Kimchi fried rice facts for kids
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| Alternative names | Kimchi-bokkeum-bap |
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| Type | Bokkeum-bap |
| Place of origin | Korea |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul |
김치볶음밥
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|---|---|
| Revised Romanization | gimchi-bokkeum-bap |
| McCune–Reischauer | kimch'i-pokkŭm-pap |
| IPA | [kim.tɕʰi.bo.k͈ɯm.bap̚] |
Kimchi fried rice, or kimchi-bokkeum-bap, is a very popular dish from South Korea. It's a special kind of bokkeum-bap, which simply means "fried rice." This tasty meal is mostly made with kimchi and rice. You can also add other things like diced vegetables or different kinds of meat, such as spam.
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What Goes Into Kimchi Fried Rice?
To make the best kimchi fried rice, people often use leftover chilled rice. They also prefer kimchi that has ripened for a while. This older kimchi gives the dish a richer and deeper flavor. It's also great for making kimchi jjigae, another popular Korean stew.
Preparing the Kimchi
Before cooking, some parts of the kimchi are removed. This includes the "kimchiso," which is the filling inside the kimchi. It's usually made of shredded radish, green onions, and jeotgal (fermented seafood). After removing the filling, the kimchi is squeezed. This gets rid of extra liquid called brine. If you don't do this, the fried rice might turn out too mushy.
Other Tasty Ingredients
Besides kimchi and rice, many other ingredients can be added to kimchi fried rice. Pork and spam are very common choices. But you can also use beef, chicken, bacon, ham, canned tuna, or shrimp. If you don't eat meat, mushrooms are a great substitute. When mushrooms are used, the dish might be called "beoseot-kimchi-bokkeum-bap" (which means "mushroom kimchi fried rice").
Adding Vegetables and Seasoning
Meat or mushrooms are chopped up and fried with vegetables. Common veggies include onion, carrot, or zucchini. What you add really depends on what you like and what you have! A little bit of chopped garlic and sliced green pepper can be used for extra flavor. All these ingredients are fried together in a pan with a little vegetable or sesame oil.
Finishing Touches
Once the kimchi fried rice is cooked and served, people often put a fried egg on top. To make it even more delicious and look nice, thin strips of gim (dried seaweed), chopped scallions, or sesame seeds are sprinkled over it.
Why Kimchi Fried Rice is So Popular
Kimchi fried rice is a favorite in South Korea for a few reasons. It's not expensive, and it's quick and easy to make. This makes it a great meal for students living on their own. It's also a very popular lunch item at a bunsikjeom, which is a casual Korean restaurant that serves simple, affordable meals.
What to Serve with It
Because kimchi fried rice can be quite spicy, it's usually served with something to cool your mouth down. Often, it comes with danmuji (yellow pickled radish) and a small bowl of mild, warm soup. Examples include miyeok-guk (seaweed soup) or kongnamul-guk (soybean sprout soup). In the summer, cool dongchimi (a watery kimchi made from radish) is also a refreshing side dish.
Kimchi Fried Rice in Pop Culture
The popularity of kimchi fried rice even shows up in South Korean pop culture!
- In the late 1980s, a singer named Byun Jin-sub sang a song called "Wishes." In it, he said his ideal girlfriend would be someone who cooks good kimchi fried rice.
- More recently, in 2010, the singer Taeyang mentioned in his song "I Need A Girl" that his perfect girlfriend would eat the kimchi fried rice he cooks.
See also
In Spanish: Kimchi bokkeumbap para niños
