Is It Possible To Use A Different Pasta For The Go-To Gochu Pasta?

Our answer

Nigella's Go-To Gochu Pasta is a Korean-Italian hybrid dish that marries the spicy, savoury flavour of gochujang, a fermented red chilli paste, with orzo pasta. Orzo is a pasta that is shaped rather like long grains of rice. Its name actually means "barley" in Italian, as it resembles grains of barley. In other countries it may be known as lisān al-ʿaṣfūr (sparrow tongue) or piñones (pine nuts) because of its shape.

Unfortunately we don't think any other pasta shapes, even short ones, will work for the recipe. Orzo is slightly unique in that its shape means that it lets off quite a lot of starch as it cooks, giving the dish a thick and almost velevety consistency. But at the same time it retains a certain amount of bite, not becoming too mushy. It also stands up well to stirring, whereas other small pasta shapes can sometimes break up a little as they soften. Orzo can be found in most major supermarkets nowadays and if you have a packet of orzo then you will hopefully find that it is quite versatile and you could also try Nigella's Meatballs With Orzo, Pasta Salad Primavera or the very popular Chicken In A Pot With Lemon And Ozo.