Gochujang Chicken & Cucumber Naengguk

Gochujang Chicken & Cucumber Naengguk. Today, let's do some yin & yang. We'll combine a HOT dish with a COLD soup. For the hot dish, we'll grill-up some gochujang chicken! With gochujang, you can make a delicious, savory marinade in minutes. We'll pair that with Cold Korean Cucumber Soup! In Korean, it's also known as Oi Naengguk (오이냉국). My mother loves to make this as a banchan during the summer. It's cool, tart and refreshes your palate. Ready to roll?

For the Gochujang Chicken, I recommend skin-on, boneless chicken thighs. The skin will cook and release its natural juices into the pan - mixing with the gochujang and creating deep flavor. Also keep the frying pan on a low heat when cooking the chicken. Anything higher and the gochujang sauce will burn before the chicken is ready.

For the Chilled Cucumber Soup, a key step is use a blender. This ensures that each ingredient is evenly mixed through - especially the minced garlic. If you're sensitive to garlic, I would recommend reducing the garlic amount from 1 Tablespoon to ½ Tablespoon. Or you can even skip it - tastes good without it as well. Also, this soup is meant to be served cold! Make sure to drop-in a few ice-cubes before serving.

(Pro-Tip: If the soup tastes too garlick-y or tart, simply add a few more ice cubes. As they melt, they will dilute the soup and make it taste perfect.)

Alrighty, that's it - Enjoy Neighbors! I hope you're enjoying your time in the kitchen with these recipes. This week, I challenge you to turn on some music in the kitchen, dance a bit and get funky! 🕺 Make your own fun!

Gochujang Chicken & Oi Naengguk

5 from 2 votes

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Ingredients

Gochujang Chicken

• 300-600 grams Chicken Thigh (Boneless, Skin-On)
• 4 Tablespoons Gochujang
• 2 Tablespoons Gochugaru
• 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Mirim
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic

Cold Cucumber Soup (Oi Naengguk)

• 1 Whole Cucumber
• Few shakes of Salt (For wilting the cucumber)
• 1 Red Chili Pepper (Optional)
• 4-5 Ice Cubes

Cold Cucumber Broth

• 2 & ⅓ Cup Water (or use 600ml)
• 1 Tablespoon Salt
• 4 Tablespoons Sugar
• 6 Tablespoons Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic (add ½ Tablespoon if sensitive to garlic)
• Few shakes Sesame Seeds

Instructions

Gochujang Chicken

• Take out mixing bowl and thoroughly mix: Gochujang (4 Tablespoons), Gochugaru (2 Tablespoons), Soy Sauce (2 Tablespoons), Mirim (2 Tablespoons), Sugar (3 Tablespoons), Minced Garlic (1 Tablespoon)
• Take out a bowl or plate. Rub the gochujang marinade onto both sides of the chicken thigh. Then let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (longer the better)
• Take out a frying pan and place on medium heat. Place some oil into the pan. Once the pan is hot, reduce heat to a LOW (this is important!). Then place each chicken piece skin-side down first. Cover with a lid and let it cook for 3-5 minutes.
• After 3-5 minutes, flip the chicken. Then put the lid back on. After another 3-5 minutes, check on the chicken. It should be done by now.
• Let it rest for a few minutes. Then cut into thin strips and garnish with chives. Serve with a bowl of rice!

Oi Naengguk

• Take out a mixing bowl. Fill with 600ml of water (or roughly 2 & ⅓ cups). Add Salt (1 Tablespoon), Sugar (4 Tablespoons) and Vinegar (6 Tablespoons) and Minced Garlic (1 Tablespoon). Give it a thorough mix.
• Then pour mixture into a blender. Blitz it for 15-20 seconds. Then chill in the refrigerator until it gets very cold.
• In the meanwhile, julienne one cucumber into thin strips. Sprinkle 2-3 large pinches of salt over the thin strips. Toss it and set it aside for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the strips will have wilted and release some water. Wash it under running water and wash-off all the salt. Then use your hands to squeeze the water out of the cucumber strips. Set aisde.
• De-seed the red chili pepper. Then cut the chili pepper into thin slices.
• Take the mixture out of the refrigerator. Pour it into a bowl. Add the cucumber strips in. Then a few pieces of the red chili pepper. Then a few shakes of sesame seeds.
• Finally, drop-in a few ice cubes. This soup tastes best when served extra cold! Bon Appetit!

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