Total comfort food – Kimchi Fried Rice / Kimchi Bokkeumbap (김치볶음밥). I can just eat kimchi with a big bowl of rice – lunch or dinner – and I'd be perfectly happy. Good kimchi is never hard to find (at least in New York). Unless you are Korean, then your home will always have homemade (and unique) kimchi. I usually get a jar of it from the store and that works for me just fine.
I honestly don't know a whole lot about kimchi. I'm not sure if there's much more to know about other than the fact that it is: fermented napa cabbage, other vegetables, and LOTS of seasonings; can be paired or made with other Korean dishes; a staple to have in a home; something that every Korean mom can make very well; and yes, spicy.
Kimchi fried rice is just too darn easy to make and enjoy. I don't know why I haven't been making it more often. Have you tried kimchi fried rice? or kimchi pancake? or kimchi sushi?
Kimchi Fried Rice
Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 12 mins Total time: 22 mins
You'll need:
- 3 cups of day-old rice
- 3 tbsp of olive oil
- 3 scallions, chopped, white and green parts separated
- 1 1/2 cups of kimchi, chopped roughly
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- fresh ground black pepper
- 1 egg
- some shredded nori
Approach:
- In a large mixing bowl, drizzle olive oil on the rice and stir.
- Chop scallions, separate the white and the green parts.
- Chop kimchi roughly, or use a pair of scissors and cut the kimchi in a bowl.
- In medium heat, fry the egg, sunny side up. Set aside.
- Pour some olive oil onto the same pan, toss in the white scallion. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the kimchi and cook for about 3 minutes, then add the rice. Stir to combine.
- Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, black pepper, and the green scallion. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- Serve with the sunny side-up-egg, and top with some shredded nori.