I love Korean food. And I always drag my family to Korean restaurants around the metro even though they don’t like spicy food. One of the things that we usually order is kimchi fried rice.

It is so hard to put into words how much I love kimchi. I am not really sure if I’ve ever eaten authentic kimchi, but I love the cabbage kimchi that this small Korean grocery store in Farmer’s Cubao sells. And after weeks of surviving without kimchi in our fridge, I was finally able to get my stash last night. So this morning, I decided to cook kimchi fried rice for breakfast. The sisters and I liked it very much.

There is not really special about this recipe. I just raided our fridge for anything that I can toss together. It’s really easy to make kimchi fried rice at home. No fancy ingredients needed! The key is to just add in whatever you have.

Easy Kimchi Fried Rice Recipe

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 – 15 minutes
Serves 3 – 4 persons

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil or sesame oil
• 1/2 medium white onion, chopped
• 3 slices of spiced ham, cubed
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 1/2 cucumber (about 3 inches long), diced
• 1 cup cabbage kimchi, chopped
• 3 cups day-old steamed rice
• 2 tbsp gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste) or 1/4 cup kimchi juice
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup quick melt cheese, grated

Procedure for Easy Kimchi Fried Rice

1. In a large non-stick pan, heat some olive or sesame oil and sauté the white onion over medium heat. Once the onion softens, add in the pieces of ham and allow them to cook.
2. Add the tomato and cucumber while occasionally stirring the whole thing. After a few minutes, add the kimchi.
3. Add in the steamed rice and the gochujang or kimchi juice. Drizzle the rice with some oil, if necessary. Fry over low heat. Stir everything together.
4. Once the ingredients are well combined, set it on one side of the pan. Fry egg on the other side of the pan. Once cooked, break the egg into small pieces and mix with the rice. Stir in the grated cheese.
5. Transfer the rice into bowls and serve immediately.

Tip:  Sometimes you don’t have to bother measuring ingredients. Just guesstimate! Remember to taste test what you’re cooking every now and then. If tastes good, then you’re fine.

Another Tip: No olive oil? Just use a little bit of cooking oil and add butter. You may also replace quick melt cheese with ordinary processed cheese.

One more thing: Improvise. Wondering why there’s cucumber? Well, that’s the only green thing I could find in our fridge. So I added it for the color.