Kimchi Fried Rice (Kimchi Bokkeumbap)

Good kimchi and a few Korean pantry staples transform plain white rice into this incredible Korean comfort food. It's amazingly good, and incredibly easy.

Course Main Dishes

Cuisine Asian, Korean

Keyword authentic, kimchi, kimchi bokkeumbap

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 1 20

Servings people

Calories 211kcal

Ingredients

4 cups cooked short grain rice
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 cup kimchi (specifically Chinese/napa cabbage kimchi) chopped
1/4 cup kimchi juice (see note)
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp gochujang (see note)
2 tbsp sesame oil
4 small scallions chopped (white and green portions separated)
1 tbsp sesame seeds (preferably toasted)
1 fried egg (optional)

Instructions

Cook the rice and set it aside to cool (See note).
Heat a wok or other very large pan over medium-high heat. Add the kimchi and stir fry for 1 minute.
Add the rice, spreading it out in the pan a little. Add the kimchi juice, mirin, gochujang (or doubanjiang), and the white portions of the green onions and stir together. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring and mixing frequently to combine the ingredients and prevent the rice from scorching.
Remove from heat and stir in the sesame oil and green onions (green portion). Garnish with sesame seeds (and other optional garnishes) and serve.
If you want to serve this with an egg, simply fry it to your personal taste (a runnier yolk is nice, as it runs into the rice and tastes great). You can even garnish the egg with a little bit of Korean chili flakes (gochugaru).

Notes

RICE

Day-old rice is actually ideal for making fried rice, so if you can, make your rice well ahead of time. If you have to use fresh-cooked rice to make the kimchi fried rice, spread it out over a large plate or dish to allow it to cool and lose some moisture before you continue.

KIMCHI JUICE

No, this isn't some kind of obscure Korean beverage. Kimchi juice is just the juice in your kimchi jar. In the event that your kimchi is running a little dry, just add 1/4 cup of water to your kimchi, shake it up, and pour it out. Voilà - kimchi juice.

DOUBANJIANG

This incredible, versatile Korean ingredient is basically a fermented chili/bean/rice paste, and it's amazing. You can easily find fairly inexpensive tubs of it in Korean grocery stores. It keeps for ages in the fridge, but it's also a great ingredient to experiment with, so don't be afraid to buy it. If you're looking to try a Chinese variation on this idea (and this dish), you can substitute Chinese spicy broad-bean paste (doubanjiang).

Nutrition