Elegantly simple, big on flavour and strong on comfort, these family favourites with step-by-step instructions make an ideal introduction to Korean cooking at home.
Like all Koreans, I will always have kimchi and cooked white rice in my refrigerator, making this fried rice the simplest and most popular dish to prepare at home.
Kimchi fried rice
KIMCHI BOKKEUMBAP
SERVES 4
Preparation 15 minutes
Cooking 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
400 g (14 oz) Chinese cabbage kimchi
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 spring onion (scallion) stem (no bulb)
320 g (11¼ oz) tuna chunks in sunflower oil
2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil
1 tablespoon gochugaru chilli powder
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon fermented anchovy sauce
400 g (14 oz) cooked white rice, cold
4 eggs, fried
Method
Place the kimchi in a bowl and use scissors to cut it into small pieces. Add the sugar and garlic powder and mix well. Stand for 5 minutes.
Chop the spring onion stem. Drain the tuna. Coat a frying pan with the vegetable oil. Tip in the chopped spring onion and turn the heat to high. Stir-fry until the spring onion starts to soften. Add the kimchi and gochugaru. Stir-fry for 5 minutes until the kimchi is a little translucent. Add the tuna, soy sauce and fermented anchovy sauce. Stir-fry for 5 minutes.
Add the cooked white rice to the frying pan when all the ingredients are well combined. Mix the rice through to obtain an even colour. When the rice has evenly taken on the colour of the kimchi, the cooking is complete.
Serve in individual portions by placing one fried egg on top of the kimchi bokkeumbap. Serve with soy sauce pickles or white radish pickles on the side, if desired.
TIP — You can sprinkle this dish with a few pieces of seaweed (gim or nori) and some chopped chives.
Images and text from Korean Home Cooking by Jina Jung, photography by Akiko Ida. Murdoch Books RRP $55.00.’
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