Having to take an extra hour or so off working from home mid-day to prepare lunch for the family is probably one of the most difficult things to do this ‘Circuit Breaker’ period. Sick and tired of always getting food delivered, I found myself constantly searching for quick and easy lunch solutions that require less than 30 minutes to prepare.
With a bag of kimchi laying in my refrigerator and a bowl of left-over rice from dinner the previous night, Easy Kimchi Fried Rice immediately came to mind. Similar to and probably a lot simpler than the Salt & Pepper Shrimp Fried Rice and One-pot Chicken & Mushroom Rice we introduced via our Simple Stay-home recipe series, this Easy Kimchi Fried Rice is a great recipe if you are in a hurry for a quick fix. So, let’s wait no longer and get started!
Ingredients
- 1 cup of overnight rice
- 1/2 cup of kimchi
- 1/2 can of luncheon meat, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 stalk of green onion
- 3 tbsp of kimchi juice
- 2 tsp of soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- Pepper, sesame oil (to taste)
Topping (Optional)
- Seaweed flakes
- 2 Eggs
Tools
- Pan/Wok
- Frying spatula
Recipe Preparation
Preparation time: 5 minutes; Cooking time: 10 minutes
Feeds two
- Cut and prepare all the ingredients accordingly.
- In a heated wok, fry the garlic and onions till slightly brown in colour.
- Add luncheon meat and stir-fry for 5 minutes before adding the kimchi.
- Fry all the ingredients and ensure they are well mixed.
- Add cooked rice in 2 batches and fry until the ingredients are evenly combined.
- Pour in the kimchi juice and green onions, mixing continuously.
- Season with soy sauce, pepper, and sugar.
- Add sesame oil and give the Easy Kimchi Fried Rice a final stir before serving.
- (Optional) Fry a sunny side up and serve together with seaweed flakes.
Recipe Preparation (In Pictures)
Step 1: Cut and prepare all the ingredients accordingly.
Step 2:In a heated wok, fry the garlic and onions till slightly brown in colour.
Step 3: Add luncheon meat and stir-fry for 5 minutes before adding the kimchi.
Step 4:Fry all the ingredients and ensure they are well mixed.
Step 5: Add cooked rice in 2 batches and fry until the ingredients are evenly combined.
Step 6:Pour in the kimchi juice and green onions, mixing continuously.
Step 7: Season with soy sauce, pepper, and sugar.
Step 8: Add sesame oil and give the Easy Kimchi Fried Rice a final stir before serving.
Step 9 (Optional): Fry a sunny side up and serve together with seaweed flakes.
Although optional, adding a sunny side up and seaweed flakes to this Easy Kimchi Fried Rice definitely jazzed up the entire dish. The semi-cooked egg yolk flowed into the rice, adding a touch of umami to the sightly spicy and sour dish.
If you are afraid that the Easy Kimchi Fried Rice will be too hot to handle, worry not as the heat from the kimchi was brought down a notch after it was being stir-fried. Besides that, the addition of sugar also helped in balancing out the spiciness and acidity of the fermented cabbage.
For a kid-friendly version of the Easy Kimchi Fried Rice, you can try rinsing the kimchi in hot water for a few seconds to wash off the spice. Then, elevate its sweetness with one to two tablespoon of ketchup.
With these alterations to the original recipe, you will be surprised as your kid might ask for kimchi the next time you head to a Korean restaurant when dining-in resumes!
Expected Damage: S$3 – S$4 per portion (for two pax)
