Putting out a whole artichoke as a nibble for an apéro or happy hour is delicious and serves all of the drama, dahling. However, contrary to what she's serving, this recipe is deceptively simple. To have an enjoyable whole artichoke experience, I think it's essential to pair this prickly queen with a creamy dipping sauce—for opulence. Use the leftover gochujang sauce during the week and drizzle it on roasted veggies, spread it on sandwiches, or however else you please.

Recipe Type: snack or appetizer

Time: 1-1.5 hours

Servings: 2-4

Ingredients

1 large artichoke

½ cup of mayonnaise (preferably homemade)

1 tablespoon gochujang

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

One lime

One lemon

2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro (including stems)

2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions

Sesame seeds

Salt and Pepper to taste

Equipment

Pot to cook the artichoke

Mixing bowl

Knife

Cutting board

Microplane

Instructions

Bring a pot of water, large enough to submerge the artichoke, to boil. Cut a lemon in half and squeeze both halves' juice into the pot and add the two lemon halves. When the water is boiling, add a generous amount of salt (like salting pasta water).
Wash the artichoke, then remove the stem by placing the artichoke on the counter, holding it to the counter with one hand, and using your other hand to press down forcefully on the stem to snap off the base. The stem should snap off along with some of its fibrous veins in the stalk, leaving the bottom of the heart exposed. Immediately add the artichoke to the pot of water.
Lower the heat so the water is at a simmer, and cook the artichoke until the bottom of the heart (the opening where the stem once was) becomes tender, and you can easily pierce it with a paring knife or cake tester. This will take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half depending on the artichoke size.
While the artichoke is cooking, prepare the dressing. I strongly recommend using homemade mayonnaise (the recipe and instruction videos are here).
In a small mixing bowl, add ½ cup of mayonnaise, one tablespoon of gochujang, one teaspoon soy sauce, sesame oil, one teaspoon of lime zest, the juice of ½ the zested lime, and two tablespoons of chopped cilantro and sliced scallions.
Mix, add salt, pepper to taste. If needed, add more lime juice to balance the acidity in the sauce. Place the sauce in a serving dish and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
When the artichoke has cooked, pull the artichoke out of the boiling water with tongs letting the excess water drip back into the pot. Plate and serve with gochujang cilantro sauce.

How to Serve

Serve the hot cooked artichoke with the dipping sauce. Serve with a bowl to discard artichoke leaves.
Eat by removing a leaf from the artichoke and dipping the base (not the pointy side) into the sauce. Scrape the bottom flesh off with your teeth.
Enjoy all the leaves until you get to the heart/choke. You'll notice the leaves get thinner until you reach the choke with long inedible fibers. Scrape off the inedible choke with a spoon, discard the choke, and then cut the heart of the artichoke into little pieces, dip into the sauce, and enjoy!