Sometimes I need to shake things up in the kitchen. Meatballs with tomato sauce and plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese is a favorite of mine. Recently, I decided to improvise on that recipe and add spicy sweet gochujang to the basic meatball mixture along with shredded carrots for juiciness and sesame oil and ginger — a wonderful medley of Asian ingredients.

Gochujang is salty, spicy and slightly sweet. It is fermented red pepper paste from Korea with additional ingredients that add to its umami flavor including fermented soybean powder and a sweetener like barley malt and fermented sweet rice. Panko crumbs deliver a crisp bread texture that will stay intact as the meatballs bake.

In this recipe I’ve prepared these in different meatball sizes. My recommendation is to use a small ice cream scoop so the meatballs have about a 2-inch diameter. That may sound large, but they shrink during baking. Also, if they are too small, they can burn on the bottom.

While the meatballs are baking, put together the Seriously Simple sauce. The sweet apricot or orange jam complements the savory flavors.

These meatballs can be served on their own or on a bed of steamed vegetable rice or cooked Korean noodles. Serve a chilled Korean beer alongside the dish.

Korean Meatballs

Makes About 25 meatballs; serves 8

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium leek, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, peeled and finely shredded

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