Korean Grilled Shishito with Doenjang
Kkwarigochu-doenjang-gui is a Korean grilled shishito pepper dish where the peppers are first dry-blistered in a hot pan until their skins wrinkle and char, then quickly tossed with a sauce of doenjang, gochujang, oligosaccharide syrup, and minced garlic. Blistering the peppers without oil first drives off moisture, removes the raw grassy taste, and concentrates their natural sweetness before any sauce is introduced. Pricking each pepper with a fork before cooking lets the seasoning penetrate the interior and prevents them from ballooning and bursting from steam. The sauce goes in only for the final two minutes so the fermented soybean paste keeps its full aroma, and a drizzle of sesame oil with toasted seeds at the end adds a roasted nuttiness.
Adjust Servings
Instructions
- 1
Trim stems and prick each pepper once or twice with a fork.
- 2
Mix doenjang, gochujang, syrup, and minced garlic into a sauce.
- 3
Preheat pan over medium-high and blister peppers for 3 minutes, turning often.
- 4
Reduce to medium, add sauce, and toss quickly for 2 minutes.
- 5
Turn off heat, coat with sesame oil, and finish with sesame seeds.
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