My friend Connie, a fellow vegetable gardener (and newly minted Master Gardener) who knows many, many wonderful things both from her upbringing in Western Minnesota and from paying attention, wrote on my Facebook link to the fermenting post: “You’ll love life extra once you’ve made kimchi fried rice.” And boy was she right.
I went straight to the internet for a recipe, discovering that kimchi fried rice is also called kimchi bokumbap. Bokumbap, and all the “baps” are what we order at Korean restaurants in my brother’s Chicago neighborhood near Lawrence.
I associate the word “bap” with rice, though Wikipedia tells me it is any of the grains used to make Korean dishes. The other thing I associate with Korean cooking is a fried egg on top. Kimchee fried rice is basically a stir fry of rice and kimchee topped with a fried egg. Most recipes call for frying the egg (or eggs) in a wok coated with sesame oil, then putting the egg aside while you fry up the rice, kimchee, and a little kimchee liquid. That is all there is to it.
I am not a huge fan of fried eggs, but I do love scrambled egg in fried rice. I also added some broccoli, onion, garlic and shrimp to the recipe. And because my kimchee was not really spicy at all, I spooned in some samba oelek chili paste (a Malaysian chili paste– and actually the recipe I used as my base came from a Malaysian cooking site). You could also use Sriracha or some other chili paste for additional kick– but most likely your kimchee is spicy enough!
I didn’t take any photos, because it didn’t really look like much. But Steve went crazy over it. The flavor was incredible, and very unlike the flavor of the Thai stir fries I commonly make (with a sauce of hoisin, wine, garlic, ginger and soy sauce). It just exploded with flavor. He gave it the highest rating: “We should serve this to guests.”
I am thrilled about this, mostly because it is incredibly easy (once you’ve made the kimchi). Steve kept exhorting me not to forget the recipe, so, to that end, here it is!
Kimchi Fried Rice
2 tablespoons oil (mix of vegetable and sesame)
2 eggs, lightly beaten (alternately you could fry them and serve them on top)
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 small onion, finely diced
1 small head of broccoli cut in small pieces (optional)
8-12 peeled and deveined shrimp, cut into halves or thirds
1 cup kimchi, cut into small pieces + 2 Tbs kimchi liquid
1 tsp chili paste if your kimchee is mild (very optional)
3 cups cooked white rice (we used Basmati, but short-grained would be good)
1 tablespoon soy sauce or to taste
1 stalk scallion, sliced
Sautee the garlic and onion in the oil a few minutes. Add the shrimp and fry until just pink. Lightly beat the eggs and pour them into the mixture. This is when I added the chili paste.
Add the kimchi with its liquid and broccoli and stir fry until broccoli is bright green. Add more liquid if it gets too dry. Add the rice and if desired, a splash of soy sauce and hoisin sauce and mix through until rice is hot. Finish off with scallions and serve.
And you will love life extra.