Kimchi fried rice

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Kimchi Fried Rice is possibly the easiest recipe I will ever post on my blog. I have always wanted to try to make this dish at home as this is something that we often love to order when dining at a Korean restaurant. After finishing reading the book “Pachinko,” I was inspired to finally cook Kimchi Fried Rice. (Pachinko is a wonderful book, by the way. It was a saga of Korean people during the rule of Japan in Korea spanning four generations. Find my mini-review on https://www.instagram.com/p/CSazhXaHpdI/ @cozybaylife, if you are interested to know more.)

Back to the recipe, I did not know how fast and easy it was to make Kimchi Fried Rice at home with ingredients that I already have in my pantry. In about 15 minutes, I was rewarded with hot, fresh and healthy one pot meal! As long as you have cooked rice and Korean seasoning staples, you are good to enjoy this Korean dish without having to leave your house!

KIMCHI FRIED RICE

• 1 tbsp oil
• About 8 green onions, chopped
• 2 tsp soy sauce (preferably low sodium)
• 1 tsp sugar (more according to taste)
• ⅓ cup fully fermented kimchi
• 2 tsp gochujang mixed in a little bit of water (until the paste is loosened and not as thick)
• 1 cup cooked rice
• Fried egg (optional)
• Protein such as tofu, spam, beef, chicken, fish cakes, etc (totally optional!)

instructions

1. Add oil in a large frying pan and turn heat until hot. Add half of the green onions until they begin to sizzle (about 2 minutes). 
2. Mix soy sauce and sugar. Add to the pan and turn up heat on high. Add the kimchi and the gochujang/water mixture.
3. Add the cooked rice and mix everything together, about another 5 minutes.
4. Add more gochugang and a little bit more sugar as needed depending on how sweet you want your fried rice.  Add more green onions and mix well until wilted.
5.  Add a fried egg on top. (optional but highly recommended!)
6. Garnish with sesame seeds and seaweed strips or flakes. (also optional)

MY NOTES

1. Kimchi fried rice is good by itself without any proteins. However, adding proteins take it to the next level. I air-fried cubes of tofu and mixed it in right after I was done making this fried rice. It was so good! My co-worker said that he adds pork belly to his. Yum!
2. This dish can be made vegan. Just omit the egg and use vegan kimchi.
3. I used Calrose that is used for sushi rice. I am sure that you can use other types of rice such as Jasmine rice. I will probably stay away from instant rice like Uncle Ben’s. The rice might not stick together.
4. Gochujang is Korean red pepper paste. If you love Korean food and would like to try to make Korean dishes at home, I suggest to add this in your pantry. A jar would last you many meals as only few tablespoons or teaspoons of this concentrated seasoning are needed at a time in many Korean dishes. This can be found in Asian markets. I have even seen them at our mainstream grocery stores in the Bay Area such as Safeway. I saw this on Amazon as well. (This is not a sponsored post. None of my posts are sponsored.)
5. This might sound random but please plant green onions at home. All you will need are green onion scraps with roots, a small planter and soil. Stick the green onion scraps with roots in the soil and place the planter in a sunny part of your kitchen or on your patio. You will never find yourself without fresh green onions ever again!

DID you make this KIMCHI FRIED RICE? Please let me know by leaving a comment below.