Gyeran Bap (Korean Egg Rice)

[This recipe is part of the upcoming column, “Cooking with Angela” where different recipes by our writer will be published for our community to enjoy.]

Hello fellow cooks!

If you’re ever in a pinch for time and don’t know what to make for breakfast, lunch, or even dinner, this recipe is for you. Gyeran Bap is warm, savory, spicy, and slightly salty. 

‘Gyeran’ means ‘egg’ and ‘Bap’ means ‘rice’ in Korean. This recipe is a version of ‘bibimbap’ which means ‘mixed rice’ since it involves cooked rice and toppings. 

This recipe will use typical ingredients: eggs, soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, green onions, and gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes). 

Note: Gochugaru is not the same thing as the common Red Chili Pepper flakes. Red chili flakes are spicier, while gochugaru is milder and you can control the spiciness. 

As for the sesame oil, make sure the label says ‘toasted’ Sesame oil. Regular untoasted sesame oil won’t taste the same. 

Now that we have everything we need, let’s get started.

Prep Time: 5 minutes to 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 Egg

1 Tbsp of Soy Sauce

1/2 Tbsp of Toasted Sesame oil

½ Tbsp of Gochugaru (add more or less depending on how spicy you like it)

1 cup of Cooked short grain rice

Black Pepper

Salt

½ of green onion (scallion) stalk

1 can of cooked salmon (optional)

Instructions 

Option 1

Pre-made Rice:

  Some brands sell white or brown rice that is already cooked. On the packaging of most brands, the instructions tell you to put the cooked rice container in the microwave for 1:30-2:00 minutes. This is the quickest option for this recipe. 

Option 2

Rice cooker:

1. Wash rice until the water is clear. Next, add water to the rice: 1 cup of brown short-grain rice with 2 cups or 1 cup of short-grain white rice with 1 and ¼ cups of water.

2. Follow the instructions according to your rice cooker for which setting to select. 

Option 3

Stovetop Rice: 

1. Get your short-grain rice and wash it thoroughly. Wash until the water is not cloudy anymore, then you’re ready to cook it. 

2. If you’re using short-grain brown rice like in this recipe, then use 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water (brown rice needs more water to cook in than white rice because it’s more natural and less processed than white rice).  Note: If you’re using white rice, then 1 cup of short-grain white rice needs 1 cup & ¼ of water to cook. 

3. Cover the rice with a lid and turn the heat on high until the rice starts to bubble. Once bubbling, set it to low and let it simmer for approximately 30 minutes. Note: Do not open the lid until the time is up. Leave the lid on and wait 10 minutes for any rice to unstick from the bottom of the pot. Any extra rice can be used for a dish later on.

Egg:

1. Get a pan and turn the gas on the medium setting. Once the pan is hot, add 2 tablespoons of neutral oil. 

2. Crack the egg and cook the egg to your liking: sunny side up, over easy, scrambled, etc.

Assemble

1. Put 1 cup of cooked rice in a bowl. 

2. Add an egg on top.

3. Drizzle the soy sauce and then add the gochugaru, sesame oil, sesame seeds, black pepper, salt, and green onion (You may also add the optional drained cooked salmon in this step).

4. Mix all the ingredients with your utensil in the bowl.

5. Enjoy!