A one-pot meal complete with vegetables, grains, and protein! These Egg Roll Bowls are inspired by easy to find Korean ingredients, and is a great way to use up leftover rice. Substitute the ground pork with textured vegetable protein to make a vegetarian friendly version.

KOREAN INSPIRED EGG ROLL BOWLS
We’ve been on a Korean-inspired food kick lately, and we have no one to blame, but McKenna. Her teenage spirit, her willingness to try anything once, has opened so many doors since she decided to come and live with us. She pushes the boundaries when it comes to food, that’s for sure! Because of her, my new obsession are these Korean Inspired Egg Roll Bowls.
You would think that being a food blogger would be reason enough for me to want to try new foods. But, if you did think that way, you’d be wrong. Regretfully, I am one of those people who can become quite comfortable and quite complacent with the ingredients I buy and cook with.
McKenna’s sudden and rapid integration into Asian pop culture has triggered her growth into Asian cuisine as well. And I, for one, couldn’t be happier! I’m completely in love with the possibilities of gochujang and gochugaru.

IT’S SIMILAR TO BIBIMBAP
Have you heard of those two ingredients? I hadn’t heard of them either until a few months ago. McKenna dragged John and I out of our food comfort zones and into a Korean bibimbap restaurant for a Sunday lunch. We were in love with the food!
It was my first time trying a bibimbap. It was loaded with everything I loved to eat separately, except this time, it was all together in one dish. Actually, it was piled into a piping hot stone pot. There was beef, rice, bean sprouts, carrots, cucumber, sesame seeds, radish, black beans, tofu, green onions – yummy!
The best part though, was the rice, which was the base of the pile of ingredients. The rice develops this charred, browned, not quite burnt, layer right at the bottom of that hot stone pot, which, by the way, is called a dolsot. It’s a stone pot made from what is most commonly known as soapstone.

YOU’VE GOT TO TRY IT!
If you’ve never experienced a Korean bibimbap dish, I encourage you to give it a try. And, don’t be put off by the trolleys of food being carted by. Oh, or the free, bottomless extras that are placed in the center of every table!
And, if I can encourage you to order a side dish to share with your fellow diners, let it be Spicy Rice Cakes – they are the bomb! They are very spicy, and unlike the cardboard-like rice cakes we all know here in North America. Korean Spicy Rice Cakes are made from cylinder-shaped compressed rice. They are chewy and dense, and can be found on the menu as tteok-bokki.

MAKE IT VEGETARIAN IF YOU WISH
Now, for this dish, my Spicy Korean Inspired Egg Roll Bowls, you will not have any need for a dolsot. All you need is a large skillet and a love of delicious spicy food. Even though I used ground pork, you can make this dish vegetarian by using a vegetarian pork product. Trader Joe’s has a great vegetarian sausage that will work beautifully in this dish!
If you’re nervous about the heat or spice level in this dish, don’t be! I am still an unadventurous Canadian white boy with very little tolerance for much heat. But, if I can handle it, so can you! I must admit, my ability to consume spicy food is getting a bit better. So is McKenna’s, but John.e’s is still lagging a bit. We’ll get him there yet!

MAKING SUBSTITUTIONS
Okay, let’s talk substitutions. I know that all of my Dear Readers do not live in a bustling metropolis, and might not have easy access to gochujang or gochugaru. If you need to make a substitution, you certainly can!
If you need to substitute gochujang, you can use equal amounts of a chili paste or sriracha. It will not give you the exact same flavour profile, but it will certainly do in a pinch.
To substitute gochugaru, you can use cayenne pepper, chili powder, or even chipotle powder. I have just recently found dried jalepeno powder which has a great kick to it and I would totally consider using it to get the spiciness in the absence of gochugaru.
If you really want the full experience in terms of flavour, you can find both gochujang and gochugaru online. Even Amazon stocks it and you can have it shipped right to your door. (If you can wait that long!)

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Korean Inspired Egg Roll Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 pound ground pork
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons ginger, freshly minced or grated
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 28 ounces bagged coleslaw mix, see notes
- 3 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon gochujang, Korean red pepper paste
- 1 tablepoon gochugaru, Korean red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teapsoon fish sauce
- 3 large stalks green onions, finely sliced
- 1-2 whole red chili peppers, thinly sliced (optional)
- 4 cups cooked rice
Instructions
- In a large skillet, over medium heat, add the vegetable oil, onion, and pork. Saute for 10 minutes, or until the pork is cooked all the way through.
- Add the garlic, ginger, salt, and ground black pepper. Stir together and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Add the two bags of coleslaw mix and toss to combine with the pork, onions, and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes or until cabbage has wilted slightly.
- In the meantime, in a bowl, whisk together the gochujang, gochugaru, 2 teaspoons of the sesame seeds, sesame oil, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, and fish sauce until well combined.
- Add the cooked rice and toss to combine.
- Next, pour the sauce mixture into the skillet and toss well to combine. Cook for 5 more minutes.
- Lastly, add half of the green onions and toss to combine.
- Plate and garnish with the remaining sesame seeds and green onions. Add sliced red chilies if you want extra heat. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition


Danielle Wolter says
i absolutely love bibimbap. I am the opposite in that i will go out of my way to try all these new stuff. love roaming the aisles of the asian markets to find new ingredients i can try out. Korean food is totally one of my favs with all the intense flavors and fermented foods.
Cheese Curd In Paradise says
This looks wonderful. The peppers and the sesame are the perfect toppings to a hearty and flavorful meal! I am in the same boat as you when it comes to meals. I can become very routine when I have favorites. It is nice when someone makes me shake things up!
Mahy Elamin says
looking awesome food and recipe… I will try this hope it will come out like this…thanks for sharing such a nice egg bowl recipe
Bee says
It’s beautiful…I love the simple ingredient list too. I am a huge fan of egg rolls. Looking forward to trying this!
Melissa says
I am always looking to try new cuisines and love a good spicy dish! I actually have about 90% of the ingredients on hand so it is something I can make to switch up our usual dinner routine. Love that I can actually use up some of my fish sauce 😀 Ha!!
Swathi says
I like spicy rice dishes, this egg roll bowls not only looks delicious but also flavorful with Korean spices and oyster sauce. fish sauce etc. Love it.
Janet B Horwith says
This sounds extraordinary! Thank McKenna for me, I LOVE Korean food and the spicier the better! Having gone KETO for health reasons I’m going to have to omit the rice 🙁 but this will be Sunday dinner at our house this weekend! As always my dearest Byron, you ROCK! You would be the best neighbor on the planet! Take care!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Haha! Thank you, Janet. 🙂
April says
Such a delicious dish, and it does not even need a dolsot. Beautiful way to make everyone beg for the recipe! On my way to find all the ingredients that I need!