The Onmanorama Food team recently paid a visit to a Korean food festival held in Kerala and fell absolutely in love with the dishes. The fest offered the best of South Korean dishes to us - with the tremendously popular Kimchi fried rice being its centre.
Kimchi fried rice or Kimchi bokkeumbap is one dish the fans of Hallyu are very familiar with. It is safe to say that there might not be a K-Drama or cooking show where the actors or participants are seen devouring the mouthwatering rice dish.
The recipe itself is pretty simple. It is exactly what the name suggests - rice stir fried with Kimchi. Now, Kimchi or the fermented and bottled Chinese cabbage is something every Korean shop would definitely have. (If not, you can easily make it at home as the Chinese or napa cabbages are available at every supermarket and the rest of the ingredients can be found online.) Other ingredients you might have to hunt for online would be the Korean sticky rice, the Korean hot pepper paste or Gochujang and dried seaweed sheets or gim.
The rest of the prep is super easy. It is pretty much like a conventional fried rice – except more flavoursome and sticky. You can use some egg garnish to perfect the dish before serving.
Ingredients
1 tsp vegetable oil
3 cups steamed sticky rice
1 cup kimchi, chopped
¼ cup kimchi juice (water from the kimchi container)
¼ cup water
2 1/2 tbsp gochujang
3 tsp sesame oil
1 sheet of seaweed/gim, shredded
1 green onion, chopped
1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
Preparation
Heat vegetable oil in a pan
Add the chopped kimchi and stir fry it until sizzling
Add the rice, kimchi juice, gochujang and water
Stir with a wooden spatula and fry for 5-8 minutes
Sprinkle sesame oil and turn off the heat
Move it to a serving bowl
Sprinkle green onion, shredded gim and sesame seeds
Garnish with a fried egg and serve hot