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Korean sauce

Korean sauce

3.1
A liquid or paste used in Korean cooking that often contains soy, garlic, and chili
  • noun
translation icon : salsa coreana
  • He enjoyed dipping his dumplings in the tangy Korean sauce made from garlic and chili.

Examples

  • The spicy Korean sauce added a delicious kick to the grilled chicken.

  • We drizzled Korean sauce on our bibimbap for extra flavor and depth.

  • I noticed their menu offered a choice of hot Korean sauce or KoFoo special sauce to accompany the dish.

    Blog text (16)

How Spicy

hot sauce
34 1.0
Korean sauce
3.1
mild-tasting
1 3.4
bland
23 2.0

Surface Forms

Korean sauce singular
Korean sauces plural

Morphology

Korean + sauce

The meaning 'a sauce characteristic of Korean cuisine' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'Korean' (related to Korea) with 'sauce' (a condiment). Although exact ingredients may vary, the adjective+noun composition is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the general meaning.

Etymology

Korean sauce comes from the simple idea of a Korean (from Korea) sauce (a liquid added to food), often the spicy red paste, garlic and soy flavours you see in Korean dishes. So it means 'a sauce that is typical of Korean cooking'.