Perhaps it's like barbecue sauce to Americans, sacha sauce to Taiwanese, and yakiniku sauce to Japanese, gochujang has its magic on Koreans. Among all these popular seasonings across the world, there's one common trait, that these sauce can be very versatile with delicious results almost 100% guaranteed.
With that in mind, this rice bowl recipe surely sounds like a winner. I'm going to use gochujang sauce as the main flavor for the chicken. Alongside there're quinoa basmati rice, stir-fry spinach, and raw egg yolk on top of each serving. It's like a win-win combo especially if you've already tried and like the spicy yet slightly sweet gochujang from many Korean dishes.
Spicy gochujang chicken rice bowls -
Ingredients (about 4 to 5 portions)?
- 540 grams dark meat chicken (boneless, skin with or without doesn't matter)
- 4 to 5 portions steamed white rice (I used quinoa basmati rice)
- 4 to 5 egg yolks
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1/2 medium small onion
- 1 big bundle spinach
- 1 stalk scallion
- Some toasted white sesame seeds
- 3 tablespoons gochujang sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- Some salt
- Some olive oil or other preferred cooking oil
How?
Peel and slice the onion. Destem and chop the scallion. Peel and chop 2 garlic cloves and slice the remaining 4 cloves. Trim-off the spinach stem and cut to shorter sections, about few inches in length. Precook the rice and set aside for later use.
Slice the chicken to big bite size pieces. Use boneless dark meat. It doesn't matter much with skin or without the skin. However, if using skin-on chicken, just remember to starting searing the meat with skin side down first.
Marinate the chicken with 3 tablespoons of gochujang sauce, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of water, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and "chopped" garlic. Give the meat a nice massage and make sure to rub in all these seasonings. Let it marinate while prepping other ingredients.
Use a non-stick pan and drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil or other preferred cooking oil over. Turn to medium high heat and add in the garlic "slices" along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook till the garlic slices turn slightly golden but not burnt.
Add in the spinach and give it a quick stir-fry. Cook till the spinach wilts, scoop out and set aside first.
Wipe the pan clean and drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil or other preferred cooking oil. Switch to medium heat and add in the onion slices along with a small pinch of salt. Cook till the onion turns translucent.
Add in the chicken along with all the sticky marinade. There's no need to stir too often. Just flip the meat once a while to ensure even cooking or browning. Use medium heat to cook the chicken in the beginning. The sauce will get thicker and sticker over time.
Towards the end, switch up to medium high heat to help reducing the sauce. It should appear thickened but not fully dried up. Took me about 10 minutes to cooking the chicken. Turn the heat off once ready.
To assemble, scoop the rice to serving bowls and place stir-fry spinach around the edge, like an outer ring of spinach.
Transfer some cooked chicken in the middle. Create a small dent in the very center and carefully add an raw egg yolk right on top. Sprinkle some toasted white sesame seeds and chopped scallion.
If making 4 to 5 rice bowls sound too much, simply halve the ingredients used to make just enough for 2 to 3 servings instead.
I really enjoyed the slightly spicy sauce paired with velvety yolk. I can finish all the rice just with these two. It might be wiser to cook more in case you can't stop asking for more after the first few bites.
Other recipes using gochujang:
