The teams playing in Super Bowl 50 have been decided. The commercial slots and halftime show are set. Which means it’s time to move onto perhaps the most important consideration of the event: What will be on your table come February 7.
Sure, you could throw some cocktail weenies in barbecue sauce and call it a night. But why not think outside the box a little—push the palate?
If you can stand a little heat, we’ve got the recipe for you. Edward Lee, the chef behind 610 Magnolia, MilkWood, and Succotash, shared the recipe for his Korean/Tex-Mex Gochujang Chili Cheese Nachos with us.
“Hold up,” you’re saying. “Gochu-what? And how is this different from sriracha?”
A primer: Gochujang, a spicy fermented chili paste, is staple sauce in Korean households everywhere. Traditionally made of glutinous rice, red chili, soybeans, and salt fermented for years (yes, years) in big clay pots, it’s loaded with umami and doesn’t have the garlic flavor profile of sriracha. So yeah, it packs a different sort of punch. People use it to top everything from bibimbap to scrambled eggs.
Lee himself developed Chung Jung One’s Gochujang Korean Chili Sauce, traveling to Korea to develop the perfect flavor profile for it. “I want that stick to your teeth texture that only gochujang can deliver in a sauce. It isn’t just spice for the sake of heat. It is nuanced and layered. It has a sweetness to it and umami, lots of umami.”
At the heart of Lee’s recipe is a beer-and-chipotle-simmered beef chili infused with gochujang. Smother tortilla chips with it and then top that with cheddar cheese, serrano peppers, and sour cream spiked with more gochujang, and you’ve got yourself a game day winner.
The TL;DR: It’s got meat. It’s got beer. It’s got cheese, chips, and of course, hot sauce. How could you go wrong with a combination like that?
Gochujang Chili Cheese Nachos
Recipe by Chef Edward Lee
Serves 6-8
Texas Style Gochujang Chili
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
- 6 tablespoons Chung Jung One Gochujang Korean Chili Sauce
- 2 ounces chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 12-ounce bottle dark beer
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
- In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over high heat. Working in batches, brown the meat and transfer to a paper towel lined plate.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and heat over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and jalapeño pepper. Sauté for 3 minutes until wilted.
- Add Gochujang Sauce, chipotle peppers, brown sugar, cumin, coriander and salt. Cook for another 3 – 4 minutes. Then add beer, beef broth and the diced tomatoes.
- Simmer for about 2 hours, or until meat is very tender. Let cool to room temperature and adjust seasoning with additional salt as needed.
- Serve right away, or for best results, let cool in the refrigerator overnight and reheat the next day.
Gochujang Sour Cream
- 4 ounces sour cream
- 2 teaspoons Chung Jung One Gochujang Korean Chili Sauce
- Mix Gochujang Sauce and sour cream together in a bowl and keep refrigerated until ready to use.
Nachos
- 8 ounces yellow and blue tortilla chips
- 2 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced
- Lay out the tortilla chips on a plate. Ladle about a quarter of the chili over chips. Sprinkle cheese over chili while still warm, so that the cheese begins to melt.
- Dollop sour cream over the cheese and garnish with Serrano peppers. Serve immediately.
Note: Use leftover chili for an additional batch of nachos, topping baked potatoes, or thin with beef broth to serve as a soup.
