Vegan Gochujang Fried Rice with tofu

Make this Vegan Gochujang fried rice for a quick, easy Korean inspired meal!

Have you ever bought a tub of Gochujang and wondered how to finish it? If you have been searching for recipes with Gochujang, here’s a simple one 🙂 Gochujang fried rice is easy to make and comes together really quickly, great weekday option! With lots of added veggies and tofu, it makes a complete meal.

Ingredients for Gochujang fried rice

Gochujang paste

Gochujang paste is the major flavour contributor in this recipe. It is available online and at Asian stores. The brand I used while testing this recipe is Mother in law’s gochujang, extra-spicy, which wasn’t really very spicy but has very clean ingredients. Do keep in mind that different brands can have different spice levels.

Gochujang sauce and Gochujang paste are two different things. The sauce is runnier than the paste and has several other added ingredients like sugar, vinegar and other flavourings. While Gochujang sauce can definitely be used to make Gochujang fried rice, do bear in mind that the salt may need to be adjusted accordingly.

Rice

Use any variety of rice that you have on hand. Be sure to check how to cook perfect rice for fried rice below in the next section.

Vegetables

Use a mix of vegetables that you have on hand, that would go well in a fried rice. Think carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, bell peppers/capsicum, cabbage, edamame, peas, anything that you have on hand.

Aromatics

I used garlic, green onions/spring onions, leeks. Onion can be used instead of leeks.

Sesame seeds & Toasted sesame oil

Toasted sesame oil is extensively used in Korean cuisine. Sesame seeds add nuttiness. These are however optional ingredients.

Variations

• Top with roasted peanuts/groundnuts.
• If you like sweet and savory, add raisins along with the vegetables.

How to cook the perfect rice for fried rice

To make good fried rice

• The cooked rice should be separate, never mushy.
• Use the right amount of water to cook rice. Amount of water needed depends on the variety of rice being used.
• Bring cooked rice to room temperature or even better, use refrigerated rice to make fried rice. This ensures non mushy separate grains.

The right amount of water needed to ensure separate grains depends on the variety and batch of rice. Different batches/bags of the same variety of rice, sometimes cook a little differently.

Jasmine rice and Japanese short grain rice generally need only equal ratios of rice and water for fried rice, as they get mushy easily. As a rule of thumb, when preparing rice for fried rice, use lesser water than you otherwise would. For example if I were cooking jasmine rice as a side for a curry, I use 1.25 cups of water for a cup of rice but for fried rice use 1 cup water for a cup of Jasmine rice. Experiment with your rice to see what works best!

If you love fried rice check out my Vegan lemongrass fried rice and Vegan Thai basil fried rice!

Vegan Gochujang fried rice

Shwetha

Korean inspired Gochujang fried rice with tofu.

5 from 5 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine asian, Korean

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups cooked rice at room temperature/refrigerated. About 2/3 cup uncooked
• 2 cups chopped vegetables of your choice
• 7 oz tofu 200grams, ½ block
• 4-5 tsp gochujang paste potency may vary by brand.
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 5 cloves garlic
• ¼ cups chopped leeks/onions
• 3 stalks green onions
• ¼ tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp cooking oil I used avocado oil
• ½ tsp toasted sesame oil optional
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds optional

Instructions

 

Prepare tofu

• Break and crumble the tofu to resemble scrambled eggs.
• Wrap tofu in a towel and remove excess water.
• In a pan/wok heat a teaspoon of oil and add the tofu in.
• Saute until water evaporates and the tofu gets jiggly.
  

Prepare fried rice

• Heat cooking oil in a pan/wok on medium-high heat.
• Add garlic, white part of green/spring onions and chopped leeks/onions.
• When they turn translucent, add the vegetables.
• Season with salt.
• Stir fry the vegetables, don't overcook.
• Add cooked rice, tofu, gochujang paste, vinegar.
• Mix everything well to combine and stir fry till rice gets heated.
• Taste and add salt, more gochujang paste if needed. Could also season with a dash of soy sauce.
• Turn off the heat and add toasted sesame oil, green onions and sesame seeds.

Video

Notes

• I cook rice using a rice cooker a day ahead and refrigerate it.
• Use room temperature or refrigerated cold rice, to ensure perfect fried rice with separate grains.
• Amount of water needed to cook the rice, depends on the variety of rice used. Jasmine rice and short grain Japanese rice need only equal amounts of rice and water.  
• If in doubt about how spicy your gochujang is, start with 3 teaspoons of gochujang and work your way up. I needed 5 tsp. 

VARIATIONS

• Add raisins along with vegetables for a sweet and savory fried rice.
• Serve topped with roasted peanuts. 

Keyword gochujang fried rice