NomNom: Bacon Kimchi Fried Rice

So I gather by now you noticed I'm Asian (Korean, specifically), which means I grew up having rice and kimchi as staples in my diet. If you don't know what kimchi is, you're in for a treat. It's a traditional side dish in Korean cuisine which can be served as a side dish (banchan) or used in cooking Korean dishes such as today's recipe. It is basically nappa cabbage that's salted and seasoned with hot chili peppers and left to ferment. Trust me, if you open any Korean person's refrigerator, you'll find a kimchi jar up in that mess--sometimes even several.

Well, the other day I was feeling lazy about cooking and was looking through my fridge to see what I could whip up quickly and my eyes gazed upon the kimchi container. I took a sniff and it smelled too fermented...like a stinky fermented smell. When kimchi smells like that, it is the perfect opportunity to make kimchi stew (recipe coming later) or kimchi fried rice. I came upon this recipe from a fellow Momofuku lover's blog that uses bacon in her fried rice and well, I was sold. (I thought her recipe was a bit bland so I added a couple of ingredients to adjust the taste).

I usually put spam or ground beef in my fried rice but bacon and kimchi? GENIUS. But then again, bacon just makes everything taste so freakin' good. I used turkey bacon because that's what I had in my fridge. It makes me feel healthier. Hahahhaha yea right.

You can use any meat for fried rice really. In fact you can make it vegetarian if you'd like and substitute your meat with tofu. The great thing about fried rice is that you can just use leftover veggies/meat and customize it to your liking. Trust me, it'll all work out. I believe in you. Have a great weekend.

Recipe: Yield: Enough for 2 for dinners plus leftovers for lunch (adapted from momofukuforu2.com)
4 cups old cooked rice (cold)
8 slices of bacon, sliced into 1 cm pieces
3 eggs lightly beaten
2 cups frozen peas, defrosted (or any frozen vegetables)
3/4 cup kimchi, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons kimchi liquid from your jar of kimchi
1/2 onion, diced
vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
2 teaspoons of soy sauce

Procedure
1. Heat some oil in a wok over high heat. When the oil is shimmery, add the diced onions, stirring until cooked, but not brown. Remove the onions from the wok and put in a bowl on the side.
2. There should still be ample oil in the wok, if not, add a tiny bit more and scramble your lightly beaten eggs until mostly set, but not over cooked. The eggs will cook a bit more when you fry all the ingredients together. Remove the eggs from the wok and add them to the bowl with the onions.
3. Cook the bacon until crisp. Remove and put in the bowl with the onions and eggs.
4. If you’re concerned about how much fat you consume, remove the bacon fat from the wok, otherwise, add the rice and fry it, stirring occasionally until all the clumps are broken down and the rice is heated, about five minutes.
5. Add the onions, eggs, bacon, and peas/vegetables and fry until all ingredients are mixed throughout the rice.
6. Add the chopped kimchi and kimchi liquid, mixing thoroughly.
7. Add the sesame oil and soy sauce and mix together.
7. Serve immediately.