Kimchi Bacon Fried Rice: A love affair that began on TV

PETALING JAYA, Sept 14 — Throughout my college years, I spent a lot of time watching Korean dramas and although I didn’t understand a single word, the visuals said a lot.

One of the things that always caught my eye was the food they ate. Back then, Korean cuisine was unfamiliar territory to me. I didn’t know then that it is so much more than just barbecue.

There was this particular drama where a girl was craving for kimchi and rice but she wanted a heartier meal. So she used overnight rice and old kimchi to whip up a dish: Kimchi Fried Rice.

What made the dish special was that she used bacon for flavouring. Looking at the delicious meal being cooked on the TV screen, I wanted to find out where to eat it without having to fly to Korea.

(Top) Cook white rice beforehand. Best if kept refrigerated for a day before frying. (Bottom) Any type of kimchi can be used but the older the kimchi, the more aromatic the finished product!. (Right) Chopped long beans can be replaced with peas if you’re lazy to chop

Unfortunately, most restaurants did not have it because it’s actually a meal that’s eaten at home. Because of its simplicity, most Koreans choose to make it themselves rather than pay to eat it at a restaurant. I then consulted my friend who enjoys cooking. I asked her if she knew how to make Kimchi Bacon Fried Rice.

“It’s easy! Just make sure you have really old kimchi that’s been left in the fridge for ages. The older and more fermented, the more tasty it gets. Just fry it with rice and bacon,” she said. It sounded easy but this was back when I hadn’t really learned how to cook yet.

(Left) The fattier the bacon, the more ‘oil’ you get for frying. (Top) A sunny side up brightens up the kimchi bacon fried rice. (Bottom) When frying the long beans, make sure it’s not overcooked!

I asked her for the recipe so she directed me to some recipes online. The recipe used peas but I didn’t want peas in my fried rice so I replaced them with long beans.

Also, I learned that if you want to make good fried rice, you don’t just throw everything into the wok and fry them. Fry everything seperately and then put them all together again. This simple trick brings out the different flavours in the ingredents.

For a quick meal, this is just perfect. Add a sunny side up on top of the rice once you’re done for a satisfying meal. Because it’s fried rice, you can always refrigerate and reheat to eat later if you cooked too much.

Here is the recipe for Kimchi Bacon Fried Rice:

5 stalks long beans, chopped
200 grams bacon, sliced thinly
1 or 2 cups overnight white rice (serves two)
400 grams kimchi
Optional: fried egg

Method:

1. Firstly, cut the long beans into 1cm pieces. Then, slice the bacon thinly. Do not remove the fat.

2. Heat up the wok with oil. Stir fry the long beans until cooked. Do not overcook. Remove from heat.

3. Using the same wok, fry the bacon without any oil. Fry until crisp. Make sure you get natural oil from the fat. Remove the bacon from heat and keep the oil (from the fat) in the wok.

Remember to pour in the kimchi sauce too! Otherwise, the rice will not taste as good

4. Add the overnight rice to the wok. Mix thoroughly with the oil and then add the kimchi. Stir until the rice is covered in kimchi.

5. Finally, add the bacon and long beans back into the mixture and continue to fry until you smell the aroma. Remove from heat.

6. Fry an egg and place it on top of the fried rice.
Crispy, yummy bacon adds crunchiness to the dish