After dealing with massive burnout from my professional career and life in general for the past few years, I've decided to return to my old hobby of cooking, as well as pursuing new interests by documenting my cooking process in video form!

This dish is Gochujang Miso Carbonara with Perilla-Smoked grilled (pan-fried?) shrimp. I actually worked with chatGPT to come up with an original korean-based dish, and this was the first item that really sounded interesting to me, so here it is..!

Unfortunately the recipe… was admittedly not very tasty LOL.

For anyone actually interested in the creative + cooking process, you can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY3sAx9oi2c

RECIPE:

Ingredients (2 servings)

For the Pasta:

• 180g dried spaghetti or linguine
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp gochujang (Korean red chili paste)
• 1 tsp doenjang (Korean soybean paste)
• 1 tbsp miso (white or yellow)
• 1 tbsp perilla oil (can substitute with sesame oil, but perilla is preferred)
• 1 garlic clove, finely grated
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• Salt (for pasta water)

For the Shrimp:

• 6 large tiger shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tbsp soju (or dry white wine)
• 1 tsp gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
• 1 tsp perilla oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Handful of dried perilla leaves or loose-leaf green tea for smoking (optional, but awesome)

Garnish:

• Julienned perilla leaves
• Toasted sesame seeds
• Optional: crispy seaweed flakes or furikake

Instructions

1. Marinate the Shrimp:

• In a bowl, mix shrimp with soju, gochugaru, perilla oil, salt, and pepper.
• Let marinate for 10–15 minutes while preparing the pasta base.

2. Prepare Carbonara Sauce Base:

• In a mixing bowl, whisk together:
  • 2 egg yolks
  • Parmesan
  • Gochujang
  • Doenjang
  • Miso
  • Soy sauce
  • A dash of perilla oil
  • Grated garlic
• Whisk until smooth. Set aside.

3. Cook Pasta:

• Boil pasta in salted water until just al dente.
• Before draining, reserve about ¾ cup of pasta water.
• Drain and let sit while you grill the shrimp.

4. Smoke and Grill Shrimp:

• Heat a grill pan or cast-iron skillet until very hot.
• Place a small heat-safe dish with dried perilla leaves or green tea at one side of the pan.
• Use a blowtorch (or lighter) to ignite the leaves slightly and cover briefly with a lid to smoke the shrimp.
• Grill shrimp for ~2 minutes on each side until lightly charred and cooked through. Set aside.

5. Combine Pasta and Sauce:

• In a large skillet, melt 1 tbsp butter over low heat.
• Add cooked pasta and toss.
• Off the heat, stir in the sauce base.
• Gradually add reserved hot pasta water, stirring vigorously to emulsify and create a glossy, creamy sauce. Adjust consistency as needed.
• Add a generous crack of black pepper.

6. Plate and Garnish:

• Plate the pasta in a shallow bowl.
• Top with grilled smoked shrimp.

Garnish with shredded perilla leaves, sesame seeds, and optional crispy seaweed flakes.