This family-style Korean recipe is the kind of dish you can make from Korean pantry basics.

The main ingredients of day-old rice, kimchi, gochujang and Korean toasted nori are things that most Korean households would have on hand at all times.

Even if you’re not Korean, they’re excellent items to make part of your pantry, even if it’s just to make dishes like this.

Ingredients

1½ cups kimchi

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp gochujang (Korean chilli bean paste)

4 cups cooked short grain rice (refrigerated)

3 spring onions, finely sliced

1 tsp salt

1 egg, optional

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

1 sheet Japanese nori, toasted and crumbled (or Korean nori sheets, crumbled)

Method

Squeeze as much juice as you can from the kimchi and set it aside. Finely slice the kimchi.

Heat a wok over high heat and add the vegetable oil and sesame oil. Add the kimchi to the wok and toss frequently until it is very fragrant. Add the gochujang and toss in the wok for about a minute until it is fragrant as well.

Add the rice, pressing it onto the sides of the wok to separate the grains. Add the reserved kimchi juice, spring onions and salt, and mix everything very well, allowing the rice to very lightly toast against the sides of the wok.

In a separate frying pan (or the same one after you’ve taken the rice out) fry the egg in a little oil until done to your liking.

Serve the egg on top of the rice, and scatter everything with sesame seeds and crumbled nori to serve.

Top Tips for Kimchi Fried Rice

  • Korean nori is often fried and salted, and is easily crumbled. If you’re using Japanese nori you can toast it by waving it over an open gas flame for just a few seconds until it becomes crisp.
  • Kimchi and gochujang keeps in the fridge for months, so they’re great items to have on hand.
  • Most fried rice dishes will be a combination of oil, rice and egg and this is no exception. The egg may be optional here, but I think if you don’t have it, it’s not really a full meal.