Kimchi Fried Rice, a delicious spicy, sweet and tangy rice dish which is popular in and around Korea and now getting more popular around the world. Kimchi fried rice is made with leftover cooked cold rice, kimchi, spicy sauce, garlic and green onions. This fried rice is a great way to use and enjoy the taste of the well fermented kimchi.
Kimchi Fried Rice
This particular dish is very new to me. Ever since I tasted kimchi and fell in love with it. I have started including it in my diet every now and then. I have started experimenting with kimchi and adding into recipes which I love like this kimchi grilled cheese.
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It is very recently I came across this fried rice recipe and it immediately made me to try. To my surprise, I really enjoyed it.
What is Kimchi?
Kimchi is a Korean fermented pickle, made using napa cabbage tossed in spicy garlic chilli sauce and fermented. I have my instant kimchi recipe which you can check.
Kimchi, a staple in Korean cuisine, is a traditional side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish, made with a widely varying selection of seasonings including gochugaru, spring onions, garlic, ginger. . It is also used in a variety of soups.
Fried Rice with Kimchi can be made many different ways. Some of them uses fermented shrimp, fish sauce and other too. You can make it pure vegetarian as well.
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About Kimchi Fried Rice
Kimchi fried rice is one of the most popular rice dish in and around Korea. It is recently getting very popular around the world, thanks to all the Instagram influencers.
The fried rice is completely flavoured with kimchi and you can taste the flavour of kimchi and the sour taste in the fried rice. Traditional kimchi fried rice is made with gochugaru, gochujang and kimchi brine. But I like to add sugar and soy sauce.
When kimchi brine when added to cold rice, the rice absorbs the sauce and makes it so flavourful. Soy sauce adds colour which coats the rice evenly combined with a touch of sugar gives it a beautiful char.
There are two important step to remember when making kimchi fried rice. To get perfect tasting kimchi fried rice, make sure you stir fry the kimchi on high heat in a cast iron pan till it gets char for added flavour. Also use day old cold cooked rice to prevent mushy fried rice.
This fried rice is best when had piping hot straight out of the pan with a fried egg on top. It can be served with nori and sesame seed.
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Ingredients
- Oil - You can use butter for making kimchi fried rice which imparts so much flavour to the rice. But I used regular oil for cooking and toasted sesame oil in the end.
- Garlic - I like to add lots of chopped garlic, when cooked with oil adds so much aroma.
- Green Onions - use the white part of the green onion when cooking the rice. Use the spring onion greens as garnish.
- For sauce - I use gochujang, soy sauce, sugar, kimchi brine for making the sauce.
- Gochugaru - adds colour and a little heat to the fried rice.
- Chicken - this is optional, you can add chopped chicken in the rice which adds taste and protein.
- Kimchi - I am using well fermented kimchi for the fried rice which provides a tang taste to the fried rice. Remove kimchi using tongs from the bottle. Reserve some of the kimchi brine in a separate bowl. Chop the kimchi into small pieces and set aside.
- Cooked Rice - cooked and cooled rice is used in the kimchi rice. Make sure the rice is completely cold when making fried rice. I like to use jasmine rice, but you can use any rice.
- Toppings - As the topping, I like to use fried egg, spring onion greens, sesame seeds, nori.
Step by Step Pictures
Make Sauce
1)First let's make the sauce. Take kimchi brine, gochujang, sugar, soy sauce in a bowl.
2)Mix this really well and set aside.
Stir fry chicken
3)Heat oil in a cast iron pan. Add chicken cubes into the pan.
4) Saute the chicken in the oil and season with salt, pepper and cook until chicken is cooked completely. It will take around 6 to 10 minutes.
5)Once chicken is cooked, add in spring onions and garlic and saute for a minute.
Stir fry kimchi
6)Now set this aside in the pan and add in the chopped kimchi to other side of the pan.
7)Stir fry on high heat for 5 minutes. Let the kimchi get some colour.
8)Add in gochugaru and toss well.
Make fried rice
9)Add in cooked rice and toss well with the kimchi.
10)Pour over the sauce over the rice.
11)stir fry rice with the sauce for 4 to 5 minutes on high heat till the rice is slightly toasted.
12)Add in toasted sesame oil in the end of the cooking.
13)Add spring onion green in the end and turn off the heat.
Fried Eggs
14)Make fried egg. Heat oil in a small pan, crack open an egg and fry in the oil till golden and crispy.
15)For serving, plate some fried rice in a serving dish, top with fried egg, sesame seeds, extra chopped green onion. Serve with nori.
16)Serve hot.
Expert Tips
All About Rice - You can use jasmine rice, regular rice or even short grain rice. Use cold cooked rice for fried rice which provides best results every time.
Balanced Sauce - Taste and adjust sugar, salt, soy sauce in the sauce. This sauce gives the taste to the fried rice.
High Heat for Char - Always cook on high heat. If you have a wok use that for making fried rice. Other wise you can use cast iron pan and cook on high heat. The heat provides the char and smoky flavour to the rice.
Serving Suggestions - It is important to serve fried rice with certain toppings which adds to the taste. I like my fried rice with fried egg, sesame seeds, green onions and nori.
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Kimchi Fried Rice Recipe (Easy Chicken Kimchi Fried Rice)
Equipment
Ingredients
Sauce for Kimchi Fried Rice
- ¼ cup Kimchi Brine
- 2 tablespoon Gochujang
- 2 teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 teaspoon Sugar
For Kimchi Fried Rice
- 2 tablespoon Sunflower Oil
- 250 grams Boneless Chicken Thigh chopped into small pieces
- ½ teaspoon Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper Powder
- 6 cloves Garlic peeled and chopped finely
- 2 no Spring Onion white part chopped finely
- 1 cup Kimchi chopped into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon Gochugaru
- 3 cups Day Old Cooked Rice I used jasmine rice
For Fried Egg
- 1 tablespoon Sunflower Oil
- 2 large Eggs
For Garnishing
- 2 no Spring Onions green part chopped finely
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
- Nori Seeweed Sheets
Instructions
- Start by mixing the sauce for fried rice. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl to a smooth mix and set aside.
- Heat oil in a cast iron pan. Add chicken cubes, salt, pepper and cook until chicken is cooked completely. It will take around 6 to 10 minutes.
- Once chicken is cooked, add in spring onions and garlic and saute for a minute.
- Now set this aside in the pan and add in the chopped kimchi to other side of the pan. Stir fry on high heat for 5 minutes. Let the kimchi get some colour.
- Add in gochugaru and toss well.
- Add in cooked rice and toss well with the kimchi. Pour over the sauce and stir fry again for 4 to 5 minutes on high heat till the rice is slightly toasted.
- Add in toasted sesame oil and spring onion green in the end and turn off the heat.
- Make fried egg. Heat oil in a small pan, crack open an egg and fry in the oil till golden and crispy.
- For serving, plate some fried rice in a serving dish, top with fried egg, sesame seeds, extra chopped green onion. Serve with nori.
Notes
- Use cooked day old cold rice for making fried which results in perfect rice.
- You can taste and adjust your sauce ingredients.
- Make sure you cook the fried rice on high heat.
- Chop kimchi into small pieces which distributes evenly throughout the rice.
Nutrition
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