Kimchi Fried Rice

Kimchi Fried Rice 

- Kimchi-bokkeumbap -

Original recipe taken from: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kimchi-bokkeumbap

2 small servings

INGREDIENTS 

1 stalk of chopped kimchi (approximately 1/2 to 1 cup; depending on how much you like to eat)

1-2 tablespoons of kimchi brine (juice)

1/2 cup to 1 cup of brown rice, cooked 

1 egg (fried)

1/2 piece of roasted nori sheet

approximately 1 teaspoon of sesame oil 

cooking oil

chicken meat (diced) 

1/4 of homemade gochujang 

STEPS

1. Have all the ingredients ready. 
2. Heat up the wok and fry an egg. Put aside.
3. Oil the pan and stir fry chopped kimchi, kimchi brine and chicken meat for roughly 2 minutes/fragrant.
4. Add in the cooked rice on top of the kimchi and meat so that rice doesn't burn easily at the bottom.
5. Stir fry for a while until everything is well incorporated. 
6. Add in gochujang and sesame oil. Mix well. 
7. Place your fried rice on a plate. 
8. Slice the fried egg into strips and cut roasted nori into small pieces as garnishing.
9. Serve while hot. 

At first, no egg yet.

Korean style plate - metal for everything.

French style - 

Big white plate, little food in the middle. 

I really kinda enjoy this flavourful fried rice. 

It's not dry like our common fried rice but it's slightly moist and soft.

Really satisfying meal, though it's just a small serving. 

If you are a big eater, eating this all by yourself should not be a problem at all. 

Bibimbap (Mixed rice with vegetables)

Bibimbap (Mixed rice with vegetables)

Original recipe from: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/bibimbap 

Serves 2 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of uncooked rice (I used brown rice) 

3 minced garlic cloves

sesame oil 

cooking oil 

toasted sesame seeds (I only had black sesame seeds; you should use white sesame seeds)

Rough amount for 2 servings

spinach (I used daun keledek) 

enokitake (long pale yellowish mushroom) 

carrot
cucumber
bean sprouts

Marination for chicken meat (Original recipe uses raw beef)
soy sauce
honey
garlic

STEPS:

1. Cut chicken into thin slices and roughly chop them a few times. 
2. Mix together with the marinate and leave aside. 
3. Oil the pan and cook them till cooked (don't overcook to prevent meat from becoming hard). 

Korean hot pepper paste (cheat version) Gochujang 
Original recipe from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrZPmauah5I
1 teaspoon of glutinous rice flour
2 tablespoons of water
3 tablespoons of Korean hot pepper flakes (Gochugaru)
3 teaspoons of soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 - 3 teaspoons of sugar

STEPS:

1. Mix glutinous rice flour and water in a steel bowl. 
2. Bring to the stove on a low heat and stir continuously until a thick paste is formed. 
3. Add in the remaining ingredients.
4. Taste the end product and feel free to add soy sauce, salt and sugar according to personal liking.

OVERALL STEPS:

1. Toast the sesame seeds and put aside.
2. Korean hot pepper paste - Gochujang: Follow the steps listed under the ingredients for Gochujang.
3. Beansprouts: Clean thoroughly. Boil the beansprouts for 15-20 minutes without opening the lid to check. Open only when the time's up. Reserve the liquid for soup. Drain off beansprouts and sprinkle some sesame oil, salt and garlic. Put aside. 
4. Spinach: Clean thoroughly. Blanch the spinach in boiling water until wilted (make sure it is still a little crunchy and not totally soft and wilted). Drain off the spinach and dip into room temperature water. Drain off again. Sprinkle some salt and garlic. Chop into bite pieces. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds. Drizzle with some sesame oil. Mix well. Put aside. 
5. Carrot: Clean thoroughly. Cut into matchsticks. Sprinkle some salt and mix well. Drain off excess water from carrot. Oil the pan. Stir fry with a little salt. Put aside.
6. Cucumber: Clean thoroughly. I didn't remove the skin. Cut half and pieces into the D shape. Sprinkle some salt. Drain off excess water from cucumber. Oil the pan. Stir fry with a little salt and garlic. Put aside. 
7. Enokitake mushroom: Clean thoroughly. Remove the roots. Soak in water. Rinse off excess water. Oil the pan. Stir fry it with a little garlic and salt. Put aside. 
8. Cook the rice: Usual way of cooking rice using rice cooker. 
9. Fry the egg: Oil the pan. Fry an egg. Don't flip the egg to ensure the top part is the yolk. Do not cook for too long. Just make sure the side and back is cooked and crispy. Put aside
10. Assemble: Drop a few drops of sesame oil in a bowl. Top it with a bowl of cooked rice. Arrange the vegetables and meat around the circumference of the bowl, leaving the center empty for the egg. Decorate with a little roasted sesame seeds. Put around 1 tablespoon of Korean hot pepper paste: gochujang at the side of the egg. Serve while hot. Enjoy. 

NOTES:

• I dared not use raw beef as suggested by Maangchi. It scared me to eat raw beef which is presumed to be cooked while mixing everything together. So, to be safe and conservative, I decided to cook the meat.
• I substituted some ingredients that I do not have. I think adding mushroom is a great choice.

Eat with my homemade kimchi 

After mixing altogether.. the brown rice.

Traditional Napa Cabbage Kimchi

Since I got back from Korea honeymoon, I was craving for kimchi ramen. Finally, I got to do this during the weekend. 

Traditional Napa Cabbage Kimchi 

Maangchi's Recipe

For salting cabbage:

• 2 medium sized Chinese long cabbages (I forgot to measure)
• 1/4 cup Kosher salt (I used Himalayan pink sea salt)

For making porridge:

• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour)
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (brown or white sugar)

Vegetables:

• 1 cup Daikon radish matchsticks
• 1/2 cup carrot matchsticks
• 3-4 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup chopped Asian chives (buchu), optional (substitute with 3 green onions, chopped)

Seasonings and spices:

• 1/4 cup garlic cloves (12 garlic cloves), minced
• 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, minced
• 1/3 cup fish sauce
• 1 cup hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)

RESULT:

A little salty because I think I used 1/2 cup of salt to salt the cabbage. Also, I left them soaking for more than 2 hours.. I think I let mine soaked for at least 4-5 hours long. 

• Use the salt as required in the recipe
• Rinse at least 3 times

STEPS:

1. Quick wash the cabbages. 
2. Slit each cabbage into 1/4. 
3. Salt the cabbages.
4. Leave the cabbages to be soaked in salt for 2 hours. Turn over every 30 minutes. 
5. Remove the cabbages and rinse with clean water for at least 3 times.
6. Slit each cabbage into 1/2 or 1/3 (I think it'll make a good 1 serving = 1 cup size).
7. Prepare the vegetables and put aside.
8. Cook the porridge. Leave it to cool.
9. Add the seasonings and spices into the porridge. Then, add in the chopped vegetables. 
10. Marinate each cabbage leaf, put more at the end of the stalk where it's thicker. 1 tablespoon of sauce for 1 cabbage. 
11. Put in a container and push down the marinated cabbages to avoid air bubbles. 
12. Leave on the counter (I put on the kitchen's table for 24 hours. I think it's not that sour, maybe it can go up to 36 hours before refrigerating.
13. Serve best when cold in my opinion. 

MAANGCHI'S VERSION:

Ingredients

Makes about 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of Kimchi
For salting cabbage:

• 6 pounds napa cabbage (3 to 4 heads of medium napa cabbage)
• ½ cup Kosher salt

For making porridge:

• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour)
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (brown or white sugar)

Vegetables:

• 2 cups radish matchsticks
• 1 cup carrot matchsticks
• 7 to 8 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup chopped Asian chives (buchu), optional (substitute with 3 green onions, chopped)
• 1 cup water dropwort (minari), optional

Seasonings and spices:

• ½ cup garlic cloves (24 garlic cloves), minced
• 2 teaspoon ginger, minced
• 1 medium onion, minced
• ½ cup fish sauce
• ¼ cup fermented salted shrimp (saeujeot) with the salty brine, chopped
• 2 cups hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)

"The cabbages are sweating", said Maangchi. 

Haha.. 

I didn't add water. The cabbages release water due to the salting process. 

Before marinating, I did remove the black-brown thing at the end.

Cooked the porridge and got the vegetables chopped ready.

I managed to get this 1KG hot pepper flakes at RM50 COD

I bought it from: https://www.facebook.com/homemadekimchihalal/ 

I'm not sure if it's a good price or not.. but well, at least it solved my craving issue.

Another person who did this exact recipe pointed out some ingredients that can be found in Malaysia:

• water dropwort (minari), is called Daun Selom (in Malay language)
•  fermented salted shrimp (saeujeot), this is called cencaluk (malay) 

Porridge with the seasonings and spices added in.

Add in the vegetables.

By using 2 medium sized cabbages, I got 2 1/2 tupperwares filled with kimchi.

Yummmmy