Chicken Kimchi Fried Rice
This chicken kimchi fried rice has a little bit of everything delicious. Spice and sweet, crunch and juicy, and the perfect amount of burnt caramelization.
Ingredients
Chicken Kimchi Fried Rice
- 1.5 cups cooked rice short or medium grain
- ⅓ cup onions
- ½ cup chicken breast or thigh about 1 chicken breast, diced
- ⅓ cup kimchi cut into small pieces
Sauce
- 2 tbsp kimchi juice
- 1 tbsp gochujang1
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp garlic
- ½ tbsp soy sauce or salt
Garnish
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp butter optional
- 1 fried egg
- 1 green onion sliced thinly
- ¼ tsp sesame seeds
- ⅛ cup cheese
- toasted seaweed strips
Instructions
- Heat the wok, add a little bit of oil and fry the egg first over medium heat. Set aside.*Don't turn the heat off. Use a paper towel to wipe off any remnants cooked egg, if you need to. Keep the wok heating while you make the sauce, which will only take a minute or two.
- Make the sauce by blending kimchi juice, gochujang, sugar, and soy sauce together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Turn the heat up to medium-high and drizzle in a teaspoon of oil into the wok. Add the onions and stir fry for a few seconds.
- Add the chicken and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes until it’s mostly cooked through.
- Add the kimchi and stir to mix for about a minute so the chicken pieces are coated in kimchi spice.
- Add the rice and the sauce immediately. Mix everything together and cook for another minute. You can stop here and add the garnish OR you can add some caramelization by doing the next step...
- Spread the chicken kimchi fried rice out in a layer on your wok and gently press down so the rice flattens. Let it just sit like that for another 2 to 5 minutes.Check the bottoms by scooping it up after about 2 minutes and leave longer if necessary.
- Turn the heat off and drizzle in the sesame oil. Add the butter too and mix through. If you’re adding cheese, you can do it now as well.Place the fried egg you cooked earlier on top. Garnish with sesame seeds, green onions, and/or seaweed strips.
- Enjoy!
Notes
What rice is best for kimchi chicken fried rice? Short grain or medium rice is the way to go for any Korean style fried rice. But apart from that, it doesn’t matter too much whether it’s freshly made or leftover rice that’s been in the fridge for a day or two.
If you're making it fresh, though, use a little less water when making the rice (1 cup rice to 1 cup water) and let it cool before you add the rice to the wok.
What's the best kimchi? Older, more mature, slightly sour kimchi is ideal for any kimchi fried rice. Not to sound too ageist, but you don’t want that very crispy, seasoning-barely-soaked-in young kimchi. Use the old kimchi that’s been hanging around in your fridge just a little too long.
Prep ahead. The most important thing when making kimchi chicken fried rice – or any kind of fried rice, really – is to have everything ready to go. Because once that wok is heated, it goes fast. So chop the chicken and onions, make the sauce, and have the garnish you’ll be using on hand. The entire cooking time is barely 10 minutes so you’ll want everything gather nearby.
How do I make it more…? The sauce listed here has it all – spicy, umami, sweet, and so on. But if you need a little extra something, here’s what to do:
- More spice: To up the spice factor without affecting anything else, your best bet is gochugaru, dried chili pepper powder. Add in increments – 1/4 tsp at a time. It can get super spicy fast.
- More umami: The best thing to add for more umami is a dash of fish sauce. Even a quarter of a teaspoon can make a different. Just keep in mind that you want to start small as this stuff is strong. You can always add more but you can’t take it back out.
- More sweet: If you like your flavors more on the sweet side, a little bit of mirin or mirim will do you. It’s not typically added to kimchi fried rice but the few times I have added it, it’s been delicious.