One of my best friends growing up was Korean. HI JANIE! We would spent a lot of time at her house because her parents pretty much let us do whatever we wanted. We would sleep at Jane’s and sneak out to do, well, pretty much nothing. When I would tell my mom that I was crashing at Jane’s, she knew that we were up to something.

My friends and I would always go into each other’s fridges, grab whatever we desired and proceed to polish it off. At Jessica’s place, it was always left over Chinese food. At my place, it was tuna fish, string cheese, and small cans of Arizona Iced Tea. At Jane’s, I would destroy the kimchi.

I was in fourth grade the first time I had kimchi at Jane’s. For some reason though, I always thought that drinking milk with it was an amazing idea. It was not. I was in fourth grade the first time I got heartburn.

I love Korean food. I mean LOVE. It’s spicy, garlic-y, and always full of flavor. I’ve been obsessed with it for years now.

I used to get Korean food for lunch with my mom at least once a week. And, then we would go with the whole family for dinner at least twice a month.

Our order normally consisted of kimchi pancake, japchae, bulgogi, and soon doo boo ji gae. All amazing. I occasionally order a steamed egg or the rice cake soup. I know, that rice cake soup is normally only eaten on New Year’s but it’s just as good on July 21st.

I recently discovered this awesome blog all about Korean food called Bap Story. I fell in love. This recipe is adapted from there. Go out there and try some Korean Food. Oh, and Colette, we need to go back to that place really soon.

Kimchi Fried Rice

 adapted from Bap Story
Makes 4 servings

4 cups kimchi
4 cups cooked white rice (I like to use the sushi grade rice)
2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 TBSP butter
1 1/2 TBSP red pepper paste (you can also use kimchi base or the liquid in the kimchi jar)
1 1/2 TBSP sesame oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Garnish:
1 TBSP vegetable oil
4 eggs
3 scallions, sliced thinly

Heat the vegetable oil in a medium-large frying pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the kimchi and saute for about 3-4 minutes until heated through. Add the red pepper paste and the butter and mix through the kimchi.

Add the cooked rice and mix well until the rice is evenly coated. Add the sesame oil, salt and pepper and mix again. Spread the rice evenly on the pan and let sit for about 4-5 minutes until the bottom is crispy and browned. 

While the rice is crisping, heat a medium size pan with the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Fry the eggs, sunny side up. The yolk should be runny. Reserve on the side to place on top of the rice.

Garnish the rice with the scallions and eggs. 

Serve and Enjoy! =)