I spent a lot of time these past few months perfecting my Korean cooking skills so that sister and her family will have familiar food to eat during their visit over the holidays. Kimchi bokkeumbap (kimchi fried rice) is an easy, quick, and filling meal to make.
One great thing about cooking Korean food is that many recipes use the same ingredients. You can basically stock your pantry/fridge and have endless combinations. I previously posted a recipe for kimchi jjigae, which has the same primary ingredient– old kimchi (spicy Korean pickled cabbage).
If you are located near a Korean grocery store (DFW Peeps, H-Mart in Carrollton or Komart off of 35/Royal are where I shop), go pick up a jar of kimchi. For the first few weeks, you can eat the kimchi as a side dish or snack. When it starts getting more fermented and flavorful is when it becomes ideal for cooking.
I don’t follow measurements for kimchi bokkeumbap… just improvise based on how many people I’m serving (or how hungry I happen to be). Here’s an approximation of what I followed tonight.
Ingredients
- Old Kimchi
- Cooked White Rice (day-old is preferred, but can be fresh)
- Sesame Oil
- Soy Sauce
- Spam or Pork (optional)
- Butter
- 1-2 Egg(s)
Step 1: Pour a few teaspoons of sesame oil into a frying pan and heat on medium-low temperature.
Step 2: Chop approximately one cup of kimchi and add to the pan and stir. I use tongs to hold the kimchi slices in one hand, and kitchen scissors to cut them into small pieces
Step 3: Dice Spam (or pork) and add to the kimchi
Step 4: Scoop 1-2 cups cooked rice into the pan and mix together
Step 5: Add a pat of butter to the rice and kimchi
Step 5: Pour in a splash of soy sauce to taste
Step 6: Mix everything together and empty into a bowl
Step 7: Fry an egg (or two)
Step 8: Add fried egg(s) to the top of the rice bowl
Step 9: Break into the egg with a spoon and mix the yolk in with the rice mixture
Mani mogo! (Translation: Eat a LOT!)