Swiss Chard, with Brown Rice, for a home table

Try this Korean-style vegetarian Swiss chard and brown rice dish for a flavorful meal! The rice is cooked with sea kelp stock for added depth, while a spicy chili topping sauce gives it an extra kick. Don’t forget to soak the brown rice overnight for a keeper texture!

Swiss chard (근대, gundae) is a commonly eaten vegetable in the northeastern part of Korea, but we don’t recall seeing much of it growing up in the southern region.

Now, it’s a staple in our kitchen and easily available in most parts of the world. Where we live, it’s affordable, so we've been indulging in Swiss chard for all kinds of dishes—and we're not tired of it yet!

One of our favorite ways to enjoy it is in Swiss Chard Rice (근대밥, gundae-bap), topped with a spicy chili sauce. We often make a vegan version, but you can always add ground meat if you’d like to boost the protein.

This dish is flavorful, versatile, and steady for showcasing the earthy, tender taste of Swiss chard!

Enjoy the almost creamy yet slightly chewy texture of Korean brown rice cooked with Swiss chard—it’s comfort food at its finest.

This dish is incredibly direct to cook, and we hope you’ll give Swiss chard a try with this savory Korean twist! For another pot rice idea, try our steak sotbap (pot rice with beef).

How to cook Swiss Chard with Brown Rice

1. Prepare brown rice: Soak your brown rice in water overnight in the refrigerator. You will need to soak them so they can cook evenly and soft.

2. Make sea kelp stock: Boil 3 cups of water, add the sea kelp, and let it sit for 1o minutes. You will get the golden stock!

3. Trim Swiss chard: If your Swiss chard seems thick and fibrous on the white part, bend the upper part of the stem toward the back and slowly peel off. It will remove some fibrous layer on the outside.

4. Cook Swiss chard: In a heavy bottom pot, heat sesame oil over medium heat and saute chopped Swiss chard until soft. They will reduce in half the volume soon.

5. Add rice and simmer: Add rice and saute for 2 more minutes. Then add the stock. Boil, close the lid, and simmer for 15-20 minutes over low heat. Then remove from the heat and let it sit so the remaining heat in the pot do the rest.

Need more detailed instructions on this part? Look at our post of How to cook rice on the stove.

6. Fluff the rice and Swiss chard: When the Swiss chard rice is done, fluff it with rice paddle (밥주걱 bap-jugeok) or spoon to incorporate everything.

Make Red Chili Topping Sauce

Combine all the ingredients for chili topping sauce, and drizzle over your Swiss chard and brown rice. Mix it up…

We like to eat a meat-free meal as least couple of times a week in our diet, just so that we don’t overfed myself with too much animal based protein. And this Swiss Chard and Brown Rice is the just steady recipe for our needs. We hope you get to try it.

• Yield: 4
• Prep: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cup Brown Rice, soaked in water overnight
• 1 small bunch Swiss chard, trimmed and chopped into bite size pieces
• 2 dried sea kelp (dashima)
• 3 cups water
• 1 tablespoon wild sesame oil or sesame oil

For chili topping sauce

• 2 tablespoon Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
• 4 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic finely minced
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
• dashes black pepper
• 1 green onion finely chopped

Method

1. Drain the rice, which has been soaked overnight, from the water and set aside.
2. To make stock, boil 3 cups of water and add the sea kelp. Remove from the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes for the flavor to release. Reserve 2 cups of stock.
3. Ina heavy bottom pot, heat the sesame oil over medium heat, add the Swiss chard and saute until soft. Add the rice and continue to saute for 2 more minutes. Pour the reserved 2 cups of sea kelp stock into the pot. Let it boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, covered.
4. Remove from heat and let it sit for another 5 minutes so the remaining heat inside the pot will finish the job.
5. When done, fluff the rice so that they can be incorporated with Swiss chard.
6. Meanwhile make the chili topping sauce by combining all the ingredients.
7. To serve, spoon over the rice in a bowl, top with the sauce, and mix all together to incorporate the rice with the sauce. Serve warm and enjoy!

Notes

Depends on the brown rice, you might need to increase the simmering time to achieve the soft texture.