I was excited to see Trader Joe’s getting into gochujang. The red chile paste is a staple of Korean cooking and just as Trader Joe’s has dabbled with sriracha, I can’t wait for gochujang to show up on Trader Joe’s shelves (fingers crossed). Trader Joe’s Gochujang Vegetable Stirfry seems to be its first go at including it.
It’s a mix of broccoli, carrots, edamame, bell peppers and zucchini spirals with the sauce already mixed in to the frozen veg. You just dump it into a hot skillet with a little bit of oil and let it steam for 6-7 minutes, before letting the sauce reduce slightly. Pretty straightforward cooking-wise.
It looks fine after cooking, but I gotta tell ya, that gochujang sauce? MEH. Doesn’t taste like gochujang at all. If you’ve never had gochujang, I’d be super bummed if this is how you were introduced to it! I ended up adding a tablespoon of gochujang from my fridge and some more soy sauce to get it tasting like something. And that’s using it as a side dish.
I served it with soy braised tofu (aka dubu jorim) for a nice vegetarian dinner. It’s not as pretty with the added gochujang, but tastes a heck of a lot better. So, in the end, Trader Joe’s Gochujang Vegetable Stirfry is meh for me. Wouldn’t buy it again, but I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that TJ’s keeps exploring gochujang as a flavor / ingredient.
P.S. I just noticed this bag of veg is Product of Italy.
Check out some of our other We Tried’s from Trader Joe’s:
Spicy Pumpkin Curry Simmer Sauce
Pork and Ginger Soup Dumplings
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