Gochujang fried rice

Gochujang fried rice

Dipping your feet into Korean food? Here’s gochujang fried rice that you must not miss. quick and easy, this brown rice fry is gluten-free,  vegan and above all delicious.

The current bonding with my teens is learning the ropes of Korean pop. As I am getting educated on the song list, moves, selfie trends etc my brain runs fueled by flavours. Here is the first and easiest, gochujang fried rice. Hopefully, this imperfect gochujang fried rice version will be accepted by my teens. 

What is gochujang?

I am sure you all are familiar with fried rice. Gochujang takes fried rice to a whole new level, the one that you don’t want to put your fork down.  Gochujang is a unique fermented chilli paste made from taeyancho Chili peppers. It is not a ground chilli paste like gochugaru, rather has fermented soy paste, glutinous rice etc, that contributes to the umami flavour it develops. Gochujang does not have the fiery flavour of the chillies. Yes, there is the spiciness,  yet a bit of sweet mellowness comes from the fermentation. Gochujang is used in combination with gochugaru for heat in many recipes. In this fried rice, we have only used the gochujang to create the flavour.

What rice is best for gochujang fried rice?

Medium to long-grain rice is what is best for making gochujang fried rice. The key idea is that the rice is nonsticky, not a glutinous variety. Today I have used brown basmati to make this recipe. The brown basmati has a bite when cooked and fluffs ups perfectly making it easy to stirfry.

Prepping the rice for the perfect texture

Ideally, soak the rice after washing it for 10 minutes. Depending on the method you choose to cook the rice you will need 1l to 2 times of the water to get fluffy rice. Either cook and drain the excess liquid or use the absorption method. Once the rice is cooked, use a fork to fluff it so the rice grains separate better. To be fair, the best-fried rice makes use of leftover rice as it has dried out a little bit keeping the grains separate, yet soft.

korean fried rice made with Gochujang paste.

Let’s get cooking

Once you have the rice ready, the gochujang fried rice comes together quickly.
Chop up some veggies you have like onions, capsicum, peas, cabbage, carrots etc. I have used sliced leeks, chopped carrots and capsicum to make it. This keeps changing based on what I have at hand.
Next comes the sauce. So, into the bowl goes gochujang paste, soy sauce and  2 tablespoons of hot water. Whisk this to get a smooth sauce.
I guess you are in ready-set-go mode. Fire up that wok and grease it well with oil. Fry the veggies and add the fluffed rice.  Pour the sauce and quickly start mixing. Use two turners to achieve this. So, it is dug and tossed, not stirred. In this way, the sauce and the veggies get evenly mixed without the rice turning mushy. Once all is mixed, the fried rice is ready to be served.

Gochujang fried rice

Dipping your feet into Korean food? Here's gochujang fried rice that you must not miss. quick and easy, this brown rice fry is gluten-free,  vegan and above all delicious.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Fusion, gluten free, Korean, One pot
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • wok
  • ladle

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1 tbsp garlic minced
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger root chopped
  • 1/2 cup leeks sliced
  • 1/2 cup carrots chopped
  • 1/2 cup capsicum  chopped
  • 1/2 cup tofu crumpled
  • 3 cups brown rice cooked and fluffed
  • 2 tbsp gochujang
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Toasted sesame seeds

Instructions
 

  • Stir together the soy sauce and gochujang paste with a bit of water to form sauce. Set this aside till needed.
    sauce for gochujang fried rice.
  • Chop the carrots, capsicum and leeks. Set it aside.
  • Fluff the cooked brown rice and keep it ready.
    cooked brown rice for the fried rice.
  • Into the wok add the oil and let it heat up.
  • Once heated, add the garlic and ginger and stirfry to flavour the oil.
  • Add the tofu and stir fry for minute.
  • Now stir fry the veggies.
    veggies
  • Once the veggies are crisp but sauteed, add the rice.
    brown rice
  • Add the sauce and toss and fry on high heat.
    gochujang sauce.
  • Once the rice is well coated and heated up, sprinkle the sesame seeds and mix well.
    gochujang fried rice.
  • Taste test and adjust seasoning or salt if needed.
  • Remove from heat and the rice is ready to be served.
    gochujang fried rice.
Keyword leftover recipes, Lunch recipes, rice salad recipes, Tofu recipes
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Serving suggestions for gochujang fried rice

The best dishes to serve with this gochujang fried rice are roasted tofu, some spicy cucumber salad. Pair with chilled baesook and the meal is complete. 

Stay connected

Gochujang fried rice is not an authentic Korean recipe. It is more so a fusion idea that we tried as a stepping stone into the cuisine. It is a very flavourful recipe that we have decided to bond upon. We will welcome your suggestions to try out vegetarian Korean dishes. Leave them in your comments and rate the recipe when you make this fried rice. 

Korean Gochujang fried rice.

4.8 4 votes
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10 Comments
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Anjali
Anjali
9 months ago
Rating :
     

This twist on a traditional fried rice was so flavorful and delicious!! Adding gochujang really elevated this dish!

Dana
8 months ago
Rating :
     

This looks and sounds like such a fantastic rice dish! Can’t wait to try it out.

Ned
8 months ago
Rating :
     

What awesome fried rice with gochujang paste! Thank you for this awesome dish it was easy and flavourful!

Andrea
Andrea
8 months ago

I have recently started eating more Korean food and this fried rice sounds absolutely amazing!

Lily
8 months ago
Rating :
     

This was easy and flavorful to make, and it was my first time using gochujang. I was surprised the gochujang flavour packs in so much flavour. I used regular onions, peppers and peas to make mine.

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