Give Barbecue Sauce A Korean Twist With One Powerhouse Ingredient

Korean barbecue is an unparalleled culinary experience. Although it has royal origins, today you can enjoy it at home by whipping up a combination of savory, sweet, spicy, and vinegary dishes. And yet, if you're looking for a different way to enjoy some of these flavors in barbecue, you can also give your American-style sauces a Korean twist by adding kimchi.

There are all different kinds of kimchi you can go for here, as this term refers to a classic Korean side made from fermented veggies. But for the purposes of jazzing up your barbecue sauce, opt for baechu kimchi, which uses napa cabbage and is the most common variety in the U.S. Aside from the main ingredient, it's made with salt, Korean radishes, Korean fish sauce, garlic, ginger, scallions, and gochugaru (aka Korean chili powder), although there may be other additions as well. This means that when you incorporate it into your barbecue sauce, you'll get plenty of umami, tangy, and spicy flavors. On its own, barbecue sauce is already full of sweetness (often thanks to ketchup and brown sugar inclusions), so this condiment is ideal for providing contrast and flavor notes that pop.

When choosing your kimchi, consider the taste and spice level you want to add to your barbecue sauce. Some brands are hotter than others, while some (like Tobagi kimchi) have notes that jive extremely well with barbecue sauce, like apple and pear. Then when you've picked your ideal jar, pulverize about 2 cups of its contents (including the juices) in a blender or food processor. If you don't mind a few chunks in your sauce, however, you can also mince up your kimchi and pour in a little of the liquid. Or, at the end of your cooking process, insert an immersion blender in your pot. 

For the easiest flavor infusion, simply heat up a bottle of Kraft's Original Barbecue Sauce, or your chosen store-bought option, on the stove with your puree or chopped ingredient, stirring until the flavors meld together. However, you can also make your own condiment from scratch. In this case, pour your kimchi into a pot with other ingredients that make up a sweet and tangy barbecue sauce, like ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, honey, and Worcestershire sauce. If you want to complement the Korean flavors, toss in some grated ginger, minced garlic, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, or gochujang. Your mixture should need anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes on the stove until it thickens up and is ready to go.