2.102
17 (Sun) April 2011
Kimchi-Bacon Fried Rice
2.0
by me
at home
-Oksu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-
w W and DJ
Kimchi bokkeumbab (김치볶음) is a Korean dish. Consists of rice + kimchi – ideally with old kimchi, intensely tart – minced and sautéed in sesame oil + onions + scallions + carrots + SPAM or ham + egg, either scrambled and embedded, or sunnyside-up and topped.
While bacon and kimchi usually play pretty well together, the smoky sweetness of one and the sour spiciness of the other, they didn’t get along so nice here. The dish felt somewhat conflicted and clumsy. Furthermore, maybe it was the bacon fat, but the rice felt heavy in the mouth. Then again, in keeping the heat level down for the sake of my toddler, I didn’t use as much kimchi or kimchi juice as I normally would, so perhaps the bacon was overpowering due to ill-matched proportion. Or maybe it was the corn, an unconventional component, added for DJ’s sake.
In any event, I personally believe that kimchi fried rice works well without any meat.
(For more details re food, see WHAT)
(For more details re venues, see WHERE IN KOREA)
