Kimchi Halfie

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Kimchi Fried Rice 볶음밥

I know what you're thinking. Where the heck is the egg on top?! While I also adopt the #putaneggonit philosophy, when it comes to real home cooking I don't always feel the need to make my dishes how they're photographed on the internet. Especially since we didn't always have a perfect sunny-side-up egg served on top when I was a kiddo. I'm going basic. 

The more pungent the kimchi, then better for this recipe. There’s nothing that can replace the umami you get with fermentation, and really you’ll just have spicy cabbage fried rice. Will it be good? Yes. Will you be missing out on flavor? Another absolute yes.

Kimchi Fried Rice 볶음밥 Kimchi Bokkeumbap

Ingredients
About 2 servings

2 cups refrigerated cooked rice
1 cup well-fermented kimchi, chopped
1/2 cup kimchi juice
2 Tablespoons sesame seed oil
1 Tablespoon gochugaru
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 small white onion
2 Garlic cloves
1-2 TBSP vegetable oil

Toppings
2 green onions
Sesame seeds
Fried egg (optional)

Steps
1. Break the refrigerated leftover rice grains apart in a large bowl. Halve, then slice the white onion. Mince the garlic cloves.

2. In a medium-high heat pot, add vegetable oil and cook the white onions for about 10 minutes to get coloring and soften them up. Add the kimchi and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, occasionally stirring everything around.

3. Add the rice, sesame seed oil, gochugaru, soy sauce, and kimchi juice to the pot. Stir everything around for about 5 minutes, until there's not too much moisture and the rice is heated through. Serve with sesame seeds and chopped green onions on top.