Kimchi Fried Rice
This week has been quite crazy. I feel like my life is moving at 75 mph, and it’s not slowing down any time soon. I’m a broke ass student at the moment so my penny pinching days are back. Although I may not have much, I always eat well. It’s not about buying expensive or exotic food. It’s about balancing flavors and making it tasty. Kimchi is quite cheap, and I can get a medium jar for $6.99 at Hmart in Manhattan, and it’ll last me for 2-3 weeks. I finally found some recipes, and below is a kimchi fried rice that I would make when I have left over meats. It’s a quick and easy meal.
Whenever I have leftover kimchi, I’ll make kimchi chigae or kimchi fried rice to finish the rest. The spicy, salty, and sweet combination makes this dish intensely flavorful and would makes it hard to revert back to normal fried rice. It’s also a versatile recipe to get rid of leftover meat as well.
Kimchi Fried Rice
Ingredients
2 cups cooked white rice (cold and day old is best)
3/4 cups kim chi, chopped
2 slices of turkey bacon, chopped (you can use 1/2 cup of chopped spam or meats)
1 large clove garlic
1/4 c. chopped onions
1/2 c. frozen mix vegetables
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 to 1-1/2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 sprig of green onion, chopped
garnish with sesame seeds
oil for cooking
Directions
- Cook up the selected meat and set aside.
- Heat a frying pan or wok on medium high heat, and add some oil and cook the chopped onions for about 5 minutes. Stir frequently so the onions cook evenly.
- Add the chopped garlic. Cook until it’s lightly golden brown.
- Add the frozen vegetables and meat in the pan. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the rice into the pan. If it is clumpy, let the rice heat through before stirring it. Be careful not to mash it or else it’ll be mushy.
- Add the chopped kim chi and mix as needed. If it is too sticky, drizzle just enough oil to separate the rice.
- Stir as necessary to incorporate the fried rice thoroughly.
- Create a well in the center of the fried rice, and add the egg. Cook the egg thoroughly in the well before mixing the rice into it.
- Add soy sauce and sugar to the rice and mix well.
- Remove from heat and garnish with chopped green onions and sesame seeds.
Next time I go up to our International Supermarket I will have to buy some kimchi and try this. Looks great and I do like kimchi/fried rice so combining them sounds good.
Quick question. Do you know why all fried rice recipes call for rice to be cold/cooled over night? Is it suppose to make it so it doesn’t stick to itself as much and easier to stir? No matter how long I leave rice sitting its a pain in the ass to stir everything together.
It’s good to use day old rice because it’s drier and since it’s cold, the starch hasn’t been activated yet. It’s more for preventing the fried rice from clumping and being mushy. To make it easy to stir, make sure you have enough oil and slowly add 1/3 of the cold rice if you’re making alot. As the rice heats up, it should be easier to stir and break away the clumps. You will also need a pan or wok that’s big enough to work with. When I cook live again, I think I’ll dedicate a cast to fried rice. =D