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Kimchi Fried Rice with Beef

May 13, 2015 By Lokness 20 Comments

Kimchi Fried Rice with Beef 2 | The Missing Lokness

Korean seems to be the trending cuisine these days in Los Angeles. Most of the authentic Korean restaurants are located in Korea Town near downtown Los Angeles. There are always long lines, and parking is the worst. Finding street parking is almost impossible. Valet is your only option. Even with all the troubles, we still love to go.

For the longest time, Korean cuisine never seems to take off or get much notice, especially in the United States. I think the look and presentation of mainstream Korean food is not very appealing. When you think about Korean food, the first thing comes to mind is the reddish color and many times in broth form. That equals spicy and not hearty. That is somewhat a misconception. For me, I only ate things that are not red, like Korean BBQ, japchae (sweet potato noodles), tteokbokki (non-spicy rice cake version) and bibimbap (with very little gochujang sauce).

My real interest towards Korean food started about a year or two ago. It was while watching a Korean drama, Let’s Eat. The actors and actresses got together because of their love for food. In the scenes, they were always eating many different Korean food. Everything looked incredibly good. I was drooling the whole time. I have become open-minded about Korean cuisine. The first thing Bryan and I wanted to try is soon dubu (tofu stew). A tofu stew is a hot red stew cooked with tofu and sometimes with meat and/or seafood. We went to Beverly Soon Tofu and we ordered a mild soon dubu with seafood and pork. It arrived to the table bubbly hot. We added the raw egg and mixed everything together. It wasn’t really spicy. The broth was really flavorful with the juice from seafood and pork. The soft tofu absorbed everything. We spooned the tofu stew over our rice. It was hot, tasty and comforting. That stew changed everything what I once thought Korean food was. I have learned that Korean food can be very flavorful without burning the mouth every time. Korean fried chicken, jajangmyeon (black bean noodles), mandu (dumplings) and many more… I am excited to trying all these new discovery!Kimchi Fried Rice with Beef 1 | The Missing Lokness

Now back to today’s dish, Kimchi fried rice with beef. I didn’t start liking kimchi until a few months ago. I always found them to be too sour, spicy and strong. I couldn’t understand it. Then one day, we had Korean BBQ, I put a piece of kimchi on top of a slice of grilled beef and ate them together in one bite. It was so tasty and nicely balanced. I finally came to realize the magic of kimchi. I now appreciate spiciness, saltiness and sourness from kimchi. That is how I know I need to make kimchi fried rice at home. I used Nami’s recipe from Just One Cookbook. Meat is always a plus in my home, so I added some marinated beef which is a recipe from Korean Bapsang. To keep it less spicy and less sour, I reduced the amount of kimchi. The fried rice came out just right and very satisfying! A perfect one dish meal!

Kimchi Fried Rice with Beef 1 | The Missing Lokness

Kimchi Fried Rice with Beef

3 – 4 servings

Ingredient:

–   1¾ cup uncooked rice

–   2 tablespoons vegetable oil (divided)

–   ¾ pound rib eye or sirloin steak (cut into ¼-inch cubes)

–   ½ medium onion (cut into small dices)

–   2 green onions (separated the green and white parts, finely chopped)

–   2 garlic cloves (minced)

–   1 cup napa cabbage kimchi (drained, cut into ½-inch pieces)

–   3 – 4 tablespoons kimchi juice (liquid from the jar of kimchi)

–   2 teaspoons gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)

–   2 tablespoons soy sauce

–   1 teaspoon sesame oil

–   1 teaspoon white sesame seeds

–   ground black pepper

–   3 – 4 fried eggs

Marinade for beef:

–   1 tablespoon soy sauce

–   2½ teaspoon sugar

–   ¾ teaspoon sesame oil

–   1 teaspoon sake

–   1 green onion (finely chopped)

–   2 garlic cloves (minced)

–   dash of ground white pepper

Directions:

  1. The day before, cook the rice in a rice cooker. Once the rice is cooked, let it cool to room temperature. Keep in the fridge overnight in an airtight container.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for the marinade. Add the beef cubes and mix well. Marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature.
  3. In a large skillet or wok over high heat, warm 1 tablespoon oil. Add the beef cubes and saute for 4 – 5 minutes until cook through. Transfer the beef to a small bowl.
  4. In the same pan over medium-high heat, add the diced onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add the white part of the green onion and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in kimchi and kimchi juice. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes. Add gochujang and soy sauce. Cook for another minute.
  5. Turn the heat to medium-low. Add the rice. With a spatula, break the rice apart and mix the rice with the kimchi mixture. Toss and cook for 3 – 4 minutes. Add sesame oil, sesame seeds, beef cubes, and the leftover green onions. Season with black pepper. Combine everything and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes.
  6. Transfer the fried rice to serving plates. Top with hot fried eggs. Serve immediately.

Tips:

  1. If the kimchi start to stick to the pan, add a little bit of water.
  2. This fried rice is just a little spicy. To increase the spicy level, you can add more kimchi juice and gochujang, but reduce the soy sauce.
  3. There are many kimchi brands out there. They can taste very different. Some are more spicy and some are on the sour side. This Serious Eats guide will help you find the good ones.
  4. Gochujang is a spicy red pepper paste. You can find it in Asian supermarket or Amazon.

(Adapted from Just One Cookbook & Korean Bapsang)

Filed Under: Beef, Cook, Rice Tagged With: Beef, egg, fried rice, kimchi, korean, rice

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Oana | Adore Foods says

    May 13, 2015 at 1:16 pm

    I love Korean food! I am yet that adventurous to try and make those dishes but your recipe seems like something I would be able to put together. When we were in Australia, I used to have Kimchi in my fridge every day. Loving it! Goes nice with everything, in my opinion. I have to find a good Korean shop in my area 🙂

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      May 13, 2015 at 5:11 pm

      I am going to explore more Korean dishes. Hope to share more in here soon. Kimchi is something unique. I now enjoy it! And you are right, it does go well with many things.

      Reply
  2. Bonnie Eng says

    May 13, 2015 at 2:55 pm

    Yum!!! This looks like a meal to enjoy on any night! And the egg is perfectly cooked…I am definitely going to make this. 😉

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      May 13, 2015 at 5:13 pm

      Right? Super easy and delicious! I love the leftover for next day lunch too. 😉

      Reply
  3. Nami | Just One Cookbook says

    May 13, 2015 at 11:14 pm

    I’m so happy to see this post! I wasn’t a huge kimchi fan too (but I loved white kimchi my friend made for me) until I started to eat kimchi fried rice. It satisfies my carb craving for my lunch… I actually have leftover korean bbq short ribs that we couldn’t finish tonight. You know what I’ll be eating tomorrow’s lunch. I have to add the leftover meat and enjoy the fried rice! Thanks for linking back to my post! xo

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      May 15, 2015 at 10:36 am

      I love the recipe! It is so much better to make kimchi fried rice at home. It is easy to adjust the amount of kimchi and spiciness, especially for someone like us that who doesn’t like too much kimchi. The short ribs sound perfect for the fried rice! Nommm…

      Reply
  4. Atika says

    May 14, 2015 at 3:07 am

    I’m not a kimchi fan but the combination of fried rice, gochujang and kimchi it sounds perfect. And that egg yolk is blow my mind.

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      May 15, 2015 at 10:38 am

      Thanks Atika! I think this fried rice is a great way to have kimchi. Add less if you don’t like the strong kimchi taste.

      Reply
  5. Kelly - Life Made Sweeter says

    May 14, 2015 at 5:15 am

    We are obsessed with kimchi and kimchi fried rice. Yours looks delicious! Love that fried egg on top!

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      May 15, 2015 at 5:45 pm

      Hahaha! Yea? Who can say no to a runny yolk with fried rice? 😉 Have a great weekend!

      Reply
  6. Justine | Cooking and Beer says

    May 14, 2015 at 10:03 am

    Is it bad that I could eat this meal for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or late night snack?! Looks amazing! Pinned!

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      May 15, 2015 at 5:46 pm

      HAHA! Thanks Justine! I would totally do that too! Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  7. Monica says

    May 16, 2015 at 7:07 pm

    Love that you made this kimchi fried rice with beef. I find that kimchi can be overpowering or really, really good depending on the source. But either way, it’s good with other balancing flavors – the beef and eggs are perfect. I need to get more kimchi from H-Mart and make some of this fried rice!

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      May 20, 2015 at 1:47 pm

      Yes, I can’t agree more. Too much kimchi can be overpowering. That is why I didn’t use too much. And adding sweet onion helps to balance the flavors. Of course, the beef and egg as well. 🙂

      Reply
  8. Maggie says

    May 20, 2015 at 8:59 pm

    Yummy! This rice looks adorable and the egg is so perfect! Kimchi fried rice is one of my favorite breakfast and I alway love to top it with a sunny side up egg 🙂 I always cook this one with chicken or pork, but the beef idea sounds lovely. Will definitely try this out soon!

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      May 22, 2015 at 12:40 pm

      Thanks Maggie! Haha, we are huge beef lovers. Gotta have some beef! 😀

      Reply
  9. Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary says

    May 21, 2015 at 7:49 am

    I love (good) Korean food, and I could eat bowl after bowl of kimchi 🙂 I love how you used it in fried rice and added beef- Yum!! This dish looks wonderful, and slightly dangerous because there is no way I would stop after devouring just one bowl!! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      May 29, 2015 at 10:00 am

      Bryan and I love meat, so adding the beef definitely makes the whole fried rice much better! Haha…. I promise I won’t tell anyone if you eat more than one bowl. 😀

      Reply
  10. Nicole Schmits says

    March 31, 2020 at 3:49 pm

    The recipe calls for 1 1/3 cups of rice. Is the 1 1/3 cups that it calls for cooked rice. Or do I measure 1 1/3 uncooked rice?

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      March 31, 2020 at 3:55 pm

      In the recipe, it’s “1¾ cup uncooked rice”. Cook the rice in a rice cooker a day before. Hope you will like it.

      Reply

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Welcome! I'm Lokness. Currently live in Los Angles. Grew up in Hong Kong. Obsessed with chocolate & ice cream. Cooking is something I love. This is where I share my stories and recipes. Want to know more? Click here.
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