Gochujang Crunchy Nuts

To avoid eating too many salty snacks, I have been trying to eat more nuts. I roast raw, unsalted nuts, and really enjoy them, but sometimes I want something with a little more zing. I love gochujang, the Korean fermented pepper paste, and wanted to see if I could create a crunchy snack with nuts and gochujang. The sugar creates a hard coating. This seems to work and I’ll continue to refine it.

Gochujang crunchy nuts

Roasted nuts

4 cups Nuts of your choice - I typically have almonds, pecans, and walnuts.

Gochujang coating

4 Tbsp gochujang

2 Tbsp soy sauce

4 Tbsp sugar or honey

2 Tbsp +/- of sweet mirin (or enough to thin the sauce)

Extras

Sesame seeds

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 (convention)

2. Roast nut selection 15-20 minutes (until lightly browned)

3. Mix sauce ingredients

4. Toss nuts warm nuts in the sauce

5. Spread nuts onto a parchment paper lined and try to distribute them evenly

6. Roast 10-15 minutes until the sauce caramelizes — when the sauce on the parchment show evidence of starting to darken remove them before they burn. They should be bubbling on the surface.

7. (optional) Sprinkle with sesame seeds a couple minutes before removing from oven

8. Allow to cool and separate. They will be quite crunchy.

6/12 update

I adjusted some quantities and added a big splash of sesame oil. I realized this amount of coating covered much more than 2 cups of nuts. I just add enough coating to generously coat the nuts. Any leftover coating makes a great dipping or barbecue sauce.