Gochujang Mayo (Korean Spicy Mayonnaise Sauce)
Gochujang mayo is a Korean-inspired spicy condiment built on Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise, fermented gochujang chili paste, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and garlic. The mayo cools and rounds out the heat, the gochujang brings deep fermented umami, sesame oil signs the sauce as Korean. Whisks together in five minutes, lives in the fridge for a week, and works on Korean fried chicken, sweet potato fries, poke bowls, burgers, sushi, and as a sandwich spread. Serves about eight as a dipping sauce. The 30 minute rest in the fridge before serving is what separates a punchy mix from a balanced sauce.
Ingredients
- 120 gKewpie mayonnaise
- 22 ggochujang paste
- 1 tsprice vinegar
- ½ tsptoasted sesame oil
- 1 clovesgarlic
- ½ tsphoney
- 1 tsptoasted sesame seeds
Method
- Crush the garlic clove through a press or grate it on the fine side of a box grater into a small mixing bowl. Skip rough chopping — visible garlic chunks will dominate the sauce, you want it to dissolve into the emulsion. If you only have a knife, mince the garlic, sprinkle a pinch of salt over it, and crush it into a paste with the flat side of the blade.
- Add the gochujang paste to the bowl with the garlic. Stir the two together for 15 seconds before adding anything else — gochujang is dense and sticks to itself, but mixed first with garlic and a few drops of moisture it loosens up and incorporates evenly into the mayo without leaving streaks.
- Add the Kewpie mayonnaise, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and honey. Whisk steadily for about 30 seconds until the sauce takes on a uniform deep tangerine colour with no streaks of red gochujang or white mayo. The texture should be smooth and pourable but still hold a soft peak when you lift the whisk.
- Taste and adjust. If the sauce feels too tame, add another ½ teaspoon of gochujang. Too sharp or fermented, add another ¼ teaspoon of honey. Too thick, add a teaspoon of cold water. Too thin or flat, add another tablespoon of mayo. The target is creamy, slightly spicy with a slow build, with the fermented depth of gochujang clearly readable behind the heat.
- Cover and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving. This step is not optional if you want the best flavour — the garlic marinates in the acid, the gochujang's edge softens against the fat in the mayo, and the sesame oil works its way through the whole sauce. Without the rest you taste three separate notes; with it you get one rounded sauce.
- Just before serving, transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top. Serve cold or at room temperature with sweet potato fries, Korean fried chicken, poke bowls, burgers, or as a sandwich spread. Store leftovers in a sealed glass jar in the fridge for up to a week.
FAQ
Buy classic gochujang paste in the small red square tub — this is the authentic Korean product, fermented from rice, soybeans, chili, and barley malt. Sunchang (선창) is the gold standard in Korea and stocked in most Asian groceries; CJ Haechandle is the mass-market option, widely available in chain supermarkets internationally. The thinner 'gochujang sauce' in squeeze bottles is diluted paste with sugar and stabilizers added — it is a marketing product for Western markets, the flavour is flat and the fermented depth is mostly gone. Check the heat number on the tub: 1 to 3 is mild, 4 to 5 is medium (the default for sauces and dips), higher than 5 is too hot for mayo.
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