You can make this kimchi fried rice in under 20 minutes with one pan which makes it the perfect meal for your busy weekdays! Take one bite into this kimchi fried rice and you will instantly taste big and bold umami flavors.
Korean kimchi fried rice or kimchi bokkeumbap 김치볶음밥 is a simple yet delicious way to spruce up your weekly meal prep. This kimchi fried rice recipe uses only a few simple ingredients yet yields a bold and delicious flavored dish. The umami flavors from the kimchi juice balance beautifully with the spicy gochujang sauce and soy sauce which creates that beautiful red hinted color. I’d like to note that this dish isn’t as spicy as it looks! You can experiment with the spice level by adding more gochujang sauce but with the ratio in this recipe, it is pretty mild. Moreover, you can customize this Korean fried rice recipe however you please by adding additional proteins and vegetables to make it your own!
If you love Korean food, this kimchi bokkeumbap recipe is definitely one you should save. You can whip up this recipe in under 20 minutes and you only need one pan! For other weeknight meals, be sure to check out my other Korean favorites like my spicy tofu soup, army stew (budae jjigae), corn cheese, or my gochujang chicken wings.
Table of Contents
🍽 Kitchen Equipment
- Rice Cooker (Optional): I am team rice cooker all the way. It is quicker, easier and more consistent in producing the right texture for my sticky rice. I have been using my Tiger Rice cooker since college and it is my absolute favorite kitchen appliance.
- Wok: a deep stone wok makes cooking this dish 100x easier. It heats everything evenly while having ample room to hold all the vegetables and rice so you can toss everything with ease.
- Wooden Spoons: when it comes to tossing stir fry dishes, the best and easiest way to do it is with two long wooden spoons.
🛒 Ingredients
You can find all of the ingredients for this Korean fried rice recipe at your local Korean grocery store or even an Asian grocery store.
Sauce Ingredients
- Kimchi: Kimchi is a Korean staple that is made with pickled fermented vegetables, most commonly cabbage. Kimchi is widely available in most grocery stores in the refrigerated aisle.
- Soy Sauce: use a lighter flavored soy sauce to not overpower the dish with too much salt. I used Lee Kum Kee’s Premium Soy Sauce. You can find this soy sauce on line or at your local Asian grocery store.
- Gochujang: a Korean soy bean chili paste that is packed with umami flavor. It is a very common ingredient in Korean cooking and is used for its heat, flavor and rich red color. You can find gochujang in red tubs at your local Asian or Korean grocery market.
- Sesame oil: sesame oil is an edible oil derived from sesame seeds. It has a rich sesame flavor. You can find sesame oil online or at your local Asian grocery market.
Kimchi Fried Rice Ingredients
- Jasmine Rice: or any type of rice will work well for this dish. The flavors are bold so the rice will play a backseat role to this dish. Make sure to use day old rice for best results.
- Yellow Onion and Garlic: are the aromatics for the dish. Make sure to saute them long enough for the onion to caramelize and the garlic to lightly brown for a deep rich flavor.
- Green onions: you will divide the whites from the greens for the green onion slices. The white part of the green onion needs a longer cook time for the flavors to develop.
- Enoki Mushrooms: these are think skinny mushrooms that pair deliciously with kimchi. However, you can opt for a mushroom of your choosing or opt out of mushrooms completely.
- Frozen Vegetables: when I eat fried rice I like to see some color and vegetables. I opted for a bag of frozen carrots, corn, peas to make my life simple while adding necessary nutrients to this dish.
- Toasted Sesame Seeds: used for garnish. Make sure to buy pre-toasted sesame seeds or if un-toasted, toast them on a hot pan for 30 seconds.
- Crispy Seaweed Strips: an optional garnish
- Fried Eggs: an optional garnish.
✨ Substitutes and Additions
This Korean fried rice is your kimchi fried rice. That means you can add or remove any vegetables and protein as you please! See some of my recommendations below.
- Mushrooms: you can substitute the enoki mushrooms for a mushroom of your choice such as shitake or king oyster mushrooms.
- Vegetables: You can also add in your preferred vegetables such as snap peas, bok choy, broccoli, etc for a more well balanced meal.
- Protein: you can add your choice of protein as well such as pork belly, chicken, beef, spam, shrimp, etc. Simply cook the protein in advance and toss it in when you are cooking your vegetables. For a vegan kimchi fried rice option you can opt for tofu!
📝 How To Make This Recipe
This easy kimchi bokkeumbap recipe only requires a few simple steps that you can complete in under 20 minutes!
- Mix the sauce. In a small bowl, mix to combine the kimchi juice, soy sauce, gochujang and sesame oil.
- Sauté the onions and garlic. In a wok, or a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium high-heat. Add the onions and cook until they are translucent and lightly browned about 3-4 minutes. Then add the garlic and whites of the green onions cook until lightly browned and fragrant about 30 seconds-1 minute.
- Add the vegetables. Place the kimchi, enoki mushrooms and frozen vegetables in the pan and toss to combine about 1 minute
- Add the rice and sauce. Pour the rice to the pan and toss to combine. Then pour in the sauce and toss until the rice is evenly coated. Turn off the heat and toss in the sliced green parts of the green onions.
- Serve. Garnish with more green onion, toasted sesame seeds, shredded seaweed and a fried egg. Enjoy!
⭐️ Tips For The Most Delicious Kimchi Fried Rice
- Use day old white rice. Using day old white rice is important because the refrigerator slightly dries out the rice making it easier to toss with the vegetables and sauce the day of. If you use freshly cooked rice, the kimchi rice may be a little mushy and yield a clumpy mess if the rice is too wet.
- Remember to separate the white and green parts of the green onion. The white part of the green onion takes a tad longer to cook than the green. That is why I opted to cook the white parts earlier so that it will have time to release more of its flavor.
- For the kimchi sauce, squeeze the kimchi sauce out of the cabbage. If your kimchi jar does not have an ample amount of sauce to pour out, simply grab some kimchi and squeeze the sauce out of the cabbage. This will be messy and a little smelly but 100% worth it.
- Fried egg is optional. You do not have to eat this with a fried egg if you do not like a raw egg. Instead you can make scrambled eggs and toss it in with the rice if you’d like.
🥡 Storage Instructions
You can store this Korean kimchi rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
You can alternatively freeze the kimchi rice in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months. To re-heat simply thaw the Korean fried rice in the refrigerator overnight before microwaving.
💬 Frequently Asked Q&A’s
Gochujang is a red fermented soybean and chili paste. It complements the flavors in kimchi. You can find gochujang in a red rectangular tub in Korean or Asian grocery markets.
Kimchi is a Korean staple that is made with pickled fermented vegetables, most commonly cabbage. Kimchi is now very popular and is widely available in most grocery stores in the refrigerated aisle.
Kimchi but with additional bold spicy flavors. The sauce for the kimchi fried rice is made with kimchi juice along with spicy gochujang or soybean chili paste. It is also tossed in fresh aromatics such as garlic, yellow onion, and green onions for a well-balanced, savory, and umami flavor explosion.
You can serve kimchi rice with Korean side dishes, a fried egg with crispy seaweed strips, and toasted sesame seeds. You can also eat it on the side with some Korean barbecue.
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👩🏻🍳 Recipe
Kimchi Fried Rice (Kimchi bokkeumbap)
Equipment
Ingredients
Sauce
- ¼ cup kimchi juice from the kimchi jar
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon gochujang
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
Fried Rice
- 4 cups cooked day old jasmine rice ~1 ½ cup dried rice and 2 ¾ cup water
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup yellow onion diced (about ½ an onion)
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 green onions sliced whites and greens separated
- 1 ½ cup kimchi roughly chopped and packed
- 1 pack 7 oz enoki mushrooms root removed and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen carrots, peas and corn
Garnish
- toasted sesame seeds black or brown
- shredded seaweed strips
- 4 fried eggs
- green onions finely sliced
Instructions
Cook the Rice
- Wash and cook the rice. Preferrably the night before, wash the rice thoroughly until the water runs clear. In your rice cooker, add the rice and water and cook until softened. Place in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight.
Make the Sauce
- In a small bowl, mix to combine the kimchi juice, soy sauce, gochujang and sesame oil.
Cook The Kimchi Fried Rice
- Sauté the onions and garlic. In a wok, or a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium high-heat. Add the onions and cook until they are translucent and lightly browned about 3-4 minutes. Then add the garlic and whites of the green onions cook until lightly browned and fragrant about 30 seconds-1 minute.
- Add the vegetables. Add the kimchi, enoki mushrooms and frozen vegetables to the pan and toss to combine. about 1 minute
- Add the rice and sauce. Add the rice to the pan and toss to combine. Then pour in the sauce and toss until the rice is evenly coated. Turn off the heat and toss in the sliced green parts of the green onions.
- Serve. Garnish with more green onion, toasted sesame seeds, shredded seaweed and a fried egg. Enjoy!
Notes
- Use day-old white rice. Using day-old white rice is important because the refrigerator slightly dries out the rice making it easier to toss with the vegetables and sauce the day of. If you use freshly cooked rice, the rice may be a little mushy and yield a clumpy mess if the rice is too wet.
- Remember to separate the white and green parts of the green onion. The white part of the green onion takes a tad longer to cook than the green. That is why I opted to cook the white parts earlier so that it will have time to release more of its flavor.
- For the kimchi sauce, squeeze the kimchi sauce out of the cabbage. If your kimchi jar does not have an ample amount of sauce to pour out, simply grab some kimchi and squeeze the sauce out of the cabbage. This will be messy and a little smelly but 100% worth it.
- Fried Egg is optional. You do not have to eat this with a fried egg if you do not like a raw egg. Instead, you can make scrambled eggs and toss them in with the rice if you’d like.
- Storage Instructions: You can store this Korean kimchi fried rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can alternatively freeze the kimchi fried rice in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months. To re-heat simply thaw the Korean fried rice in the refrigerator overnight before microwaving.
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