This is the Korean Chicken to Get Sticky with

Adventurers! You are not forgotten or unloved on your journeys, but I have returned to you. And today, we are talking about food. Because who doesn’t love to have a satisfying meal and learning fun new recipes? In my last post, I shared an adventure I had in Seoul, South Korea, and I fully intend to share more. However, one of the things I realized while I was out there was how much I was limiting my culinary experiences by not stretching to try my hand at some delicious Korean Bento Box-type meals.

After some searching, I found this excellent recipe for Sticky fried chicken and rice bowls because I wanted to go into this new pool slowly (knee depth, no cannonballs). Credit where it is due. I found it on Diana’s Delish Dishes, and she has a lot of good recipes that I’ll be looking at in the future. I did half the rice in my bowls to slightly cut down the carb count.

This was a fun one for me because 1) It was an excuse to buy a rice cooker, 2) I’d never used Gochujang before and had been very nervous about trying it in Seoul, and 3) I learned that my son (and he learned too) loves raw cucumbers 4) There is (slight) difference between Jasmine rice and Thailand Jasmine rice. Mini adventures living inside an adventure. This is turning into an RPG game before my eyes.

The most time-intensive part for me was cutting up all the chicken. I used more chicken than the recipe called for to have extra for a daily protein boost and easily spent 20 minutes trimming fat and chopping the breasts into cubes. So many cubes….so…. many…cubes…. I have to say that one of the things I like about this recipe and Korean fried food is the lighter and healthier coating of breading. While I went up Seoul Tower, my friend and I stopped and got Korean Fried Chicken to munch on, and I was instantly in love with the flavor and crispness without all the heavy fried food feeling that normally comes with it.

Let’s talk about the Gochujang. It’s a hot pepper paste standard in Korean food if you’ve never had it. I avoided it heavily in Korea because my experience with hot and spicy has not been the greatest. And let me tell you, this will turn your food into a striking dark red color that describes your inner prey and that danger is afoot. I hear the Lost in Space robot when I see that food. I tried it in another recipe, halving the amount called for, and regretted the loss of flavor. So, when I started this, I made the call: we’re all in on Gochujang (plus it’s fun to say…Gochujang, Gochujang, Gochujang…).

The rice for this was quite easy and straightforward, which means the next part worth mentioning is the cucumbers. These are marinated in a delicious mixture of Tamari sauce, rice vinegar, and red pepper flakes. While slicing and chopping these, my littlest Little wandered in to see what I was up to and “what was smelling so much” in the kitchen. As they wanted to do, he helped himself to a slice of a cucumber and then tore off. He returned every 90-120 seconds to steal another piece before I stopped and handed him a whole cucumber with the ends cut off (because it had a weird dot).

One of the best things from this recipe was watching him realize that he loves raw cucumbers, even if I can’t get him to eat a pickle to save myself. This has led to fun conversations like, “Dude, let’s just ask the Subway lady for a bowl of cucumbers instead of putting them on your ham sandwich just for you to pull them off.” One of the mom rewards in life is seeing your kids try and discover new things; it’s something that I love.

So, the big question right: how did this all turn out? The chicken was excellent, and the Gochujang brought a great kick and flavor that I did not realize I was missing out on. I mix the rice into the chicken a bit to absorb a bit of heat, which is helpful because I am still a bit of a wimp when it comes to heat. The chicken flavor and the cucumber flavor made this a fantastic meal. There was only one thing I wish I had done differently. Because I did not have compartmented containers I could separate, everything went into the microwave at work, and the cucumbers would have been better cold, even though they were still warmed.

So, would I recommend this, and will I make it again? Oh yes, no question. My lovely Adventurers, I encourage you to step outside your culinary comfort zone. Try something new, stretch a bit, and share the results! Have you recently? Do you have a recipe you recommend? Let me know!