OPTIONAL, BUT RECOMMENDED: quickly pickle the veggies -- so good and so easy! Add carrots and cucumber to a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (38g), 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar (28g), and 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt. Toss and continue to toss occasionally until ready to eat.
GROUND TURKEY: Thinly slice green onions from root to tip. Separate into 2 parts, about 1/2 cup of the base of the onions and 1/2 cup of the tops. Add 1 tablespoon (14g) sesame oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the ground turkey. Begin browning and crumbling. After 3 minutes, add in 1/2 of the base of the green onions. Continue to cook turkey until browned through. If needed, drain off any liquid. Add in garlic and ginger, cook for 30 more seconds. Add in soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, and red pepper flakes (to taste preference). Stir and simmer until sauce is mostly absorbed into the ground turkey, 2-3 more minutes. Remove from heat and drizzle on the remaining 1 tablespoon sesame oil and remaining green onions. Add 1 teaspoon sesame seeds here too if using. Toss to coat.
SERVE: Divide rice evenly among bowls. Top with even amounts of ground turkey and tons of those delish pickled veggies. Drizzle some sort of sauce on top -- the Gochujang or chili-garlic or even Sriracha sauce works here (add slowly -- these sauces are hot). Enjoy!
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Notes
Note 1: We love Dorot's® cubes which have crushed garlic and ginger that you can keep handy in the freezer and pop into this (and other) recipes as needed. (Check if your local store carries them; they're typically found with frozen veggies in the grocery store). Another option is to use refrigerated garlic paste and refrigerated minced garlic. Note 2: Here's the quickest/easiest way to get perfect basmati rice (must use basmati for this to work!)
Fill a large pot with water and set it to boil.
Once the water is at a rolling boil, salt the water and add in rice.
Cook without reducing the heat, for 6 minutes (taste test to ensure it is tender) and then drain and fluff with a fork. Easy!
Note 3: Korean Ground Turkey is intentionally spicy, but it's very simple to adjust spice levels to personal preference. My kids enjoy the ground turkey with 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes and no Gochujang on their plates. While still tasty (and tasty enough for little palates), I do find the flavor in this dish lacking without Gochujang or chili-garlic sauce, so if you're overly sensitive to spice and leave it out entirely you will be missing some key flavor in this recipe. If you are going to keep the Gochujang addition to a minimum, I recommend increasing the amount of garlic and ginger you add to this dish.Nutrition information does not include rice or Gochujang.