This Korean Gochujang Fried Rice comes together in just 15 minutes and makes for a great main course or side dish. Load it up with veggies, eggs, bacon, or meat of your choice for a spicy treat.
If you are someone like me who loves a delicious bowl of fried rice for dinner, then try some more fried rice recipes – Kimchi Fried Rice, Vegetable Fried Rice, Mushroom Fried Rice, Thai Fried Rice, Schezwan Fried Rice, Egg Fried Rice, Hibachi Fried Rice, Chicken Fried Rice, and Thai Pineapple Fried Rice.
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About This Recipe
A bowl of fried rice is the definition of a comfort meal for me. I often make fried rice with leftover rice and this time when I had some sitting in my fridge I tried my hands on this new spicy Korean version, which is known as Gochujang Fried Rice (Bokkeumbap).
Fried rice with gochujang is easy, quick, and lip-smackingly delicious. It comes together in just 15 minutes if you have the ingredients ready.
Make it vegetarian with lots of veggies or load it up with egg, bacon, or meat of your choices like chicken, pork, beef, or seafood like shrimp, scallops, or fish.
This rice dish is great to serve as a quick main course dish on its own or serve as a side dish along with your Korean meal. It is also great to pack for lunch boxes.
What Is Gochujang
Gochujang is a popular Korean fermented red chili paste that is a staple in Korean recipes. It is spicy and adds a nice heat to the dishes it is added to. This Korean red chili paste has a spicy, smoky, umami, sweet, and nutty flavor which is a bit pungent too.
It is prepared from red peppers, fermented soybean, chili powder, glutinous rice, malt powder, and salt. Gochujang comes in different heat levels, so choose the one that suits you.
Gochujang paste can be used to spice up fried rice, stir fry, gravies, soups, stews, salads or use as a marinade for chicken, mutton, seafood, veggies, or other meat.
Ingredients
Rice – Use any cooked short-grain white rice. Basmati rice or Jasmine rice also works fine.
Leftover day-old rice works best to make Korean fried rice. If using freshly cooked rice, make sure to cool it well before using it in the recipe otherwise the fried rice will turn out mushy. To fasten the cooling process, spread the cooked rice on a baking sheet. Cover with a cling wrap and freeze for 15 minutes.
You can replace white rice with brown rice, quinoa, or couscous for a healthier version of this Korean bokkeumbap.
Gochujang Paste – It adds a nice spicy kick to the fried rice. You can always adjust the quantity of the paste according to the spice level you like or buy the less spicy one.
You will find it in the Asian section of your grocery store, Korean grocery stores or order it online.
You can use the leftover tub of gochujang to make other Korean dishes like gochujang tofu, gochujang noodles, gochujang dipping sauce, or gochujang wings.
Soy Sauce – Add it for a lovely umami flavor.
Vegetables – I have added bell peppers, carrots, and green onions but you can go ahead and add napa cabbage, broccoli, snow peas, button mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, green beans, cabbage, bok choy, etc.
I sometimes add a little chopped kimchi to the rice for that extra kick.
Eggs – I love to add eggs to my fried rice. You can choose to skip it.
Oil – Use any vegetable oil to make this recipe.
Others – Some ingredients that further enhance the flavor of this fried rice are garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds. Toasted sesame seeds and green onions are used for garnishing.
You can drizzle a little toasted sesame oil over the ready fried rice for a very traditional Korean taste.
How To Make Gochujang Fried Rice
Heat a wok over medium-high heat.
When it is hot, add 2 tablespoon vegetable oil to it.
Once the oil is hot and shimmery, add 2 teaspoon minced garlic and 2 teaspoon finely chopped ginger and saute for 3-4 seconds.
Break 2 eggs in the wok and scramble them.
Add ½ cup sliced mixed bell peppers and ½ cup cubed carrots and saute for 30-40 seconds.
Add ¼ cup gochujang paste and cook for 30-40 seconds.
Now add 2 tablespoon soy sauce and 4 cups of cooked rice and mix everything well.
Garnish with 2 tablespoon chopped green onions and 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds. Serve hot.
Serving Suggestions
Serve gochujang fried rice on its own, it is very flavorful and doesn’t really need anything on the side. You can keep some Schezwan Sauce and soy sauce on the side if you wish to.
I like to top my bowl with a fried egg or a sunny side up for a protein-rich complete meal. You can also top it with crispy seaweed strips.
You can also serve it with Indo Chinese Veg Manchurian, Sweet and Sour Vegetables, Indo Chinese Chilli Chicken, or General Tso’s Tofu.
Storage Suggestions
This rice dish will last in the fridge for 2 to 3 days in an airtight container. Reheat it in a pan or microwave until nice and warm, before serving. If you feel that rice has become a little dry, then sprinkle a little water on top while reheating.
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Recipe Card
Korean Gochujang Fried Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup sliced mixed bell peppers
- ½ cup cubed carrots
- ¼ cup gochujang
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 4 cups cooked short grain white rice
- 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Heat a wok over medium-high heat.
- When it is hot, add vegetable oil to it.
- Once the oil is hot and shimmery, add garlic and ginger and saute for 3-4 seconds.
- Break eggs in the wok and scramble them.
- Add bell peppers and carrots and saute for 30-40 seconds.
- Add gochujang paste and cook for 30-40 seconds.
- Now add soy sauce and cooked rice and mix everything well.
- Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve hot.
Payal
Neha this is such an awesome and easy recipe that can easily be adapted depending on how much time I have. This rice is a regular meal prep or fast dinner in my kitchen. Sometimes I add shelled edamame and yesterday I topped with tempura tofu.
Amber
Fast and easy to make and can be adjusted based on what you have on hand. I added more bell peppers and also sliced some snow peas thin and added them in. At the end also topped with some chopped peanuts. Thanks for the recipe – I love gochujang and am always looking for more ways to use it!
Elise
Very simple and came out great! I had leftover rice from Christmas and I dressed it up with this recipe! It came out very good! I had two servings 🙂
Nathalie
I just whipped this up for lunch, with some premade brown rice and extra tofu. Super quick and delicious! I added some sesame oil as a finish and it really ties all the flavors together. Thanks for the recipe!