Kimchi Fried Rice (Bokkeumbap)

What happens when it's dinnertime, and you find the following random things in your fridge:

• Awesome mild kimchi you've been meaning to use
• Roasted chicken (or some spare pork)
• Old, dried up white rice in a takeout container

Answer: you make kimchi fried rice, one of my favorites.  An amazing addition to rice which I was skeptical about until a Korean friend made it for me, this is a pungent twist on the Chinese fried rice, and brings a bit of heat to the party as well.  It's pretty easy - you stir-fry some aromatics with the chopped kimchi, throw in some meat, toss the rice with some soy sauce, and serve with a fried egg.  I gather that this is very traditional, although Wikipedia says it more commonly uses spam than chicken, which just isn't happening in my house.  So this took care of all kinds of foods waiting in my fridge to be made into something awesome, and I didn't even have to get creative to do it.  Here's a simple diagram to explain the bulk of this dish:

Kimchi Fried Rice

• 1 cup kimchi, drained, chopped
• 1/2 cup cooked or uncooked animal protein - chicken, beef, ham, spam (if this counts), even tuna is used in Korea
• 2 cups stale, cooked white rice
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 spring / green onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp butter

Chop and separate the spring onion into the white and green parts.  Now, as with my pineapple fried rice recipe, do my favorite trick of putting the old rice in a bowl, squishing it apart, and tossing with 1/2 tbsp of the oil to coat all of the grains.  This prevents a mushy nightmare once you add it to the wok.

Heat the remaining 1/2 tbsp oil in a wok over its highest heat setting and add the white parts of the green onion, and stir-fry for 30 seconds.  After this, you have to figure out what protein you're using.  If it's already cooked, add it with the rice.  If it's not, throw it in first, and cook until done, then continue.

Now add the kimchi and garlic, and stir-fry for another 30-60 seconds.  If you haven't added the meat, do so now, and add the rice, tossing everything to mix evenly.  Sprinkle on the soy sauce, toss again, and allow to crisp up a little bit (2-3 minutes) to get a nice crunchy crust, if desired.

Meanwhile, fry up a single egg in the butter in another pan.  To serve, kill the heat on the rice, add the tops of the green onions, toss, and plate with the fried egg on top.  Serve with gochujang, if desired, or eat on its own.

Duck Fried Rice with Napa Cabbage

After cooking a duck recently, I found myself with approximately half a duck just sitting in the fridge, waiting  to play out the rest of its life in some twisted culinary experiment.  I think it met an admirable fate in the form of this duck fried rice with Napa cabbage, which is a bit different from my usual fried rice recipes in that it had less rice than other ingredients.  The cabbage, although cooked down, gives this dish a nice crunch and slight bitterness, and the whole straw mushrooms keep you guessing about what's in the next mouthful.  And the best part of this dish was the rich duck flavor, imparted not only from the duck meat, but from the duck fat that I cooked this in.  Bottom line, if you cook a duck, SAVE THE DUCK FAT and make this recipe.  I don't care what meat you put in, but trust me, duck fat is like stir-fry gold if used properly.  Let's discuss....

Lots of Napa cabbage brings a great texture and flavor to this dish

Duck Fried Rice with Napa Cabbage
by Tyler Florence, process modified slightly by me

Serves: 4 to 6

• 5 tablespoons duck fat or, if you don't happen to have duck fat (and who's to blame for that?), peanut oil
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced 
• 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated 
• Pinch red pepper flakes 
• 1 small head Napa cabbage, cored and chopped - probably 2 pounds' worth
• 1 (8-ounce) can straw mushrooms, drained and rinsed 
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, run under cool water for 2 minutes to thaw 
• 1 generous pinch kosher salt 
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 
• 1 pint cooked long-grain white rice 
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce 
• 1 cup cooked duck meat, cut in pieces 
• Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish 

Note the container of duck fat on the right - that's good eatin'!

Another look - duck hasn't been deboned and chopped yet, and the rice has yet to be pre-treated with fat

Heat 2 tablespoons of the fat or oil in a wok or large non-stick skillet over medium-high flame.  Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the shallots, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes; stir-fry for 1 minute until fragrant.  Add the cabbage, mushrooms, and peas, stir-fry until the cabbage is wilted and soft, about 8 minutes; season with a nice pinch of salt.  Yes, 8 minutes - don't just stir this around - cook it down a bit.  I was worried it would overcook, but it definitely did not.  Remove the vegetables to a side platter and wipe out the wok. 

Stir-fry your aromatics.  Be sure not to skip the shallot!  They're cheap at the Asian grocery stores

Add the cabbage with the mushrooms and peas, and cook for a few minutes

And now, a short aside about rice.  Use leftover rice for this, do not cook it fresh.  If you do, there will be way too much moisture in the rice, and you'll end up with a gummy, squishy mess that nobody wants to eat.  Putting things in the fridge essentially dehydrates them, unless they're in the best of tupperware.  So let your rice go stale in the fridge for a few days, to the point that you wouldn't want to reheat it and it plain.

While the wok reheats, place the rice in a large bowl, take 2 tablespoons of your delicious duck fat, and pour it on the rice.  Break up the rice with your fingers, working the fat into the mess to coat all of the grains with fat.  What this is doing is protecting the rice by creating a moisture barrier and ensuring that it really fries, rather than fries only on the bottom of the wok and steams everywhere else.  You'll use the same amount of oil as the normal recipe, you'll just use it more smartly.  I didn't take pictures here, but I learned this trick from About.com's pineapple fried rice recipe, which I posted and have pictures of here.

Put the pan back on the heat and coat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil.  When the oil is hot, pour the eggs into the center of the pan.  Scramble the eggs lightly, then let them set without stirring so they stay in big pieces.  Fold in the rice and toss with the egg to combine well.  Allow the rice to sit for a few seconds, then flip it around; repeat this process for a minute or two to fry up the rice.  After you're satisfied that the rice is now 'fried', add your duck, return the sauteed vegetables to the pan, and moisten all with the soy sauce.  Toss everything together to heat through and season again with salt.  Spoon the fried rice out onto a serving platter, lay the pieces of duck on top, and garnish with cilantro.

Notice the rice isn't at all breaking down, which it used to before I coated grains in oil.  Or sweet, delicious duck fat.

Pineapple Fried Rice

You know what mystery reader, I like you.  I know we only just met a few minutes ago, but I feel like you really get me.  And because I like you, I'm going to give you an awesome recipe - my pineapple fried rice.  Well, I say mine, but I did liberate it from the internet.  This one is restaurant-caliber, no joke.  Serve it to a boss, and you will be promoted.  Serve it on a date, and you may get engaged.  Serve it to your children, and they will move out and buy you a car.

Okay, back story.  I spent 10 years in upstate New York - the birthplace of Thai food.  And they had a noodle shop there called 'Asian Noodle House'.  Fairly nondescript, I know, but they had the best fried rice and noodle dishes, and exposed me to a number of ones I had never heard of.  This spawned my love for Pad Kee Mao, Pad See Ew, and pineapple fried rice, all of which I had never tried before.  Since then, I have learned to make all three, but today we focus on just the one - sorry.  If you want the others, message me and I will make and post them.

The first time I made this dish, I actually hollowed out a pineapple into a boat, used the pineapple in the dish, and served the fried rice in the pineapple.  This went over very well with my audience, and if you have the time and inclination, I highly recommend it.  This week, however, I just used pre-cut pineapple for expedience, which ended up not even saving me that much of the total prep time.  You'll see why in a second.  With that in mind, I will say this:

WARNING!  THIS IS A LABOR OF LOVE DISH!

BE PREPARED TO SPEND TOO MUCH TIME PREPARING,

NOT ENOUGH TIME EATING

I will say this: this recipe is 100% poached from online.  I acquired it here, where there are actually a number of respectable Thai recipes.  But it didn't have the fun pictures or commentary, so naturally you'll use my version, right?  The recipe contains curry powder, which I think lends an interesting touch of spice to the dish.  Clearly there's some spillover between Indian and Thai ingredients.

The finished product, although not served in a pineapple shell like I have in the past.  I will update next time I make this.

Pineapple Fried Rice

From About.com, by Darlene Schmidt

• 1 cup pineapple tidbits (fresh is better, but canned works too - I used Del Monte Fruit Naturals)
• 4 cups cooked rice, preferably at least 1 day old (seriously - don't use fresh rice, it will turn to paste in the pan)
• 3 tbsp oil for stir-frying
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red or green chili (de-seeded if milder rice is desired)
• 1/2 cup roasted unsalted cashews
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 egg, beaten (omit if vegan)
• 1/4 cup currants (or raisins)
• 3 tbsp. chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 tbsp. fish sauce (or substitute 3+ 1/2 tbsp. soy sauce if vegetarian)
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
• Optional: 8-12 fresh shrimp/prawns (I used chicken this time - about 1 breast, chopped into bite-sized pieces)

Start by preparing the rice - THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT STEP.  Add a little oil to the rice (up to 1 Tbsp.) and work through with your fingers. You want to separate the grains of rice, so that they don't stick together. Set aside.  Why do this?  Well, if you've ever made fried rice without tossing the grains with oil, you know first hand how easily the rice burns to the pan, and how it explodes everywhere as you try to break up the clumps.  This solves both problems.

Definitely toss the day-old rice with oil, to break up clumps and avoid burning in the pan

Ahh!!!  Rice fingers!  Sorry, on with the show.

Chop your vegetables, protein (if using), and ready easy to reach prep bowls with all other ingredients.  Mix together the chicken or vegetable stock, fish sauce (or soy sauce), curry powder, and sugar. Set aside.

Chopped up aromatics

A healthy quantity of protein

See why this is a labor of love?  This is the setup for about 5 minutes of cooking time

Swirl 2 tbsp. oil around a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, garlic, and chili, stir-frying for one minute, or until fragrant. If using shrimp / chicken, add it now as well.

Stir-frying the aromatics...

...and the chicken

Push aside the shallots, garlic, and chili to make room for the egg (if using). Add the beaten egg to the wok/pan, and stir fry quickly to cook (like making scrambled eggs). 

This photo was hard to get.  The elusive 'cooking, but not yet ruined' scrambled egg photo is tough to capture for a single photographer chef

Stir sauce mixture well, then add to wok/pan.  Add the cashews and stir-fry for 30 seconds.

Now add the prepared rice to the wok/pan. Stir-fry until all the rice has mixed with the sauce and is a uniform color. Break up any lumps with your utensil or a fork.  Do NOT add any more water/broth or other liquids to the rice at this point, or it will end up mushy. You can push ingredients aside and add a little more oil to the bottom of the pan if rice is sticking. Continually lift/scoop up rice from the bottom of the pan, tossing rather than stirring it.  Think about it like an egg foam, and try to 'fold' the ingredients together rather than scooping and mushing things.

Add in the broken up rice and fold to combine

Add the frozen peas, currents (or raisins), and pineapple. Stir-fry to mix in.

Continue stir frying until everything is integrated (1-2 more minutes). Cooking tip: You should be able to hear some rice "popping" or crackling in the pan. Finally, do a taste test. If not salty enough, add 1 tsp to 1 Tbsp. more fish sauce (or salt if vegetarian). If not spicy enough, add more chopped fresh chili. If too salty for your taste, add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice.

Toss in your extras - golden raisins, pineapple, peas

To serve, sprinkle with spring onion and cilantro. Serve on a platter, or, as they do in Thailand, in a pineapple.  Thai chili sauce can be served on the side for those who like it extra spicy.

That's it!  I hope you enjoy, and that it pleases you to no end.  Of course, few of you will want to chop and prep a bunch of things for 45 minutes before you can even start cooking, but if you can stand it, it's worth the time investment.