A Week of Gochujang Magic

If you love Korean food, you must have heard about Gochujang (고추장). This condiment is used in cuisines such as Bibimpab and tteokbokki. If you are someone like me who enjoys Korean cuisine, Gochujang is a must-have. However if you enjoy stews and soup, Doenjang is a must-have condiment. But today, the highlight is Gochujang, the red chili paste. This week, I exclusively ate meal that are 70% contains gochujang. My most favorite way of consuming it is by making Bibimbap, Korean style mixed rice.

The best cuisine for balanced meal

As if I haven’t said this enough but hands down,Bibimbap is the best meal to have when you want to incorporate vegetables and protein into your meal. The main condiment in this meal is gochujang, the red chili paste that will be put on top of the bowl of rice, seasoned vegetables and fried egg. This meal offers you the opportunity to be creative to craft your comforting bibimbap and it is also easy to make even if you don’t know much about cooking.

While there are ways to eat this traditionally, for those who don’t have a lot of cooking time like I do, here are some examples on how you can make/customize your Bibimbap.

Sauteed Cabbage, Caramelized Onion & Sausage bibimbap.

This is one of my favorites when I want something a little sweet in my cooking. I sauteed the cabbage along with the onion that caramelized with soy sweet sauce and oyster sauce. I also lightly cooked the ready-to-eat sausage and topped with fried egg. The next one you see above, is also similar to this recipe.

Bean sprouts, cucumber and omelet,ground beef wrapped bibimbap

Sweet Soy Sauce bean sprouts with shrimps and seaweed lavers bibimbap

This one is a lot more complex to cook because the bean sprouts are also cooked with the scrambled egg with a lot more condiments to it. The shrimp is spiced with soy sweet sauce and oyster sauce with salt and sugar to balance the umami flavor. Then, lavers add crunch and it is rich in amino acids too.

Most importantly, you can go crazy with your bibimbap. I think it’s the yummiest meal and can be customized so that we can eat more vegetables into our meal. This is my favorite way of incorporating various vegetables and protein without it being too bland. So, having gochujang is definitely a must especially in my pantry.

At the same time, it is very economical especially when you factor in simple vegetables that you can eat. So, if you’re eating on a budget, bibimbap is one of the cheapest and healthiest options. See you next week!