Kimchi Fried Rice is the perfect intro dish if you are new to Korean cuisine. It’s relatively easy and quick to execute at home and it has all the elements of what make a perfect fried rice dish. It makes a mean breakfast but you can enjoy it for any meal of the day. Here’s what kimchi fried rice is all about and what makes it so great.
The Kimchi
Kimchi refers to a wide variety of Korean salted and fermented vegetables. Napa Cabbage Kimchi is perhaps the most well known and the main ingredient in this dish. At any Korean restaurant you will be served kimchi along with other banchan before the meal begins. Kimchi is one of those ingredients that you might find pretty intense at first - the fermented aroma it exudes is pretty serious. Kimchi fried rice is the perfect gateway experience if you are weary of trying the stuff straight-up.
Bacon or Pork Belly
This is where the Umami begins - with something porky. We went with pork belly for this version of the dish because that’s what we had in the fridge, but you can use any salted, smoked, or cured pork that you have lying around. A great fried rice is all about building a flavorful base. We begin by rendering the pork belly then adding onion, garlic, jalepeno, and ginger to get the deliciousness going before we even add the kimchi.
A Sunny-Side Up Egg (of course)
You will find versions of kimchi fried rice with an egg on top and others without. I’d go with the egg on top - every time! You could go poached, over-easy, or whatever you prefer. I like a sunny-side up egg that has been lightly fried in so that the bottom and edges have a slight crisp to them but the yolk is still ready to ooze out onto the rice when you pierce it with your fork (or chopsticks)!
-Jimmy
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 10 minutes |
| Servings |
people
|
- 2 cups sushi rice, cooked at room temperature
- 3/4 cup napa cabbage kimchi, chopped
- 1/4 cup juice from kimchi
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 lb bacon or pork belly, chopped
- 1/2 jalapeño, minced
- 1/4 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and chopped
- 2 eggs cooked sunny-side up to finish
- 1 green onion, chopped for garnish
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds for garnish
- toasted nori sheet, sliced for garish
Ingredients
|
|
- In a cast iron or other large saute pan over medium heat render the bacon or pork belly until crispy. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the fat that renders. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until soft. Add the jalapeño, garlic, and ginger and cook for about another minute. Add the kimchi and kimchi juice. Add the rice and mix everything together really well for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and mix in the toasted sesame oil. Transfer to shallow bowls and top with sunny-side up eggs, toasted nori, toasted sesame seeds, and sliced green onions.
Leave a Reply