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Korean Spicy Tuna Recipe
I originally shared this recipe back in 2014. The recipe card somehow disappeared. Let’s be honest, the YouTube video quality isn’t the best. 😅 So I decided it was time for an update!
This dish is one of my all-time favorites from my mom. I’ve truly never had anything like it anywhere—not even in Korea. You won’t find this kind of Korean spicy tuna at restaurants.
It’s my mom’s secret lazy-day recipe. She’d make it when she didn’t have many ingredients on hand. Yet, she still wanted to feed the family something warm, spicy, and satisfying.
She usually cooks this spicy tuna for breakfast. It’s super easy to fix. I can probably do it with my eyes closed! When my mom made this for breakfast, the entire family would wake up just from the smell. They would gather in the kitchen or dining area without her having to say a word. That’s the best breakfast, right?
This spicy tuna is also fantastic with a fried egg on top. You absolutely must eat it with freshly cooked warm rice and a perfectly fried egg. It’s simple, comforting, and unbelievably satisfying.
Omg, just looking at the beauty of this spicy tuna is making me drool all over again…
Are you ready to get started?
Don’t be surprised by how fast and easy this recipe is—seriously!
Alright, let’s get cooking!
First, chop 3 Serrano peppers or 4 jalapenos. If they’re too spicy for your taste, mix them with green bell pepper. Alternatively, just use green bell pepper instead.
Next, small dice 1/2 of a large onion, 6 cloves of garlic, and 1 bundle of green onions.
You notice the garlic isn’t shown in the photos above. That’s because I already have about 4 cups of chopped garlic in my fridge and freezer! 😅
I bought a huge bag of garlic the other week—because honestly, it was the only batch that looked fresh.
I blended it all up. Now I have it stored in three ways. 1/3 is in the freezer. 1/3 is in the refrigerator for everyday use. The last 1/3 is stored in oil, ready for stir-fries.
Combine 4 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp sesame seeds, 3 tbsp gochugaru, Korean red pepper flakes, 1 tbsp sugar, pinch of black pepper and 3 tbsp water. Mix well until sugar has dissolved, set aside.
For this Korean spicy tuna recipe, you can use any tuna you have in your kitchen. My mom and I always use this Korean tuna in oil. We’ve never used other canned tuna for this recipe before. So, this is the only canned tuna I will recommend. ☺️
The one I’m using is 18oz/500g – it’s the large canned tuna. You can find them at local Korean groceries or online. But online I was able to find only the small cans.
In a large ttukbaegi, Korean clay pot or thick bottom pot; add tuna, chopped jalapeño, garlic, onion and green onions. Pour the sauce mixture on top and cover.
Ttukbaegi is Korean clay pot that we use daily home cooking for stew, soup and steam. If you don’t have one, you can use similar size thick bottom pot or dutch oven.
Place on a stove, bring it to boil over medium high heat then reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.
Open the lid to check if it’s cooking well and not burning the bottom when it starts to boil.
Meanwhile, make some fried egg to serve with spicy tuna! They are SO GOOD together!!
It’s done! Super simple and easy!!
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
You can serve this spicy tuna with warm cooked rice, a fried egg, kimchi, and any other side dishes you enjoy.
But honestly, in my opinion, it doesn’t need much else—it’s so flavorful and satisfying on its own!
Just a bowl of rice and a runny egg on top, and you’ve got the perfect meal.
Enjoy!
Korean Spicy Tuna
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 3 tbsp gochugaru, Korean red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp sugar
- pinch of black pepper
For the Tuna & Veggies
- 2 cans of 18oz/500g tuna in oil
- 4 jalapeno, 3 serrano or 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 bundle of green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients for sauce plus 3 tbsp water. Mix well until sugar has dissolved, set aside.
- In a large ttukbaegi, Korean clay pot or thick bottom pot; add tuna, chopped jalapeño, garlic, onion and green onions. Pour sauce on top and cover. Place on a stove, bring it to boil over medium high heat then reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. It’s done! Super simple and easy!!
- You can serve this spicy tuna with warm cooked rice, fried egg, kimchi and other side dishes you would love to enjoy together. But in my opinion, it doesn’t need whole lot of side dishes! Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
40 comments
My household has been eating this spicy tuna recipe for years since Seonkyoung first shared it and we love it! It’s a staple. We use green bell pepper in it to sub for the spicy pepper. An egg and alvacado are a must for us over rice. Just such a great recipe. Thank you Seonkyoung and your gracious Mom for sharing this with us!
OMG! DAY 1 FAN!! Thank you so much for your generous and loyal support, so glad I could help out with my recipes. (:
absolutely delicious! only thing i did different was add a 3rd can of tuna.
absolutely delicious! only thing i did differently was add a 3rd can of tuna. i would of eaten the whole pot had my stomach allowed!
question: how much of a taste difference would it be if i tried regular american tuna next time?
So I heard from my fans that using water based canned tuna also taste delicious, but I do recommend using oil based tuna. American tuna would not change the taste much as long as you use oil base. Hope this helped (:
We subbed red canned salmon wild caught. Came out nicely. Not sure it’s going to a frequent fish for us but it was good.
Thank you so much for your website and YouTube videos. Do you currently have a restaurant anywhere? My second question has to do with the amount of tuna in this recipe. Is it 2 500 gram cans of tuna, or is it 2 cans of tuna totaling 500 grams??
Thank you very much,
It was 2 cans totally up to 500gs, and no I do not have a restaurant at the moment. But thank you so much for your support!
빠른 응답에 감사드립니다. 제 아내와 저는 저녁으로 먹겠습니다. 맛있겠다.
Should the recipe read “2 cans of 8oz/250g tuna in oil”?
Thank god I read the comments before starting to cook! The recipe reads as 2 cans of 500g tuna totalling 1000g. Very confusing!
Do you drain the oil from the can or you use the whole can including oil?
I drain the oil lightly. 🙂
This is a recipe that I have been doing often for years now. It has become a staple at home, for any meal. Sometimes, I do it just to eat with my mom’s mashed potatoes and it is DELICIOUS.
Love, love, LOVE this! I made a couple of adjustments per my preference.
That is what cooking is all about! Making a recipes your own! Glad I could help out!
Yum! I used American can tuna in water because that’s all I had, and it was tasty!
Thank you for letting me know! I wasn’t sure how it would turn out with water base tuna since I haven’t tried. Thank you!
Delicious! Spicy, hearty and flavorful. And the fried egg was the perfect partner. Thank you!
Thank you for trying!
Could you half the recipe
Yes you can! If you just use exactly half of each ingredient.
This has become a comfort food. LOVE IT. I’m loving your recipes! And this is perfect because I was just wondering what should I do with my cans of tuna.., then I saw this and decided to go for it.
OMG I made this tonight and it was soooooo good! I used green bell peppers as I wasn’t sure how spicy it would be but I will add fresh chilli next time. I have made a few of your recipes and they have always been winners! Thanks and I look forward to trying many more 🙂
Yum! Do you have a link to the clay pot you used in the video or any other commonly used kitchen items?
A delicious spicy meal that’s easy to whip up. It’s really salty and packs a lot of flavor so make sure to make plenty of rice. I usually halve the recipe if it’s just me.
This looks soo delicious and I cannot wait to try yet another recipe of yours. I do have just one question: Would it be possible to substitute the gochugaru with gochujang? If so, what would be the exact measurement for using gochujang paste? it’s just so hard to find gochugaru 🙁
I wouldn’t recommend using gochujang as a substitute, I would instead use something like ground cayenne pepper or other kinds of pepper flakes. Hope this helped!
Costco used to carry this in cans!! But now they don’t. I’m going to try this recipe, but mix it into mac and cheese, add corn, and lessen the sugar a bit. Will report back! Kind of like the american tuna casserole, but on steroids haha thank you for the recipe. Very excited about having spicy tuna in the comfort of my own home 🙂
This was fantastic! I happened to have everything in my small kitchen already which is a HUGE plus. Super savoury, super healthy, super flavour. Thank you!
This is sooo delicious! I added a splash of 매실원액 (Korean plum extract) which is super tasty too.
Love your recipes! Best wishes from New Zealand 🙂 잘 먹겠습니다!
OBSESSED WITH THIS !!! I have never made one of her recipes that wasn’t amazing to be honest, but this was so quick, delicious and really interesting flavours! Never used these Korean chilli flakes before and they have such a great flavour. I am desperate for Seonkyoung to bring out a cook book, even if it’s all the recipes she’s already made, just so that I can buy one for everyone I know (including myself) . The best!
I love this recipe because of how easy it is to sub ingredients and still get a delicious result! I’m on a carb and fat restricted fast for a day and all I had to do was use regular American tuna, use monk fruit sugar instead of actual sugar, exclude any oils, added sliced perilla leaves and served over cauliflower rice and it was STILL DELICIOUS! Even if I had to create a bastardized version of it haha ?.
We’re we supposed to use the oil in the can? Or drain it? I used salmon because I didn’t have tuna and I used 2 14 oz cans I think I got it wrong no juice ?! Im gonna have to start again. ( but it tastes ?
Yes you were supposed to use oil in the can! Trust me it will be worth it! If you enjoyed the recipe please leave a rating! ❤️
This is one of my favorite weeknight recipes to make. I use tuna in water (I can’t find it with oil in my area) and it still tastes great.
This was so good and easy to make! It’s going into regular rotation!
I have been making this since you released the recipe, and it is incredible! I often use 3 cans American tuna in water, plus 1/4c veg oil in the bottom layer, then everything else exactly the same. This is probably one of the most used of your recipes in my household. Question, do you have any suggestions on what the tuna itself can be swapped out for if I ever wanted to make this meatless? I only have 1 meat night a week, but would love to have this other times!
Hello Zack, I’m so glad you like this recipe so much!
You can replace the tuna with tofu and/or mushrooms as well 🙂
Thank you very much! I’m excited to try it with mushrooms and tofu!