From what I gather, Kimchi Fried Rice is Korean Comfort food with a capital “C”… The kind of dish one prepares at home, when there isn’t much in the larder, or just because you want something quick, easy and familiar. This dish is normally served with a fried egg, but I thought I would ramp it up with some sliced boneless Zubuchon. It was terrific! I can’t believe I haven’t cooked this before. And we test marketed it at the Cebu airport stall for a late night flight of a regional Korean airline and it seems to have hit the spot! If you like kimchi, spice and fried rice, you may wish to try a version of this at home.
I took a kilo bag of good (in this case, imported) kimchi and drained off the liquid, then chopped the kimchi into roughly 3/4 inch wide pieces. Save the kimchi liquid in a bowl. Heat up a wok or pan and add a bit of lard or vegetable oil and a tablespoon or two of butter. Saute about 1/4 cup of minced onions, and 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced. To this particular batch, I added roughly 2 cups of chopped up lechon and sauteed that for a couple of minutes. For future batches, I omitted the lechon, as it didn’t do much for the rice, it was better as a clear porky topping. Add the chopped kimchi and let this cook for 2-3 minutes until the color changes slightly, and it is a bit drier. Add roughly 8-10 cups of cooked rice, preferably a few hours old, and cool. Season with salt, a little kikkoman soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of gochujang or red pepepr paste, then add all the reserved kimchi liquid and mix the rice well until it turns a bright orange all over. You could finish with a tablespoon or two of good sesame oil just before serving. Some of you might be wondering about the butter at the start of the process, it has the effect of rounding out the sourness of the kimchi and it adds a layer of richness that you can’t put a finger on when you eat the rice.
At this stage, most folks would fry up an egg, top the rice and dig in. I decided to top the rice with just a bit of boneless Zubuchon (our roasted whole pork belly) and garnished with a bit of chopped green onion… this was a real EYE-OPENER… delicious, spicy, satisfying and addictive. You know it’s well balanced when each spoon full has a bit of leafy kimchi, and it is spicy, tangy and salty. Have a bit of lechon with each bite for a balanced mouth full of flavor, texture and happiness. :)
31 Responses
drool..
Wow, but I really wouldn’t call this comfort food if I cannot have one NOW!
I like Kimchi. Will try doing this at home. Thanks for sharing your dish.
My kimchi fried rice always has chopped up bacon in it. Render the bacon bits then toss in the kimchi and rice and other seasonings.
Always a hit amongst drunk friends. Hahahaha.
I’m sure your lechon kimchi rice is a winner!
I’m craving for Zubuchon lechon sisig now. Now that one I wanna try with kimchi rice!
Mr. MM you are truly a foodie entrepreneur! I’m impressed…can’t wait to visit Cebu one day just to get a taste of Zubuchon and all the dishes you have mentioned. :)
Isang patok na pagkain na naman ang itinanghal ng ating Ginoong MM.
Salamat. (Palakpak naman dyan!)
“clap clap clap clap…” thank you MM for this wonderful dish, now I know what to do with my leftover kimchi aside from adding to noodle soup.
wow! salivating while reading this post.
i always make kimchi fried rice with leftover sisig (or, let’s be honest, sisig i intentionally bought for the purposes of) and it always hits the spot. the sour, crunchy kimchi with the porky, salty and chewy/crunchy sisig? yumsters!
i like!
My husband adds chopped up spam to the kimchi rice as it cooks. Sarap!
Drooling right now. That definitely hits the spot!I can eat that every single day. I can eat Gochujang with sinigang, adobo and almost anything really. Not to mention Kimchi is a healthy food. Food writers here in the US as early as the 3rd quarter of last year have forecasted that Korean gochujang is one of the “it” food of 2013 together with popcorn among others. Korean food is one of the best in the world. In my personal opinion it is the equivalent of Italian food in Asia. :)
Lalaine, I love Korean food, but personally, I would put Thai and Vietnamese food ahead of Korean on my list of favorite cuisines… :)
@Lalaine i think Korean Food is a pop culture thing ;)
hi MM! hopefully, i get to try this kimchi rice when i visit cebu. :) i love comfort food! hmm, do you think it’s possible for you to consider whipping out a pad thai recipe for your restaurant? thanks.
MM, what brand of kimchi did you use for this particular recipe?
This convinces me to try David Lebovitz’s kimchi recipe! Then I’ll make kimchi fried rice but with spam as topping (no access to zubuchon!!!) or will mix with the rice as Rina’s hubby does…
now i’m hungry! :-)
Thanks for sharing this recipe, MM! Will definitely try this at home :)
The first time I tasted kimchi like wasabi , I didnt like it but the taste grows on you … now I can not get enough of these two!
sarap!
What a timely entry! I just “discovered” kimchi fried rice yesterday when I ordered “steak and eggs” at wild flour. I loved it! But I think, lechon is going to be better tasting! ;-p Thank you for sharing the recipe, MM!
oh my…mouth watering right now…
Hello Marketman! by coincidence, this is my present obsession. It’s the fastest, cheapest item in a Korean Restaurant where I usually partake of this dish. Most other offerings are simply too much for one person – hence, this rapidly became my usual order. It became my twice-a-week fix.
I was happy to note it’s one of those easy forgiving recipes. I make it in my cast-iron pan – I saw this demonstrated in a video – and it makes for FANTASTIC tutong.
Your idea of topping it with lechon is pure genius. :)
Thank you for posting this, MM!
Maki, at the moment, it is only offered on a limited basis at the small airport stall, not yet at the restaurants, where it will probably be introduced as a special…
I tried one of your Boneless Lechon Sandwiches at the airport stall on my way back to Manila. Hooray for better food options at the airport! :) Will defintely try your other menu items next time.
Looks yummy! Will try this soon. Thank you for sharing the recipe MM :-)
hey- the best kimchie rice for me is the one from imperial palace resort- sooo good paired with grilled beef (shangri-la is not good enough for me) . . . but will try the zubuchon version soon! yay! :)
Yummy!
Thanks for sharing the recipe MM! I tried this today for my lunch and it was delish! :) Will definitely cook this again. :)
Jaja, so glad the recipe worked for you. I always have this slight hesitation when I post a recipe that readers might try it and it will turn out horribly… :) This is definitely a new favorite in our household… so easy and fast and incredibly satisfying. Nice served with spicy chicken pieces instead of lechon as well. :)