Spicy Vodka Pasta, Make it Even Better with Gochujang

This spicy vodka rigatoni gets a bold, umami-packed upgrade with a spoonful of Korean gochujang, blending creamy tomato sauce with fermented chile heat. The result is a silky, fiery pasta that balances sweetness, smoke, and depth in every bite. It's the kind of weeknight dinner that feels restaurant-worthy but comes together with pantry staples and a single pot of perfectly al dente rigatoni.

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• What is Spicy Gochujang Pasta
• What is Gochujang
• Spicy Gochujang Pasta Recipe

What is Spicy Gochujang Pasta

You know that world-famous Spicy Vodka Pasta at the restaurant where's it's near impossible to get a reservation? Two versions of it pictured above! Imagine that, but with deeper umami, more fiery heat, and being able to eat it at home.

Spicy Gochujang Pasta borrows the template of the original Italian Spicy Vodka Pasta and substitutes in Korean gochujang which does double, almost triple, duty in the recipe. Gochujang's earthy, fermented spice replaces the high-toned heat of Calabrian chilis and its velvety rice-based texture adds the same rich, thick body to the sauce that normally comes from tomato paste.

Because the sauce leans creamy, Spicy Gochujang Pasta includes blended silken tofu instead of regular dairy heavy cream. (Heads up: the recipe is not dairy-free though, because there's very necessarily grated parmesan cheese added at the end!)

What Ingredients You Need for Spicy Gochujang Pasta

Fresh/refrigerator ingredients

• 1 shallot or ½ red onion halved, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves finely minced
• ½ cup silken tofu blended, or soy milk
• 2 stalks green onions thicly sliced
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese optional for topping at end

Dry/pantry ingredients:

• 12-16 ounces short textured pasta like rigatoni, cavatappi, or fusilli
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil
• ½ teaspoon sea salt plus more to taste
• 4 tablespoons gochujang
• 1¾ cups canned tomatoes or 1 14.5-oz can
• ¼ cup vodka divided

What is Gochujang

Gochujang is a Korean hot pepper paste made by fermenting chili peppers with rice and/soybeans. It has a deep-toned, savory umami flavor with a subtle background sweetness. Though sometimes literally called a "sauce," gochujang is actually more a starter ingredient used to make and flavor marinades, sauces, soups and more, and not something you would use directly out of the container at the table to season a final dish.

Like any condiment, gochujang varies in style, flavor, texture, and heat level across brands and recipes. Yes recipes! Because you can actually make your own gochujang. The base ingredients are Korean red pepper powder-called "gochugaru"-and soybeans. From there, ingredients vary, including any kind of sweetener from brown rice syrup (preferred) to high fructose corn syrup (avoid if possible!), seasonings like garlic and/or onion, sometimes grains like barley, rice or wheat, and possibly alcohol or other form of preservative.

Which Type or Brand of Gochujang is Best?

There aren't necessarily different types of gochujang, though like any condiment, there are a range of spice levels, flavors, and textures based on different brands' exact ingredients.

Ingredients can include any kind of sweetener from brown rice syrup to high fructose corn syrup, seasonings like garlic and/or onion, sometimes grains like barley, rice or wheat, and possibly alcohol or other form of preservative. Read the labels to look out for any ingredients to which you are sensitive.

** Pro-tip: Make sure the product is "gochujang" and not "gochujang sauce," which is a pre-made sauce with gochujang as an ingredient.

Use any kind of gochujang that suits your taste and preferred heat-level. These are brands of gochujang I actually use and recommend, mostly because I look for products with no corn syrup and no wheat:

• O'Food Gochujang (pictured in all the photos on this post) is sweetened with tapioca syrup rather than corn syrup, and does not contain wheat in the ingredients, though the label indicates that it's made in a facility that also processes wheat
• O'Food Gluten Free Gochujang, same brand and ingredients as above, but specifically labeled gluten-free because it's made in a dedicated gluten-free facility
• Trader Joe's, surprisingly, has a good gochujang made in Korea and if you're new to gochujang, the container is small enough that you won't feel overwhelmed
• Mother in Law's Gochujang deserves a mention because I have tried it several times, it tastes great and most importantly it is available at many Whole Foods markets, which might be more accessible than a Korean grocery store. However, the ingredients do include wheat flour as well as malt syrup, which is made form barley (gluten).

Substitutions and Variations

This Spicy Gochujang Pasta version is already a bit of a departure from the more traditional "Spicy Vodka Pasta" renditions made with tomato paste, Calabrian chilies, and cream, so you can vary it "backwards" by going back to those original ingredients! Here are some suggested substitutions:

• Other Shapes of Pasta Use any short pasta with some texture, and preferably with a tube shape that can catch and hold the sauce. The "famous" Spicy Vodka Pasta dishes usually feature rigatoni, a wide tube with ridges on the outside, or fusilli, a corkscrew. Cavatappi, which is corkscrew tube with ridges, is the best of all worlds! To be honest, even long pasta like spaghetti or fettuccine will work too.
• Other alcohol for vodka. If you don't have vodka, use a dry white wine, or in keeping with the Asian flavor, sake.
• No alcohol. If you don't want to use alcohol, omit it and simply use more of the pasta water.
• No silken tofu. If you don't have silken tofu, go back to the original inspiration and use heavy cream or half-and-half, which will make the sauce a bit heavier.

Food for Afterthoughts

This is my gratuitous la la land post. All fashion, no function. All style, no substance. Ridiculously good looking, though it probably would not go well with an Orange Mocha Frappuccino.

It's a nice picture of a pasta, if I do say so myself. Technically, it is in focus, and well-lit. The content itself is colorful, balanced, and sparkles. It certainly gives me this feeling of "fresh" and "summer." To some extent, I also think "sexy" because of the deep, dark red of the sun-dried tomatoes and the way the ingredients are glistening and tumbling all over each other. It looks good. It looks so faaaabulous, dahling, I just want to *airkisskiss* it on either side.

Style.

Unfortunately, there is nothing inherently interesting about pasta. It is pasta. It is "sauce." Sometimes a tart, tangy tomato, sometimes a rich, decadent cream. Good grief, you could just shake something out of a jar in a fit of Sandra Lee hysterics and it would still be okay.

So there is nothing interesting to write about pasta, mine or in general. It is pasta , for fox ache. There is no interesting back-story of how I went to the farmers' market and met some gorgeous guy because we both reached for the same heirloom tomato and then went back to his place to make sweet, sweet...pasta. I also refuse to research the history of pasta. I will leave that to chatGPT.

And you know what? I spent time primping my pasta because I knew. I knew that, if nothing else, at least it had to look good.

I *cringe* thinking that I am posting this "recipe" for my Spicy Gochujang Pasta because really now, a "recipe" for pasta is like a "recipe" for cold cereal. Put it in a bowl.