Kimchi Fried Rice

I am a kimchi lover. I could enjoy it by itself or as a side dish with meat and rice. But I haven’t heard about kimchi fried rice till I started watching KDrama and saw Han Kyul making it for Eun Chan of Coffee Prince fame. The way Eun Chan ate it using the huge rice serving spoon made me drool. (KDramas does that to you anyway-drool over the food the characters are eating). I was so curious about the taste but the mystery didn’t last long as my neighbor Jinkzz shared her recipe with me and since then, I’ve been making the dish whenever I need my Korean food fix. I always have a jar of kimchi, and ground pork or beef in the fridge in case the need arises. It is so easy to make and if you love kimchi, you will love this too. It is so delicious with fried egg on top and now, I would serve it with fried tofu on the side. The recipe doesn’t call for sesame oil but last night, I tried adding a few drops and it added more flavor to the dish. Here’s the recipe from my neighbor. I may have tweaked it somewhere but this is much I can recall and this is how I make it.

Kimchi Fried Rice

Ingredients:
2 cups steamed white rice
1 cup kimchi (drained, save the juice)
½ cup ground pork or beef
2 stalks green onion (chopped)
1 tbsp Kikkoman soy sauce
¼ onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
Canola or olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tbsp garlic chili paste (Sambal Oelek) – if you want it more spicy
sesame oil

Cooking Directions
1. Chop kimchi into desired size. Save kimchi juice
2. Season the ground pork or beef with soy sauce, minced garlic and ground pepper.
3. Sauté the pork with canola or olive oil in frying pan.
4. When the pork is golden brown, add onions, kimchi juice and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add minced garlic, kimchi and spring onion . Cook a little more and turn off the heat.
6. Add cooked rice and mix all ingredients well.
7. Add 1-2 tbsp of sesame oil and re-heat again.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste

Serve with sunny side up on top.
You can also serve it with fried tofu on the side.