After watching a show on Food Network that featured Roy Choi who runs Kogi, a Korean BBQ Taco Truck in LA, I was inspired by his story, his passion for cooking and altogether unique vision. A few days later, while making a batch of vegan queso (more on that in a minute), I decided to pull out the tub of gochujang from my refrigerator with the intent to combine them together. I scooped up a generous amount of the thick red paste, plopped it into the steaming hot vegan queso and gave it a whisk which yielded a bright neon orange sauce.

But how did it taste? Gochujang queso is a nicely balanced dip that clings beautifully onto tortilla chips or drizzled over quesadillas. It delivers a spicy kick of heat that’s tempered by the richness of the vegan queso, and finishes with a little flourish of umami that makes you want to keep scooping it up.

Back to the queso. A couple of years ago I made a vegan quesco blanco dip with full-fat coconut milk and coconut vinegar, with tapioca flour added for stretch and agar to firm it up just enough to a queso consistency. It was startlingly similar in texture and flavor to the dairy-based version I used to eat years ago and missed. Since then, I’ve drizzled it over sweet potato quesadillas or scooped it up with tortilla chips, and it’s fantastic.

Here I’ve combined mashed sweet potato and crushed peanuts with kidney beans and corn, and finished with some crispy sauteed shallot rings, quartered cherry tomatoes, scallions and fresh cilantro. A drizzle of the gochujang queso adds a tiny smack of heat that pleasantly builds without burning out your taste buds.