If you have never tried kimchi before, my easy kimchi fried rice is a great first step to familiarise yourself with its pungent wonderful flavours. The rice is spicy and hearty, topped off with a jammy, yolky fried egg and roasted seaweed for extra crunch and savouriness.

Note: Korea’s take on fried rice is quite different to the fried rice you normally see in South-East Asia, in terms of consistency. The uses of kimchi juice (brine) and gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) give the dish a much wetter consistency where the grains of rice are not separated by coats of oil. This might throw you off at first but trust me, it is a flavour-bomb.

Understanding Your Components

1. Rice:
   • Korean short-grain rice is ideal for this recipe
   • Use day-old rice. Freshly cooked rice is too wet for fried rice and will give the wrong texture
   • Korean microwavable rice is also perfect for this recipe if you want to cut down on time and effort of cooking rice.
2. Kimchi:
   • What is Kimchi? Kimchi is a traditional Korean fermented dish made by salting vegetables (typically napa cabbage) and fermenting them with a vibrant red seasoning paste of chili flakes, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce, resulting in a complex flavor that’s simultaneously spicy, sour, and umami-rich.
   • Depending on how long the kimchi has fermented for, the flavour of the kimchi will be different. Freshly made kimchi tastes a lot more light, fresh and crunchy, whereas aged kimchi has a sour kick and a stronger flavour. We want aged kimchi for this recipe as the sourness cuts throught the richness of the other ingredients.
   • Kimchi juice is essentially the brine of the kimchi – it’s liquid gold.
3. Protein:
   • Spam is super popular in kimchi fried rice in South Korea. Spam is processed luncheon meat that is delicious when fried
   • Other options: pork belly or leave it out completely for a vegetarian version

Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

• Use leftover day-old rice
• Ingredients can be chopped up ahead of time and keep refrigerated same day
• Cook fresh and serve immediately
• Cooked fried rice can be cooled and stored in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat gently in the microwave or in a pan.

Ingredients

1 sprig spring onion/scallion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 – 1 cup kimchi, chopped
1/4 of pack spam (or pork belly, beef slices)
2tbs kimchi juice (aka kimchi brine)
1tbs gochujang, Korean red chilli paste
1tbs soy sauce
1tbs sesame oil
300g 1-day old rice (preferably short grain)
1 egg, fried
Roasted seaweed, crushed

Spam is widely eaten in Korea! However, if you are not a fan of Spam, feel free to use diced up pork belly or beef slices. If you are a vegetarian, just omit the Spam completely or use tofu.

Method

In a pan over medium heat, fry the diced spam in 1 tbs oil until golden brown. This will get rid of the pungent smell of Spam and make it delicious.

Please don’t skimp on the aromatics, they are essential! Add in the chopped scallions, minced garlic and kimchi into the pan and stir fry for 1-2 mins or until the vegetables are slightly browned and cooked.

Add in the 1 day old rice (do not use freshly cooked rice. I REPEAT, do not use freshly cooked rice or your fried rice will be mushy and unpleasant), break up the rice and toss until everything is well combined.

Time to get saucy! Add in the gochujang, kimchi juice, soy sauce and sesame oil into the pan and toss until everything is homogeneous.

Let’s finish it off with a fried egg and crushed up roasted seaweed.