken thighs.

Ingredients

• Marinade

• 4 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs

• 1 tbsp gochujang

• 1 tbsp white sugar

• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

• 1 tsp kosher salt

• 1 tsp minced or microplaned ginger

• 1 tsp minced or microplaned garlic

• Gochujang Glaze

• 1 cup hot water

• 2 tbsp gochujang

• 2 tbsp white sugar

• 1 tbsp honey

• ½ tsp toasted sesame oil

• Garnish

• Thinly sliced green onion

• Black sesame seeds

Directions

• Marinade the Chicken
• Combine gochujang, sugar, salt, vinegar, garlic, and ginger in a non-reactive bowl and whisk to combine well.
• Transfer the marinade to a zip-top plastic bag and add the chicken. Press as much air out of the bag before sealing and move the bag about to completely coat the chicken with marinade.
• Place the chicken in the refrigerator and allow to bine for at least 24 hours and up to 72.
• Prepare the glaze
• Combine all ingredients in a pan over medium heat and mix well. Allow to reduce by 1/3-1/2 until a smooth glaze forms that coats the back of a spoon. Allow to cool slightly before using.
• Cook the chicken
• Preheat your oven (or grill) to 400° F.
• Remove the chicken from the brine, and brush generously with the glaze.
• Bake or grill for 20-30 minutes, frequently basting with glaze, until the chicken is cooked through to the bone or the internal temperature reached 165° F.
• Garnish with thinly sliced green onion and black sesame seeds.
• Serve with steamed short grained rice and Korean style pickles such as napa kimchi or quick cured cucumbers.

Be sure to check out my other food project, The Weekly Menu!