Last weekend I went a little crazy with kochujang. CJ Foods is coming out with a new line of products called Bibigo** and I recently got a sampling of some products including Bibigo kochujang. Ever since I made my ddukboki, I keep fantasizing about slathering that meat sauce on some soft potato buns. Oh, yeah.
My love for sloppy joes started in elementary school. And I’m not talking about northern New Jersey’s version of the sloppy joe! I think I was one of the few that really looked forward to school lunches. It was truly the highlight of my day. The meals were high in protein, carbohydrates, and fat, but it was oh so satisfying. Fruit servings were cups of gelatinous orbs swimming in syrup and the only vegetables I remember were the grayish green sheaths called green beans. But you know what? I ate every morsel. Tater tots, spaghetti and meat sauce, sloppy joes, hamburgers, and the list goes on. I even went up for seconds.
So after receiving my free tub of kochujang, I thought, let’s put a little twist on the Sloppy Joe and make it a spicy Sloppy Jae! Brilliant, right?
Sloppy Jae
Makes 4 Jaes
1-2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 pound of ground beef
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced (about 1 1/2 teaspoons of minced garlic)
1 tablespoon of minced ginger
1-2 green chili peppers, finely chopped (about 1/2 chopped peppers)
1/2 cup kochujang
water
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup ketchup
4 potato hamburger buns (toasting is optional)
1 – Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Brown beef while constantly breaking it up with the back of a spoon.
2 – Once the beef turns a light pink, add garlic, ginger, onion, and peppers. Cook until the onions are softened or for about 3 minutes.
3 – Stir in kochujang and water (a 1/4 cup at a time), coating the mixture. Continue cooking until mixture is thickened or for about 3-5 minutes. Stir in ketchup and green onions and cook until heated through.
4 – Spoon mixture over one half of the bun.
**The Bibigo line is coming out in January 2012. Look for it in your local Korean grocery store!
Some of my weirdest food loves came from school lunches. I loved mayo, mustard, and ketchup all mixed together for my fries. I even loved mayo on my sandwiches and I always hated mayo (was a miracle whip kinda gal). When I got to high school, though, I didn’t like it at all. Was funny when I moved to Germany, mayo IS the choice condiment for fries.
Love these sloppy jaes, but also love the NJ style ones you posted. I don’t know which one I’d like to try first!
To make this a classic homeburger, you need to use wonder bread, so that the center of the bread gets completely flat and wet from the kochujang.
good point…does whole foods sell wonder bread? 😉
DUDE… how is this not on a food truck already?? adding kochujang to sloppy joes is indeed brilliant and that name! it’s just asking to be made into a business! 🙂
I should just do a Korean street food cart somewhere!
i tried it in Kimchi Mom’s kitchen. delicious!
Okay…I admit that I had to google kochujang, but now that I have, I want some! The flavors sound so good! And your sloppy jae looks equally wonderful. Much better than those cafeteria ones! 🙂