Gochujang Pulled Pork is our favourite Korean comfort food to cook at home.
Our oven roasted Gochujang Pork Shoulder recipe features marinated pork slices that are gently cooked with onions until tender.
Enjoy traditional Gochujang Pulled Pork served with steamed rice or noodles as a main course at a Korean dinner party.
This simple Korean pulled pork recipe is both sweet and savoury, featuring simple ingredients like pork shoulder, gochujang, hoisin sauce, onion, miso, scallions and sesame seeds.
Save this story to Pinterest!
What Is Gochujang?
Gochujang is a thick and sweet paste made from Korean chili peppers, available in varying spiciness levels.
Gochujang paste offers multiple layers of flavour; subtle sweetness, subdued spicy heat, umami savouriness and mouth-watering saltiness.
Marinades, dips, soups, meat, stews, rice and other Korean foods get kicked up a notch with the addition of gochujang. Bibimbap, which is considered the national dish of Korea, features gochujang as its main flavour component.
Visit a Korean grocery store or Asian supermarket and you’ll find gochujang typically sold in red plastic containers of varying sizes in the condiments section.
Gochujang is the main flavour ingredient in our homemade Korean Pulled Pork marinade.
Travel to Korea by Cooking Gochujang Pulled Pork at Home
I love traveling through Asia.
As a professional food and travel writer I’ve eaten my way through India, Maldives, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.
My first visit to Asia had me living in South Korea for a year as an English teacher. That’s when I was first introduced to yummy fermented vegetables like kimchi.
In Korea, I’ve enjoyed many steaming plates of roast Gochujang Pork Shoulder at restaurants in Seoul, Suwon, Busan, Samcheok, Jeju and even the North Korean DMZ.
My first time eating Gochujang Pulled Pork was almost immediately after getting off the plane in Seoul. I spent my first week in Korea attending intensive teacher training classes. Whenever we’d break for lunch they’d serve us plates filled with bulgogi, mandu, noodles, gochujang pork shoulder and selection of healthy banchan.
Our Gochujang Pulled Pork recipe is a simple Korean dish that is quick and easy to make in the oven. The recipe features marinated pork slices that are slowly roasted in the oven with onions until the meat is so tender it can easily be pulled apart with a fork.
After enjoying your first few bites, you’ll realize why Gochujang Pulled Pork served over steamed rice is a must-try when visiting South Korea!
Where To Eat Gochujang Pork Shoulder
If you live in a large city in Canada or America you’ll likely have access to a local Korean restaurant that serves a traditional Gochujang Pork recipe.
Haven’t traveled to Korea before? It may be helpful to first sample Gochujang Pulled Pork at a local restaurant to better understand how it is served. You’ll get an idea for the ideal amount of gochujang to season the meat, perfect portion size, and side dishes to serve at the table.
In Toronto, popular Korean restaurants that may serve Gochujang Pulled Pork include Doma, Korean Village Restaurant, Arisu, Charcoal and Salt, Koko Share Bar, The Owl of Minerva, Seoul Shakers, Té Restaurant, Barrio Coreano, Momofuku Noodle Bar, Tofu Village and Korea House.
My Family Loves Gochujang Pulled Pork
My parents flew to Asia to visit me on holiday during my 12 months in Seoul. Before landing at Incheon they visited Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan.
They had never been to a Korean restaurant at home in Toronto or Oakville before so every dish was a delight and surprise to their taste buds.
It’s no secret that my dad is a picky eater so I was a little nervous about him finding commonplace menu items like raw fish, spicy soup and fatty samgyeopsal to be unappealing.
Thankfully my parents both fell in love with Korean Pulled Pork! They ordered the dish many times during visits to Insadong and Dongdaemun. I knew my parents would love roasted Gochujang Pork Shoulder because my dad is a big fan of American-style pulled pork sandwiches. They both loved eating the sweet and spicy tender meat with bowls of rice and noodles.
I often make oven baked Gochujang Pork Shoulder during the colder months of the year in the Fall and Winter. After spending a day outdoors in the cold there’s no better way to heat up your chilly bones then forking through a comforting bowl of sweet and sticky Korean Pulled Pork.
Your hungry (and thawing) dinner guests will be smiling from ear to ear, chopsticks on the ready!
Gochujang Pork Recipe Cooking Tips
Our Gochujang Pork recipe is quick and easy to make at home. We’ve included a few tips for first time Korean cooks!
- We suggest using a large Dutch Oven to roast the pork shoulder. Ensure it has a firm oven-safe lid.
- You can purchase Gochujang at an Asian supermarket, Korean grocer or online.
- Only use the pork shoulder butcher cut when making this recipe as it is a fatty and tender cut of meat. When slowly roasted in the oven, tender pork shoulder pieces can be torn apart, hence the name “Korean Pulled Pork.”
- We’ve used a Spanish cooking onion in this recipe but you can substitute for a red onion, sweet Vidalia onion or white onion.
Health Benefits
Our homemade Gochujang Roasted Pork Shoulder recipe is packed full of healthy ingredients!
Onions are a humble vegetable packed with vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Regular consumption of onions can help boost digestive health and reduce the risk of developing heart disease.
Chili in the gochujang has been proven to help reduce the duration of sickness, prevent heart disease, and promote weight loss.
Pork is an excellent source of protein and provides several important vitamins and minerals. It’s an excellent source of thiamin, selenium, niacin, vitamin B-6 and phosphorus, zinc, riboflavin and potassium.
A useful source of copper, calcium, manganese, and phosphorus, sesame seeds help support circulatory, digestive and skeletal health.
What To Serve with Gochujang Pulled Pork
There’s nothing more comforting than cozying up to a bowl of Korean Pulled Pork with rice.
We love serving this roast pork dish as a hearty Korean dinner and leftovers make for a quick and easy lunch. If you want to get creative in the kitchen with a fusion of flavours feel free to serve Gochujang Pulled Pork in a sandwich, wrap, or taco.
If you’re hosting a Korean-inspired potluck you might like to pair our Roasted Gochujang Pork Shoulder recipe with Gochujang Chicken Wings, Ssamjang Chicken, Spicy Gukbap Korean Rice & Beef Soup, Spicy Pork Bibimbap, Buchimgae Buchu-Jeon Korean Chive Pancake, Beef Bulgogi Noodles, Sangchu Geotjeori Sweet and Sour Korean Lettuce Salad, and Crispy Vegan Pan Fried Korean Tofu.
You May Also Enjoy These Pork Recipes…
- Pork Sausage Stuffed Apples Recipe
- Sweet & Spicy Thit Ram Vietnamese Caramel Pork
- Älplermagronen Cheesy Swiss Alpine Macaroni
- Creamy Red Thai Pork Curry
- Singapore Chow Mei Fun Noodles
- Southern Smoked Baked Beans with Bacon
- Fresh Fig Prosciutto Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Cheesy Bacon Air Fryer Potato Skins
- Köttbullar med Gräddsås Swedish Meatballs
- Smokey BBQ Bone In Air Fryer Pork Ribs
- Cilantro Ginger Lime Cajun Shrimp Salad
- Easy Seasoned Air Fryer Bone In Pork Chops
- Speckknödel German Bread Bacon Dumplings
- German Pork Rouladen with Bacon, Apple & Pickles
- Thai Pork Rib Soup with Vermicelli Noodles
- Portuguese Bean Soup Recipe with Kale and Sausage
- Romanian Soup Ciorba de Perisoare
How To Make Gochujang Pulled Pork Shoulder
Tender Gochujang Pulled Pork Shoulder
Equipment
- French knife
- Dutch Oven
- mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 4 lb Boneless Pork Shoulder trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
- 3/4 cup Gochujang
- 1/4 cup Hoisin Sauce
- 1 Medium Spanish Onion sliced
- 1/4 cup Miso
- 1 tbsp Scallions sliced
- 1 tsp Sesame Seeds
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 325 F with a rack in the lower middle position.
- In a large Dutch Oven, stir together the pork, gochujang and hoisin.
- In a bowl, toss the onion with the miso, then distribute over the pork.
- Cover and cook for 2 hours. Uncover and cook until the pork is tender, another 1 hour, stirring once or twice.
- Skim off and discard the fat, then shred the pork by smushing the tender meat with the back of a wooden spoon or spatula. You can also tear the pieces with two forks.
- If the mixture is dry feel free to add a few glugs of beef or chicken stock to thin out.
- Serve over noodles or rice and garnish with scallions or sesame seeds.
Nutrition
Some of the links in this story use affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase through our site, Dobbernationloves will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your support helps us to produce comprehensive content.
Save this story to Pinterest!
