Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Ham & kimchi fried rice

 Being in a half Korean household, my tot loves kimchi. One day, he just stared at me eating some kimchi dish and said he wanted to try it. As it's spicy and salty, I washed it and gave him a tiny little peace and he absolutely loved it! He does have Korean in him. Haha. It's funny, when it comes to food, he's just like me. Not afraid of trying new things and he likes things I like. I remember my mom saying she's so lucky I am a good eater when I was young. I hope I can always say that about my tot. 

Kimchi fried rice is one of the most popular comfort foods for Koreans. If it's just me, I would make it with spicy kimchi with a drop of gochujang(red pepper paste) but since I was sharing with my tot, I thoroughly washed kimchi and cooked it. Sometimes I like that mild flavor. My gosh, just writing and thinking about it makes me hungry.


If you can't handle spicy food but want to try it, washing it is the way to go. It still doesn't lose the flavor but it's mild enough for a 3year old to eat. A lot of times, I have uncured ham at home and I like the flavor combination between kimchi and ham. And the sunny side up egg completes the dish. Even though I love sunny side up eggs, I rarely eat them but when I know the egg is fresh, I sometimes indulge. =)

Flavor/quality of kimchi really determines the taste of the dish. If you want to buy kimchi, any Asian markets will have it and I have seen it at wholefoods and some local supermarket too. BUT you have to be careful if you're buying it from a non Asian supermarket. Not to bash a product or anything but this brand Mother in law's kimchi or something that I got from wholefoods was so bad. It's far from the actual kimchi taste. Usually "mother in laws' dish" reminds you of good food in Korean culture but oh boy that was the worst I've ever had. If you see that brand, do not attempt. Usually ones at Korean/asian markets, you can trust. If you haven't tried yet, buy a small jar and take a little journey to Korean comfort food. =)


Ham & kimchi fried rice


*About 2 servings

Ingredients :

2 cups cooked rice
1 cup kimchi
1/4 small onion, diced
1/4 cup ham, diced
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs(optional)
1 scallion, chopped for garnish

Directions :

1. Roughly chop the kimchi. (If you're making non-spicy version like I did, rinse the kimchi thoroughly before chopping)

2. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet and saute onion until translucent. Stir in kimchi and ham to it, and saute for 3-4 minutes. 

3. Add cooked rice and sesame oil. Make sunny side up eggs at this point. Stir the rice constantly so that it doesn't stick too much to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Plate the rice and top each bowl with a sunny side up egg and chopped scallion. Serve immediately.

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