Kimchi Fried Rice

Korean food is so popular at the moment! It’s big flavors are sweeping the world in the form of their amazing Fried Chicken, deliciously grilled meats, and of course, Kimchi Fried Rice! This delectable dish is packed full of big flavors, with the bitterness of the Kimchi contrasting perfectly with the rich, sweet flavors of that amazing Korean Chili Paste known as Gochujang

What Ingredients are used when making Kimchi Fried Rice?

What is great about Kimchi Fried Rice is how few ingredients are required, yet the flavors are so bold and pronounced. To make this dish you’ll need Rice, Kimchi, Onion, Celery, Gochujang, and Sesame Oil. These ingredients will form the core of the flavors for the Rice

We add a few additional ingredients for added flavor, texture, and visual appeal. For starters, we are adding Chinese Sausage (known as Lap Cheong) which is roughly sliced and pan fried to kick off the dish. The Chinese Sausage is not a traditional ingredient in Kimchi Fried Rice, but it is a classic ingredient used in traditional Chinese Fried Rice

I love the sweetness it adds to the dish and offers a brilliant balance to the bitterness of the Kimchee. Personally, I think adding Chinese Sausage to any fried rice is an absolute mandatory addition

Scallions, Sesame Seeds, and a Fried Egg are the other finishing touches added to the dish. The Scallions and Sesame Seeds are more there for texture and presentation, as they’re added to the dish right before serving. Topping Kimchi Fried Rice with a Fried Egg is a very traditional way to serve it. The Egg is cooked sunny side up so that the runny yolk will break up and add even more luxurious flavors and silkiness to the dish

How to make Kimchi Fried Rice

Like all Fried Rice dishes, this one will come together very quickly. You want your pan (or preferably a wok) super-hot, so the ingredients cook fast. It is highly recommended to prepare all of your ingredients and have them ready to go before you heat up the pan. This way the cooking process will be smooth and effortless

Begin by frying off the Chinese Sausage in the pan. The oiliness and fattiness of this ingredient is perfect to kick off the dish. When it fries all the Pork Fat from the Sausage renders out and will replicate using Oil or Butter in the pan, which is perfect to fry off your Onion, which is added next

Fry all this for a few minutes and then in goes the Kimchi. You want to be quite aggressive with the Kimchi quantity when making Kimchi Fried Rice (which kind of goes without saying). For our recipe we used about 1 ½ cups, or 330g of Kimchi. Roughly chop it up, but not too much then add it to the frying pan

Use day old Rice when making Fried Rice

Once the Kimchee is added to the pan, in goes the Rice. Now, it’s important that you use Rice that has previously been cooked and cooled. The reason for this is the pre-cooked Rice is going to maintain its shape and structure a lot better than freshly cooked Rice. Eg: it won’t turn into mush when its fried

This dish is therefore perfect for cooking as a lunch with leftover steamed Rice. If you don’t have any leftover Rice, you can simply prepare some steamed Rice about an hour before you start cooking. Let it cool and it’ll be good to use. You can check out our recipe on how to make perfect Steamed Rice here

The key to great Korean Fried Rice – Gochujang!

The next ingredient is a critical ingredient in Korean cooking. Known as Gochujang, it is a brilliant burgundy red colored paste made from Chili and fermented Soybean. It has a wonderful, sweet flavor and gives so many Korean dishes it’s hallmark red color. We use 2 heaped tbsp. for this recipe which is added to the pan and mixed through until dissolved

Once the Gochujang is incorporated, finish the dish by adding some Kimchi Juice from the container (try to get about 2 tbsp. of it if you can) and then a splash of Sesame Oil. Don’t add too much Sesame Oil, as it’s one of the most powerful ingredients you can use in cooking. It can easily overpower a dish, so about ½ tsp. is enough

Plating your Kimchi Fried Rice

The dish is now done! The whole cooking process takes about 10 minutes, yet the flavors in this Rice dish are so developed and amazing. To finish the dish, I like to add the freshly diced Scallions to the pan / wok and mix them through. This will help to take a little bit of the fresh Oniony ‘bite’ off their flavor

Plate a few large spoonful’s of the Rice into individual serving bowls and then top each with a Fried Sunnyside up Egg. Sprinkle the plate with some Sesame Seeds and it’s ready to serve!

Timing the Fried Eggs alongside the Fried Rice cooking can be a challenge. You can attempt to cook both simultaneously, but you can also cook the Eggs once the Rice is done. The Fried Rice is going to stay hot for a lot longer than a cooked Egg, so just set it aside while you fry up a few Eggs. Place them on top of the Fried Rice and then it’s time to tuck in!

Kimchi Fried Rice Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 Chinese Sausages (Lap Cheong), cut into pieces
• 1 Yellow Onion, diced
• 2 Celery Stalks, diced
• 1 ½ cups of Kimchi, roughly chopped
• 2 cups of day-old Steamed Rice
• 2 tbsp. Gochujang
• ½ tsp. Sesame Oil
• 3 Scallion stalks, finely diced
• 1 tbsp. Neutral Oil (eg: Vegetable or Canola Oil)
• 4 Eggs
• 2 tbsp. Sesame Seeds
  
  

Instructions

1. Cook the Chinese Sausage in a large wok or frying pan over high heat for 1 ½ minutes until the fat renders into the pan. Add the Onion and Celery and cook for 2 minutes, stirring
2. Add the Kimchi and Rice and stir well, ensuring the Rice breaks up and doesn’t clump together. Fry for 2 – 3 minutes then add the Gochujang and 1 – 2 tbsp. of Kimchi Juice (from the Kimchee container)
3. Mix through the Gochujang until fully incorporated into the Rice and cook for a further 3 minutes. Remove from heat and mix through the Scallions
4. Add a little bit of frying Oil in a separate frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, break the Eggs into the pan and cook until the Egg whites are completely cooked and not translucent
5. Serve a few heaped spoonful’s of Rice into individual serving bowls. Place a Fried Egg over the top and finish with a sprinkling of Sesame Seeds
   
   

Recipe Notes

• You can attempt to cook the Eggs at the same time as you’re cooking the Fried Rice to save time
• Adding Chinese Sausage is optional; you can replace it by adding a little bit of Neutral Oil to the Wok to kick off the cooking process
  
  

This simple yet amazing recipe for Kimchi Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage is a brilliant showcasing of the wonderful flavors in Korean Cooking. Kimchi and Gochujang have such prominent and pronounced flavor, and truly are the star of this dish

For more Asian-inspired recipes, check out these wonderful dishes:

• Spicy Korean Chicken Wings
• Authentic General Tso’s Chicken
• Easy Tom Yum Soup
• Asian Pork Lettuce Wraps
  
  

Happy Cooking!