Kimchi Fried Rice
Kimchi Fried Rice is my first recipe of 2020! It’s spicy, sour, crunchy, and delicious! It’s a fast weeknight meal or can be made ahead of time as a meal prep! To make it vegan, simply omit the egg, and substitute with tofu for protein.
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Kimchi Fried Rice has three basic ingredients: rice, kimchi, and gochujang. I usually don’t eat rice, but when I do, it’s brown basmati rice. I found that ½ cup of brown basmati rice yields about 1 cup of cooked rice. I found this to be enough for 2 small meals. Kimchi is salted and fermented vegetables, usually cabbage and radish, with chili pepper and spring onions. The kimchi I used in this rice is the Napa Cabbage Kimchi from a local Korean restaurant, Bae Bae’s Kitchen in Pittsburgh (p.s. my go to meal here is the tofu with plum sauce, glass noodles, and cucumber kimchi & Thai iced tea with boba). Kimchi may also be found at your local Asian market or grocery store. Gochujang is a Korean red pepper paste that adds a good level of heat! You may be able to find it at your local Asian market, if not, the one below is what I ordered from Amazon.
Additionally, I started the rice with fried garlic and onions in sesame oil. Into the rice I added sliced shitake mushrooms and green onions. But you can change the veggies and protein up. Next time I may add some edamame and tofu in with the mushrooms. Once the fried rice was cooked, I topped it with a fried egg, and garnished the dish with more sliced onions and sesame seeds.
This can be a one pot recipe if you use a dutch oven or large wok/non stick pot. Cook the rice in the dutch oven while chopping and prepping the produce and kimchi. Once the rice is done cooking, remove it from the dutch oven and begin cooking the fried rice in the pot. Once the kimchi fried rice is done, plate the rice. In the same dutch oven, warm up oil for the fried eggs. The oil became an infused chili oil from the leftover spices and it is delicious. The dutch oven I used was this 4 quart Cast Iron Staub Coquette.
Kimchi Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- ½ white onion diced
- 6 oz shitake mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup kimchi roughly chopped
- 1 tsp kimchi juice
- 1 tbsp gochujang
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 5-6 stalks green onion thinly sliced
- Sliced green onion garnishing
- Sesame seeds garnishing
- 2 fried eggs optional
Instructions
- Cook rice per package directions. Chop veggies while rice is cooking.
- Heat sesame oil in a nonstick pot over medium heat.
- Lightly fry the garlic slices until golden brown.
- Add the onions and sauté until translucent.
- Add mushrooms and sauté until soft.
- Stir in kimchi, kimchi juice, rice vinegar, and gochujang. Cook for a few minutes.
- Mix in the rice until well combined. Add a little water if pot needs to be deglazed.
- Let the rice cook for a few more minutes.
- Mix in green onions and stir.
- Remove from heat, top with fried egg, and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
- Enjoy!