Kimchi Fried Rice (김치 볶음밥)

Cuisine: Korean • Cooking time: 30 minutes • Servings: 2 • Around 461 Calories

Kimchi fried rice or kimchi-bokkeum-bap is a variety of bokkeum-bap, a popular dish in South Korea that is SPICY!!

Kimchi fried rice or kimchi-bokkeum-bap is a variety of bokkeum-bap, a popular dish in South Korea that is SPICY!!

Contributed by: Amy Wang, Staff Writer

Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • ½ small onion, medium dice
  • 1 cup roughly chopped kimchi (6 ounces)
  • 2 tablespoons kimchi juice, or to taste
  • ½ cup small-dice Spam, ham, or leftover cooked meat
  • 2 cups cooked rice (preferably short-grain and leftover)
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil, or to taste
  • 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  •  Salt to taste
  •  Crumbled or slivered nori (roasted seaweed) for garnish
  •  Sesame seeds for garnish
  • A heaping tablespoon of gojuchang (optional for more heat)

Preparation:

  1. In a nonstick sauté pan or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat, and add onions. Cook, stirring, until the onions start to sizzle, about 2 minutes. Add kimchi, kimchi juice, and Gojuchang . Stir until it comes to a boil, about 3 minutes. Add Spam, and cook until the sauce is nearly dried out about 5 minutes.
  2. Break up the rice in the pan with a spatula, and stir it to incorporate. Turn heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until the rice has absorbed the sauce and is very hot, about 5 minutes. Stir in soy sauce and sesame oil. Taste, and adjust with more soy sauce, sesame oil, or kimchi juice. Turn heat down slightly, but let the rice continue to cook, untouched, to lightly brown while you cook the eggs.
  3. Place a small nonstick sauté pan over medium heat, and add the vegetable oil. When it is hot, add eggs, season with salt and fry to your desired doneness. Serve rice topped with fried eggs, nori and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Tips:

  • Ideally the kimchi is at least 2 weeks old. If not, add 1/2 tsp rice vinegar into the kimchi juice to make it sour.
  • Obtaining 1/4 cup of kimchi juice can be difficult if your kimchi is fairly new. In that case, use 2 1/2 Tbsp kimchi juice and 1 Tbsp gochujang instead. If you want it to be not spicy, you can add 1 Tbsp soy sauce instead of gochujang.
  • 1 Tbsp = 15 ml, 1 Cup = 250 ml

Source: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018097-kimchi-fried-rice