Kimchi Fried Rice
My grandson has become a pretty big fan of cooking things oriental. He often starts with our Chinese takeout left overs and comes up with lots of tasty variations. When I saw this in NYT Cooking, I thought of him. You can use spam, ham or BBQ pork or about anything else in this dish.
Ingredients:
5 Tbs unsalted butter
1 small onion, medium dice
2 cups roughly chopped kimchi (6 ounces)
5 Tbs kimchi juice, or to taste
1 cup small-dice Spam, ham or leftover cooked meat
5 cups cooked, cooled rice (preferably short-grain)
4 tsp soy sauce, or to taste
3 tsp sesame oil, or to taste
2 tsp vegetable oil
5 eggs
Salt to taste
Crumbled or slivered nori (roasted seaweed) for garnish
Sesame seeds for garnish
Directions:
- In a wok or nonstick sauté pan or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat, and add onions. Cook, stirring, until the onions start to sizzle, about 2 minutes. Add kimchi and kimchi juice, and stir until it comes to a boil, ~ 3 minutes. Add Spam/ham or BBQ Pork, and cook until sauce is nearly dried out, about 5 minutes.
- Break up the rice in the pan with a spatula, and stir it to incorporate. Turn heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until the rice has absorbed the sauce and is very hot, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in soy sauce and sesame oil. Taste, and adjust with more soy sauce, sesame oil or kimchi juice. Turn heat down slightly, but let the rice continue to cook, untouched, to lightly brown while you cook the eggs.
- Place a small nonstick sauté pan over medium heat, and add the vegetable oil. When it is hot, add eggs, season with salt and fry to your desired doneness. Serve rice topped with fried eggs, nori and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
Place egg on each serving and serve immediately.