Vegetarian flavor fest: Cheesy Kimchi Linguine with Gochujang Butter

A host of big-flavored ingredients—kimchi, gochujang paste, crumbled dried seaweed, garlic, Parmesan and scallions—all topped with an egg create a delicious vegetarian meal. Recipe below.

CHEF AND FOOD WRITER LARA LEE calls her Cheesy Kimchi Linguine with Gochujang Butter “a dish that flies the flag for sweet-spicy-salty-umami-fermented flavor.” That pretty much nails it.

Kimchi, Korea’s fermented national dish, delivers tangy, verging on sour, pungent, funky flavors. It is often spicy and and loaded with umami. We most often use kimchi made with Napa cabbage, the kind most widely available in the United States. Lee advises buying the best quality kimchi you can find—fresh, artisan varieties, if they’re available.

Gochujang is another Korean staple—a fermented pepper paste described alternately as delivering spicy-sweet umami or funky-spicy-sweet. It is so fundamental to Korean cuisine that it has its own annual festival in Gochujang Village.

Other ingredients in this dish come from all over. Japanese dried seaweed—nori. Pasta and Parmesan cheese, from Italy. Soy sauce from pretty much anywhere in Asia. As well as eggs, butter, scallions and lime.

This is the third recipe we’ve adapted from Lee’s delightful cookbook, A Splash of Soy: Everyday Food from Asia. Lee, who grew up and still lives in Australia, is of Chinese-Indonesian heritage. She embraces adapting traditional Asian dishes, playfully mixing and matching techniques and ingredients from various places.

Cheesy Kimchi Linguine with Gochujang Butter comes together quickly and easily, another thing we like about it. And it’s a robust, satisfying vegetarian meal. Make it once and you’ll probably put it on repeat.

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Cheesy Kimchi Linguine with Gochujang Butter

A host of big-flavored ingredients—kimchi, gochujang paste, crumbled dried seaweed, garlic, Parmesan and scallions—all topped with an egg create a delicious vegetarian meal. Adapted from A Splash of Soy: Everyday Food from Asia, by Lara Lee.

Course Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine Asian-inspired

Servings 2

Ingredients

• 8 ounces dried linguine (or spaghetti)
• salt
• 3/4 cup kimchi, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, plus a little extra
• 2 tablespoons gochujang paste
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 scallions, sliced into thin matchsticks
• grapeseed oil or other neutral cooking oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons crumbled crispy seaweed, such as nori sheets or seaweed flakes
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Bring a pot of water to a boil, season with a little salt and cook pasta according to package instructions.
• While the water’s coming to a boil and the pasta is cooking. Prepare the other ingredients. Put kimchi, 2 tablespoons cubed butter, gochujang paste, soy sauce, garlic and half the scallions into a large, cold nonstick skillet. Don’t heat it yet.
• Drain the pasta, reserving a little pasta water. Put the pasta into the skillet along with 2 tablespoons of pasta water and the lime juice. Heat over high heat, tossing everything together. Cook for about 3 minutes, until everything is heated through and the pasta is well coated.
• While the pasta mixture is warming, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and a pat of butter in an other skillet over medium-high heat. Crack the eggs into the skillet. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the whites are partially cooked and the edges are becoming slightly crispy. Reduce the heat to medium low and continue to cook until the whites are cooked through and the yolks are still runny. Season with a pinch of salt.
• While the eggs finish cooking, divide the pasta mixture between two pasta bowls. Top each bowl with the crispy seaweed, the remaining scallions and the fried eggs. Dust with the grated Parmesan and serve.