Among many ways of making use of kimchi in every possible way, this is one of the simplest, flavorful ways to enjoy kimchi. All you need are 1) kimchi, 2) bacon, and 3) rice as the title of the dish suggests. Everything else is bells and whistles. Having said that, depending on the seasoning of kimchi and how fermented it is, you may need to add more or less of kimchi liquid and soy sauce to adjust seasoning. If your kimchi is really good, you don't even need bacon. Just use vegetable oil to sauté kimchi and fold in rice - done!
On the other hand, if you have kimchi that's waaay past its prime and it's just too much to handle, now you can experience the magic of bacon and kimchi together. Or if you make your own kimchi, and you just happen to have a bad batch (yes I have in the process of switching out an ingredient for my kimchi) that just doesn't taste like the kimchi you dreamed of, sitting in your refrigerator taking up good space, again, I recommend the bacon and kimchi therapy.
Kimchi is still tart and spicy, but it is now rounded with oh-so-good nutty bacon fat. Bits of crispy bacon come together with cold, leftover rice and prove to you how the right combination of humble ingredients can give you a smile. A really big smile.
Kimchi Bacon Fried Rice (김치 볶음밥)
Yields: 2 main servings
INGREDIENTS:
2 slices Bacon, cut to strips
1/2 cup Napa cabbage kimchi, preferably well-fermented and tart,
cut to bite size
1 cup Cooked, cold sushi rice (short or medium sticky white rice)
1~2 tablespoons Kimchi liquid from the kimchi jar
Pinch Black pepper
2 Eggs
1 stalk Scallion, trimmed and cut to thin slices
1 teaspoon Toasted sesame seeds
To taste Soy sauce
To taste Sesame oil
DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat a skillet to warm. Add bacon and render its fat over low heat. When the edges of bacon start to crisp, add kimchi and stir to coat all kimchi pieces in bacon fat. Give enough time for kimchi to cook in bacon fat until some kimchi pieces turn opaque in the middle, about 5-10 minutes over medium-low heat. If the heat is too high, kimchi seasoning, including pepper flakes in the seasoning will burn before kimchi has time to cook.
* You can stop here and just eat sautéed kimchi and bacon with rice. Fried kimchi over warm tofu is another popular dish that goes with a bowl of plain rice or with soju or makgeolli (막걸리 unfiltered rice brew).
2. Back to where we want to go. Turn off the heat. Add rice and fold in kimchi and bacon carefully. Drizzle kimchi liquid over the rice. Mix in completely. Turn on the heat to medium and cook until rice is hot. Remove from heat.
3. Taste and adjust seasoning with more kimchi liquid and/or soy sauce. Drizzle over sesame oil, although I think this might be one of the few dishes that sesame oil can take a break since bacon has already done so much for the flavor of the dish.
4. Make sunny-side up eggs on a separate skillet. Top kimchi bacon rice with black pepper, scallion and sesame seeds and eggs. Serve hot and love your kimchi bacon fried rice.
! TIPS !
! Use cold rice. This is usually a lazy dish made mostly with leftovers. With hot rice, you have a better chance of turning the whole dish into a big glob of sticky mess because of too much moisture from hot rice.
! But if you do have to use fresh, hot rice, spread rice into a thin layer and cool it down first. As in the recipe above, turn off heat before adding rice. And don't cook much longer after adding rice. It's more of mixing rice with kimchi cooked in bacon fat, which is still pretty okay.
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KOREAN WORDS
볶음 (bok eum) stir-fried
밥 (bap) cooked rice
쌀 (ssal) uncooked rice
볶음밥 (bok eum bap) stir-fried rice
