5 Quick & Easy Korean Recipes For Beginner Home Chefs In 20 Minutes Or Less

5 Quick & Easy Korean Recipes For Beginner Home Chefs In 20 Minutes Or Less

Lifestyle Food
By Karmen on 28 May 2021
Digital Editor

Cooking Korean food can seem intimidating for beginner home chefs, but the mouthwatering dishes you see in K-dramas and K-variety shows are actually pretty easy to make.

Keep reading to check out five easy Korean recipes you can whip up in 20 minutes or less! 

#1 Kimchi Pancake (kimchi jeon 김치전)

korean pancake with kimchi and gourmet streaky bacon back baconPhoto from GirlStyle Singapore

Regular kimchi pancakes can be a tad plain after a few bites. Our recipe includes back bacon bits to give the pancakes an extra crunch and meaty flavour. A topping of Gourmet's streaky bacon adds a lovely saltiness to balance out the tanginess of kimchi.

The announcement of incoming kimchi pancakes is already enough to elicit cries of joy in any household, but adding on the crispy and fragrant bacon will take this enthusiasm to another level!

Ingredients (makes 3 pancakes, serves 4 as a snack):

gourmet back streaky bacon kimchi onion and flour for pancakePhoto from GirlStyle Singapore

Steps:

  • Pan-fry the Gourmet Streaky & Back Bacon until crispy. Set aside the streaky bacon on napkins and chop the back bacon into small bits.
  • Chop onion into long, thin slices.
  • Mix the back bacon bits, onion, water and flour in a bowl.
  • Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and swirl to coat the entire pan surface.
  • Heat up the pan, drizzle with oil, pour the batter and spread to make a circle.
  • Cook until the bottom is golden brown, then remove from pan.
  • Add another layer of oil, lay streaky bacon on other side of pancake, flip and cook until golden brown.
  • Flip over to warm up the other side for a few seconds, then serve on its own as a snack or with steamed rice as a meal.

#2 Kimchi Fried Rice (Kimchi Bokkeumbap 김치 볶음밥) 

korean fried rice with kimchi and gourmet chicken sausages rollsPhoto from GirlStyle Singapore

Kimchi fried rice is another staple Korean dish that's easy to master. To give it more texture and flavour, we recommend adding eggs and Gourmet's Beef Frankfurters. These juicy sausages have a wonderfully smoky flavour that adds another dimension to this simple dish.

Top it off with Gourmet's Chicken & Ham and Chicken Roll Sausages - meat lovers will thank you for this! The former has a more robust flavour while the latter is a classic savoury sausage. Both have the same tender, succulent texture.

Ingredients (serves 4):

gourmet roll sausages egg kimchi and ricePhoto from GirlStyle Singapore

Steps:

  • Chop Gourmet Beef Frankfurters into thin slices.
  • Preheat a pan or wok on medium high heat, then add cooking oil and spread with a spatula.
  • Add eggs and stir until scrambled.
  • When eggs are half cooked, add sausages and kimchi. Stir until kimchi is until 2/3 cooked.
  • Add rice and mix thoroughly on medium-high heat.
  • Pan-fry or air fry Gourmet roll sausages. Cut into thin slices.
  • Serve kimchi fried rice topped with roll sausage slices.

#3 Korean Army Stew (Budae Jjigae 부대찌개)

rice and korean kimchi army stew with gourmet sausages and ham singaporePhoto from GirlStyle Singapore

This ultimate comfort food is perfect for sharing over a long chat. This recipe includes a hearty soup base with vegetables and a selection of Gourmet deli meat. The honey baked ham has a nice subtle sweetness while the chicken sausages are perfect flavour builders for the soup. A must-have in any Korean army stew is Gourmet's cheese cocktail sausages. These have delicious cheese oozing from the centre!

Ingredients (serves 4):

gourmet cheese cocktail sausages beef frankfurter instant noodles vegetables and mushroomPhoto from GirlStyle Singapore

Steps:

  1. Slice the sausages, ham and mushroom into thin slices.
  2. Add kimchi, mushrooms and tofu into a shallow pot. Add the sauce and stock, close the lid and set to medium-high heat until the stock starts to boil.
  3. Slice the yellow onion into thin, long strips and chop green onion.
  4. Add the remaining ingredients – instant noodles, sausages, ham, rice cakes and onion - on top of the pot and boil uncovered until the noodles are cooked. Serve on a portable burner set to low.

#4 Rice Cake & Cheese Sausage Skewers (So-tteok so-tteok 소떡소떡)

korean skewers with rice cake gourmet cheese sausages and onionPhoto from GirlStyle Singapore

Gourmet's delicious cheese cocktail sausages can also be made into Korean rice cake skewers for a satisfying snack. The chewy texture of rice cakes and succulent sausages with cheese is a fantastic combination. Grill the skewers with green onion to bring out a smoky charred flavour.

Ingredients (serves 4 as a snack):

Steps:

  • Blanch the rice cakes in boiling water for 30 seconds and drain.
  • Arrange the rice cakes, cocktail sausages and spring onion on skewers.
  • Add oil on a preheated pan and grill skewers on high heat for 1 minute on each side until slightly charred. You can also use a toaster or blow torch.
  • Serve with gochujang sauce dipping. Add steamed rice to make it a meal.

#5 Sweet & Spicy Korean Nuggets (Dakgangjeong 닭강정)

gourmet chicken nuggets with korean sweet spicy sauce and ricePhoto from GirlStyle Singapore

Fair warning, these crispy, sweet and spicy Korean nuggets are highly addictive! The key to this recipe is using high quality nuggets that are crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. We're using Gourmet's nuggets which check all the boxes and taste amazing on their own too.

plate of gourmet nuggets with greens and ketchupPhoto from GirlStyle Singapore

Ingredients:

gourmet crispy fried chicken nuggets sauce chilli sesame seedsPhoto from GirlStyle Singapore

Steps:

  • Air fry the Gourmet nuggets at 180 degrees for 15 minutes or bake in oven at 180 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes, until golden brown.
  • Cook the rice syrup, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic and dried chilli in a pan on high heat until it bubbles.
  • While the sauce is hot, add nuggets and toss to coat the surface evenly.
  • Sprinkle sesame seeds and serve with steamed rice and kimchi.

Whether you're whipping up these Korean dishes or other types of cuisine at home, you'll need quality ingredients to make it work. Gourmet's range of deli meats and chicken nuggets are, as the name suggests, premium tasting and perfect for elevating any dish.

If you're a home chef, having a fridge well stocked with these premium meats will let you flex your creativity and put together any dish from bacon carbonara, sausage paella and risotto to pies, rolls and casseroles.

You can find these Gourmet frozen nuggets and deli meats at supermarkets across Singapore including FairPrice, Sheng Siong, Prime and Redmart.

If you've got your eye on the nuggets in particular, they're only available at Redmart for now.

This article is brought to you by Gourmet.

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Text by: GirlStyle SG