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Sauce recipe

Yangnyeom Sauce

The sticky red glaze on Korean fried chicken. Sweet, garlicky, and hot enough to matter.

Makes
About 300ml, enough for 1kg of wings
Ready in (mins)
15
Keeps
2 weeks in the fridge
Yangnyeom Sauce

Yangnyeom is the sauce that gets tossed through Korean fried chicken while it is still hot, so the coating half absorbs it and half stays crisp. Gochujang for depth, ketchup for body, rice syrup for the shine.

It wants to be cooked for a few minutes rather than just stirred together. That is what turns raw gochujang from harsh into rounded.

How to make it
  1. Warm a splash of neutral oil in a small saucepan and cook the grated garlic over low heat for 2 minutes until fragrant but not coloured.
  2. Add the gochujang and gochugaru and fry for 1 minute, stirring, until the paste darkens slightly and the oil turns red.
  3. Add the ketchup, rice syrup, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and water.
  4. Simmer gently for 4–5 minutes, stirring, until glossy and thick enough to coat a spoon.
  5. Take off the heat and stir through the sesame oil.
  6. Use warm, tossed through fried chicken straight out of the fryer.
The ratio
  • 4 partsGochujang
  • 3 partsRice syrup
  • 3 partsKetchup
  • 2 partsSoy sauce
What you need
  • 4 tbsp gochujang
  • 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
  • 3 tbsp jocheong (Korean rice syrup), or honey
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 6 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 1 tsp gochugaru
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp water
What to put it on

Korean fried chicken, cauliflower wings, rice cakes, grilled pork, roast potatoes, and stirred through noodles with a fried egg.

New to it? Read what yangnyeom sauce actually is in the pantry glossary.