Bacon Kimchi Fried Rice

BACON KIMCHI FRIED RICE😍

This dish powered me through quite a few hangovers back in college (okay fine not just in college) and is still one of my favorite weeknight dinners to this day - it’s full of flavor and made with ingredients I almost always have on hand. The salty bacon, the bright and tangy kimchi, topped with gochujang aioli that just sends your tastebuds to the moon, y’all are gonna love this. And don’t forget that fried egg on top - we don’t yolk around with our fried rice here ;) 

I also included a few tips below on how to perfect your fried rice game, because even simple dishes can be made a whole lot better with just a few simple techniques. 

Key Tips to Fried Rice:

• A key step to fried rice is actually cooking the rice correctly the first time. A lot of recipes call for a 2:1 ratio for cooking jasmine rice - which is wayyy too much water and will lead to mushy rice. I like a 1 cup rice to 1¼ cups water ratio for a rice cooker, and 1:1⅓ for stovetop rice.

• Rinse your rice well and drain - getting rid of that extra starch + using less water will lead to a more tender rice that doesn’t get stuck together or mushy. 

• When making fried rice, you want your cooked rice to be cold, that way you get a nice toast to the rice without overcooking it when you fry it. If you start with sticky, warm, just-cooked rice, your fried rice can turn out soggy, without those distinct chewy grains that a good fried rice has. Instead, cook the rice at least a day ahead of time and refrigerate with loosely covered plastic wrap. This helps to dry the grains out enough to give your fried rice a great texture. 

• Toasting the rice in oil (in this case, some of the fat rendered from the bacon) on high heat will allow it to char and get a slight smokiness that makes for great fried rice.

Serves 2 as a main, 3-4 as a side.

Ingredients:

For the Bacon Kimchi Fried Rice:

• 3 cups cooked medium grain white rice (like Jasmine - See Note)

• 5 slices bacon, chopped

• 1 cup packed kimchi

• ¼ cup juice from the kimchi jar

• 2 green onions

• 3 cloves minced garlic

• 1 tbsp gochujang

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tsp sesame oil

• For the Optional Toppings: fried egg, gochujang aioli (1 tbsp kewpie mayo, 2 tsps gochujang, ⅛ tsp garlic powder), sesame seeds, green onions, furikake, gochugaru

Note: 1 cup of uncooked rice will yield 3 cups cooked rice. See tips above on how to cook rice when prepping for fried rice.

Directions:

For the Bacon Kimchi Fried Rice:

• Chop your kimchi and drain in a strainer or pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture.

• Add chopped uncooked bacon to a nonstick skillet and turn on the heat to medium high.

• Slice the scallions thinly, setting the green parts aside for the garnish.

• Once the bacon is cooked, drain off all but 2 tbsps of the fat and add the garlic and white parts of the scallion. Cook for 30 seconds, then add in the gochujang and cook for 30 more seconds.

• Add the kimchi and cook, tossing for 30-60 seconds or until most of the liquid has evaporated. 

• Add in your cold, leftover rice and toss, breaking up the rice into individual kernels.

• Add in the kimchi juice and stir, then flatten the rice in a thin layer and cook on medium high for 1-2 minutes or until you get some browning on the bottom of the rice.

• Shut off the heat and add in your soy sauce and sesame oil and toss.

• Serve immediately with a fried egg on top, the gochujang aioli, and any other desired toppings. Enjoy!