Never has a quick meal tasted so spectacular. Yes, you do need to hunt down this fabulous flavoured paste — think chilli with a sweet and smoky hit of almost liquorice intensity — but once you have it, the culinary kingdom is yours. In lieu of it, I suppose you could use any chilli paste you like, to taste, but I could never allow myself to run out of my exuberantly coloured gochujang — also stamped "Hot Pepper Paste (Chal)" — and so can’t report from experience. In fact, I am always ready to slide down the pole and have this at a moment’s notice: the spring onions are in the fridge; the squid is in the deep-freeze; everything else is to hand; and if I don’t have any baby corn, I am more than happy to add whatever vegetable I do have. For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.