Stop fixating on Sriracha and try these other fiery hot sauces

Sriracha is rolling off the tip of America’s tongue.

Since 1980, when the spicy Thai chili sauce was brought to the United States by a Vietnamese immigrant, Sriracha has evolved into a kick-in-the-pants version of ketchup. The sharp, vinegary heat has trickled down to mainstream menus such as P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and Subway.

Los Angeles-based Huy Fong Sriracha is the most popular brand. The distinctive rooster logo has become so recognizable it is emblazoned on everything from T-shirts to cellphone covers, and the sauce has even inspired a documentary film and a satirical jab at the food pyramid.

But Sriracha isn’t the only star in Asia’s smoldering culinary arsenal.

Enter Gochujang. It’s not a household name here yet but …

“Every household in Korea has a jar in their refrigerator. It’s kind of like here, everyone has a bottle of ketchup. That’s how popular it is,” says Korean-born Max Chao, executive chef of Nara: A Japanese Robata.

Gochujang (which is also spelled kochujang) is served with traditional Korean barbecued meats, as well as a mixed rice and vegetable dish often topped with a fried egg, known as bibimbap. Chao also serves it in soups, as a dipping sauce and with seafood.

But an exotic condiment is truly gaining ground when chefs start introducing it as an ingredient in non-Asian dishes. The American Restaurant’s executive chef Michael Corvino routinely uses the brick-red fermented Korean chili paste — a peanut butterlike mixture of dried red peppers, sweet rice and the fermented soybean paste miso — because he craves Gochujang’s “sweet, funky, fermented” flavor.

Last year, another request for a Star Thanksgiving side dish netted a recipe for roasted vegetables from chef Jonathan Justus of Justus Drugstore in Smithville, Missouri. A devoted farm-to-table practitioner, he tossed carrots with olive oil, cilantro and Japanese togarashi.

Togarashi is a chili pepper spice blend. Shichimi togarashi is a seven-spice blend with chili pepper and a variety of other ingredients, often including citrus peel, sesame, seaweed and hemp seeds. The mixture may not be in every supermarket yet, but you can find it at Asian markets, as well as Whole Foods.

It is also already on the McCormick radar. The spice company tracks global spices coming into the American home cook’s kitchen. The average pantry today has about 40 spices, compared to fewer than 10 in the 1950s, according to Laurie Harrsen, a McCormick spokeswoman who works on the company’s influential annual Flavor Forecast.

Use of shichimi togarashi, which adds a “spicy, crunchy kick” to vegetables, noodle soups and even french fries, is up 150 percent on restaurant menus since 2010.

Meanwhile, Asian spice is featured in two McCormick product lines: Simply Asia (four spice blends, including a Vietnamese Saigon Seasoning, Japanese Hibachi Seasoning and a Chinese Szechwan Five Spice) and McCormick Gourmet (including Chinese Five Spice and a Sriracha Seasoning launching this spring).

Naomi Imatome-Yun, a Korean food expert who had been writing for about.com, was thrilled when a Vermont-based publisher noticed Gochujang popping up on restaurant menus and asked her to write “Cooking With Gochujang: Asia’s Original Hot Sauce” (The Countryman Press; $16.95), released in September.

The next step is to watch the ingredient move into home cooking. Not surprisingly, Imatome-Yun’s new cookbook features plenty of funky ways to incorporate Gochujang into easy-to-swallow American standbys, including a bibimbap burger, L.A.-style chicken quesadillas, a Korean-inspired ketchup and grilled flank steak. Perhaps her favorite is a Smoked Salmon “Pizza” Two Ways.

“Gochujang has a depth of flavor, so it can flavor anything,” she said.

Smoked salmon “pizza” two ways

1 9-by12-inch lavash (flatbread)

2 tablespoons whipped cream cheese

2 tablespoons Gochujang, room temperature

1 teaspoon fresh dill, removed from stems

1 tomato, sliced

4 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Olive oil, for brushing

Small handful of dill leaves on stems

Fresh pepper to taste

For the fully cooked version: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush the lavash with olive oil on both sides. Combine the cream cheese, Gochujang and dill. Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the lavash. Layer the tomato, smoked salmon, onion and dill stems on top.

Bake for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until the sides of the lavash start to turn golden. Don’t bake too long or the crust will become too brittle.

Season with fresh pepper to taste.

For the fresh version: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat the lavash up in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes, until the sides of the lavash start to turn golden. Combine the cream cheese, Gochujang and dill. Set aside.

Remove the lavash from oven and brush the top with olive oil. Spread the cream cheese mixture on top. Layer the tomato, smoked salmon, onion and dill stems on top. Sprinkle fresh pepper on top.

Per serving: 327 calories (58 percent from fat), 21g total fat, 21mg cholesterol, 19g carbohydrates, 15g protein, 705mg sodium, 2g dietary fiber.

Makes 2 appetizer servings.

Soft tofu stew

1/2 pound or 1 cup beef or pork, thinly sliced

1/2 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon gochukaru (red pepper powder)

3 tablespoons sesame oil

2 cups anchovy stock, beef stock or water

1 tablespoon Gochujang

2 tablespoons soy sauce

3 cups uncoagulated tofu (see note)

1 pound unshucked clams or 1 cup shucked clams, rinsed

2 scallions, sliced

1 egg (optional)

“Eating this bubbling hot stew of soft tofu is like being enveloped in a big, mama-bear hug. It’s warm, comforting, and is an instant mood-lifter,” Naomi Imatome-Yun writes in “Cooking With Gochujang. “Called soondubu in Korean, this is another dish that you can make personal and easily adjust to your spice level and flavor preference.”

In a soup pot, stir-fry the beef, garlic and gochukaru in the sesame oil for about 5 minutes. Add the stock, Gochujang and soy sauce to the pot. Bring up to a hard simmer. Add the soft tofu and return to simmer. Add the clams and simmer until the clams are cooked (about 10 minutes), until they shrink or until the shells open (if using unshucked). Add the scallions and egg (if using) and take off heat.

Note: Uncoagulated tofu is usually sold in tubes, but you can use silken tofu if you can’t find the really soft stuff. Just slice it into small cubes and cook as directed.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 453 calories (63 percent from fat), 32g total fat, 62mg cholesterol, 8g carbohydrates, 34g protein, 1,705mg sodium, 3g dietary fiber.

Taste test

For kicks, I bought typical hot sauces and pastes used in a variety of Asian countries:

Huy Fong Foods Sriracha (Thai): Like a real spicy V8 with a slightly vegetal aftertaste. The heat tingles the tongue. Chili leads the ingredient list.

Lee Kum Kee Sriracha Mayo: Tame. Very little heat going on. Mayonnaise is the first ingredient listed.

Korean Farms Gochujang Roasted Hot Pepper Paste: Smoky, complex but not as grainy as bibimbap sauce. The label says it contains rice powder, sesame oil, garlic, corn syrup, wheat and MSG.

Jufran Banana Sauce: A unique flavor with mild heat. Strangely, the Filipino sauce is not at all banana flavored. Use as a cocktail sauce with shrimp, fried clams or for french fries.

ABC Hot &Sweet Chili Sauce: An intriguing, candy-colored sauce from Indonesia made by Heinz that is a bit sweeter than ketchup with a deceptive afterburn. Contains tomato paste and thickened with tapioca.

A Taste of Thai Garlic Chili Pepper Sriracha Sauce: Mild, like Dorothy Lynch salad dressing. To call this Sriracha is a misnomer. There is no lingering heat. It has the simplest ingredient list of the bunch we tasted.