Best for: A fast skillet dinner built on leftover rice and old kimchi.
Kimchi bokkeumbap is the weeknight hero of the Korean kitchen: cold rice fried with chopped kimchi and its brine until every grain is stained red-orange, then left alone in a cast-iron skillet so the bottom crisps. A fried egg on top is not optional in spirit, so it is included here.
Cast iron: Large cast-iron skillet over direct medium-high heat; about 425°F. Equipment: 12-inch cast-iron skillet, spatula, small skillet for the eggs.
Ingredients
Total: 30 minutes.
- 3 cups day-old cooked short-grain rice, chilled
- 1 1/2 cups chopped well-fermented baechu kimchi
- 2 tablespoons kimchi brine, from the jar
- 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Directions
Break up the cold rice with wet hands so there are no clumps. Squeeze the chopped kimchi lightly, saving the brine.
Heat the cast-iron skillet on the grill to about 425°F, add the neutral oil, and fry the kimchi, onion, and garlic for 3–4 minutes, until the kimchi softens and darkens at the edges.
Add the rice, kimchi brine, soy sauce, and sugar. Stir-fry for 3–4 minutes, coating every grain, until the rice is steaming and evenly red-orange.
Spread the rice flat and press it down. Leave it undisturbed for 3–4 minutes so a crisp crust forms on the bottom.
Meanwhile, fry the eggs sunny-side up in a small skillet until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny.
Drizzle the sesame oil over the rice, scrape up the crisp bottom in sections, and serve topped with the eggs, scallions, and sesame seeds.
Grilling tip: Cold, dry, day-old rice is the whole secret — fresh rice steams in the pan and never crisps.
