Kimchi Fried Rice- Recipe

Did you know that one small takeout rice container like shown is like 2 cups of rice (aka fried rice gold)? It’s perfect for making a generous portion of fried rice like shown.  This rice was almost a week old and it still tasted amazing fried up (always use at least 1 day old, cold, rice).

METHOD: My plain takeout white rice was repurposed into this super flavorful kimchi fried rice.  Basically you start off with frying some garlic and onions, fry your drained kimchi, then add in your take out white rice, fresh veggies (I used sweet potato leaves), sauce it up, and then I sprinkled some pork panko crumbs for that flavorful and savory crunch!  Mmm.

Today I used a Maggi, chili paste and Squid fish sauce (perfect for dishes that you need to cook with fish sauce). For special fish sauce dips and such I like to save my more expensive bottles of fish sauce like Red Boat or 3 Crabs.

INGREDIENTS

1 tbs neutral oil (I used YouYou, or LIGHT EVOO)

1 tsp fish sauce

3 garlic cloves (minced)

1/2 white or sweet onion chopped (about 1 cup and a 1/4 if you loosely chop)

1/2 cup drained fermented kimchi (store bought is fine, make sure to squeeze out all liquids and reserve the brine)

2 cups of cold cooked white rice or 1 small take out container of rice (1 day old or older)

1 bunch of sweet potato leaves (or spinach, bok choy or any other leafy fry’able greens)

1 Fried egg- See recipe for a perfect fried egg at bottom of post

KIMCHI SAUCE
1/4 garlic powder

2 tbs light soy sauce

2 tsp Gochujang chili paste

1 tsp sesame oil

Reserved kimchi liquid

GARNISH:

Few dashes of Maggi Seasoning

Black Pepper

Scallions (thinly sliced)

Optional white sesame seeds

Optional Pork Panko Crumbs

PREPARATION

1. Measure one packed 1/2 cup of kimchi. Over a bowl squeeze out all liquid from kimchi, chop into small-medium bite size pieces, and reserve the kimchi brine liquid.

2. Take 1 tbs of oil and add to your work or cast iron skillet. Add garlic and onions and fry until unions are slightly brown and translucent. Transfer to a clean bowl.

3. Add drained/chopped kimchi and fry for a couple minutes over med-high heat until they crisp/brown a little.

4. Mix all the sauce ingredients with your reserved kimchi brine in a bowl and set aside.

5. Crumble in your cold white rice, smash down with a spatula to separate the rice clumps. Stir for about a minute, then add in your kimchi, reserved onions and garlic, and your prepared sauce.

6. Stir to incorporate the sauce. Add in your leafy veggies (I used sweet potato leaves, if you fry up harder veggies like celery, carrots etc, you’ll need to fry these separate and then add in now). Stir so leaves wilt up nicely.

7. Add 1 tbs of oil around the rim on the pan. Mix, then gently press down on your fried rice to flatten the mixture some and let the bottom of the fried rice brown and crisp up some. When it has a nice golden crust, then mix and press down again. You want some of your fried rice to have a nice crisp / golden char to it.

8. Taste fried rice, add salt / fish sauce / and or sesame oil to taste.

9. Fry up 1 to 2 fried eggs.

10. Plate your fried rice, add fried egg(s), black pepper, a few sprinkles of Maggi sauce, then add your optional garnishings and serve hot!
    
    
    How to make a fried egg:

    INGREDIENT
    1 egg
    1 tbs neutral oil (YouYou or light EVOO)
    1/4 tbs of butter
    
    1. Heat oil and butter in pan til just about smoking. Swirl oil around
    to make sure entire bottom of pan is coated with oil.
    2. Crack egg and gently crack into the middle of your pan and lower heat to medium. Tilt and swirl pan around to distribute oil and dislodge egg from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
    3. If you're good with a pan, you can baste your egg white with of the oil/butter by tilting pan and spooning hot oil over egg whites.
    4. Fry until the white is set. You can put an egg size lid over
    the eggs to finish the top of the whites some if needed. The eggs
    should have crispy browned edges, with a runny yellow/orange yoke (cook longer with lid on if you want your yolk more cooked through). It should take about 2 minutes for runny yolks or 2 ½ - 3 minutes for medium yolks