Gochujang Chicken and Rice
Foil-packet chicken, instant rice, and a sweet-hot sauce mixed in the pot.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 11 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Instant rice | 1 cup dry | the parboiled kind that rehydrates off heat |
|---|---|---|
| Foil-packet chicken | 5 oz | |
| Gochujang | 1 tbsp | squeeze tube, or a packet from a Korean market |
| Ketchup packets | 2 | grabbed from any deli counter |
| Brown sugar | 1 tbsp | |
| Soy sauce packets | 2 | about 2 tsp |
| Sesame oil | 1 tsp | dropper bottle |
| Granulated garlic and ginger | 1/2 tsp each | |
| Sesame seeds | 1 tsp |
Method
- Boil 400 ml of water. Stir in the rice and the garlic and ginger, then kill the heat and lid the pot.
- While it sits, squeeze the gochujang, ketchup, soy sauce, and brown sugar into a mug or the empty chicken pouch. Stir until it is one color.
- After eight minutes the rice should have taken up the water. Fluff it.
- Fork in the chicken, pour the sauce over, and stir. Finish with the sesame oil and seeds.
The original is deep-fried wings in six cups of oil, which is not happening on a stove that holds a liter. What survives the trip is the sauce: gochujang, ketchup, sugar, soy, and sesame oil, which is a complete flavor built entirely from things that ship at room temperature. Pour it over rice and pouch chicken and you get the same sweet-hot, salty payoff without the fry.
Mix the sauce cold and separately. Gochujang is thick and will sit in a lump if you drop it straight into hot rice, and the sugar needs somewhere to dissolve. Honey from the source recipe is gone here — brown sugar does the same work, weighs less, and does not leak.
Packing
Rice, garlic, ginger, sugar, and sesame seeds go in one bag. Sauce components ride in a small zip pouch so a burst tube does not reach the rice.
Variations
- Ramen instead of rice if you want it soupier; it stops being gluten-free.
- A spoonful of peanut butter in the sauce makes it closer to a satay, and heavier.
- Freeze-dried edamame or dried scallion adds bulk without much weight.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/korean-fried-chicken