Kimchi Fried Rice

A fried rice made with leftover rice and kimchi.  A popular recipe in Hawaii and a great comfort food.

Hawaii is known for diversity.  So many cultures and cuisines come together and make one big 'ohana (family).  This makes for spectacular food.  Kimchi fried rice is just one of those foods that make Hawaii great.

HI's diversity makes great food #KimchiFriedRice  [Tweet this]

Kimchi is a Korean side dish made from fermented cabbage and hot chili paste (among other ingredients).  Adding it to fried rice makes a delicious, simple, and inexpensive meal.  This may not have originated in Hawaii, but it's a common menu item at many restaurants.  Of course, I had to try my hand at making it.  It turned out great.  It was spicy, tangy, bacony, nutty, and I added spinach for  little more nutrition.  This will be a common menu item in my home.  Some day I even want to try making my own kimchi.

#Kimchi FriedRice is an #inexpensivemeal  [Tweet this]

Kimchi fried rice can be served as an appetizer, side dish, or meal.  I think it makes a great lunch or snack while drinking beer and watching football (or any event--and you don't have to drink beer to enjoy it).

Kimchi #FriedRice is a great #Gamedaysnack  [Tweet this]

Kimchi Fried Rice

Cook time: 15 minutes
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

2-3 cups leftover rice
dash sesame oil
dash rice vinegar
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 lb bacon chopped
1-2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1/2 large onion, chopped
2-3 cups frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed
12oz jar of hot kimchi, drained & rough chop
1 cups chopped green onions, divided

KimchiFriedRice is a great use for #leftoverrice  [Tweet this]

I think fried rice always works best with leftover rice that has been refrigerated for a day or two.

Remove leftover rice from the fridge.  Add it to a large bowl with sesame oil, vinegar, and soy sauce.  Stir well breaking up any clumps and mixing well.

In a large skillet, cook the bacon, over medium heat, until it becomes crisp.  Pour off most of the grease (leaving some adds to the overall flavor of the dish) and add the oil.  Bring up the heat to about medium-high.

Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the onions and stir-fry until just softened.

Then add the spinach and kimchi.  Stir fry until just heated and add the rice mixture.  Continue stir-frying until the rice is heated through and fried to your liking. (I don't know what I did this time...maybe used plenty of oil, --closer to 2 Tbsp than 1, maybe a little more-- but the rice did not stick to my pan)

Turn off the heat and stir in about half of the chopped green onions.

Serve warm garnished with more green onions.  Sriracha can be added if you would like a little more heat.

Enjoy.

For more leftover rice recipes check out:

Spicy Vegetable Fried Rice

Coconut Rice Pudding

Pork Fried Rice

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Spicy Vegetable Fried Rice

A spicy fried rice made from leftovers.  Main ingredients are cabbage, onion, bok choy, and carrot, plus eggs for protein.

Fried rice is a great way to clean out the fridge.  Anytime I have a bunch of leftovers I always think about fried rice.  Fried rice not only is a great way to use leftover rice, but you can add just about anything to it.  If you have left over meats, by all means add them but I only had vegetables so I made this vegetarian.  My inspiration for this dish was kimchi fried rice, which is popular around here and is very tasty and quite spicy.  I didn't have kimchi (a mix of spicy fermented vegetables--mainly cabbage), but I had plenty of cabbage, bok choy and a carrot, so I used these and added sriracha to make it spicy.  It's not the same as kimchi fried rice, but it was a very good and filling dinner (I also made vegetable spring rolls as a side--will post later).

Ingredients:

2 eggs
2 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp ginger
2 Tbsp garlic
1 onion, chopped
1/2 head napa cabbage, shredded (just sliced into relatively thin slices)
1 carrot, julienned
about 1 pound baby bok choy, shredded (sliced as above) (4-5 cups)
2 cups cold rice
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
dash of chili oil
2 tsp sriracha

First scramble the eggs and set aside.

Mix together soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil, and sriracha and set aside.

Heat a large saute pan (or wok) over medium heat then add oil.  Next add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant.  Add the onion and stir fry until just tender.

Then add the cabbage and carrots and stir fry for couple of minutes and add the bok choy (the bok choy will mound out of the pan just stuff it in because it will shrink a lot as it cooks).  Add a little water and cover pan to steam.  Let steam for about 5 minutes or until bok choy wilts.

Uncover pan and add the rice (you may want to add more oil to help prevent sticking, but mine always ends up sticking a little, just stir as rapidly as you can, don't make it too oily).  Then pour on the soy sauce mixture.

Stir fry until sauce mixes well with ingredients and rice is cooked to your liking (I usually only cook the rice for a few minutes to get it heated through).

Lastly stir in the scrambled eggs and remove from heat.

Serve immediately, I had vegetable spring rolls on the side.  Makes at least 2 servings.

Enjoy.

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Pork Fried Rice

Simple fried rice made with leftovers and char siu (Chinese BBQ pork).

When ever I make rice I always make extra.  The leftover rice is great for another quick meal of fried rice.  Fried rice is a great way to use all kinds of leftovers and clean out your refrigerator.  For this fried rice I had leftover green bean stir fry, carrots and celery (that had been in my fridge a while), and char siu.  None of the ingredients would have been enough for a meal on their own, but put together it made a great meal for two with enough left for one lunch.

My favorite thing about fried rice is that it seems almost free.  Everything used has been part of other meals.  The char siu wasn't a leftover, I had some in my freezer, but you could use any pork, chicken, beef, or shrimp that you have on hand.  Be creative, fried rice is hard to mess up.

Ingredients:

1-2 Tbsp veg oil
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 Tbsp ginger, minced
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, diced
1 large carrot, slivered
~1 cup green beans
~ 2 cups cooked rice
1 1/2 cup pork, bite sized
dash of soy sauce

Heat a large skillet or wok over medium high heat.  Pour in oil and then add the ginger and garlic.  Stir fry breifly until fragrant then add the onions, carrots, and celery.

Continue stir frying for a couple of minutes and then add the pork and green beans (both of these are already cooked they just need to be reheated).  Stir for about a minute then add the rice.

Stir quickly and break up any rice that is sticking together.  Add a dash of soy sauce for some salt and color (the green beans had plenty of sauce on them, that was 2 parts hoisin and 1 part soy sauce) and stir fry until everything is mixed and heated (only a couple of minutes more).  I still haven't figured out how to keep some of the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan but it''s not much and as long as you soak your pan for a few minutes the clean up isn't too difficult.

Makes 3 servings.  Enjoy.

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