Whatever’s Leftover: Kimchi Fried Rice
(Scroll to the bottom of the page for the shortened one page recipe)
Confession: When I have too many leftovers in my fridge, it stresses me out. The Ziploc bags of chopped veggies nag at me slowly, reminding me that the clock is ticking. Glass containers filled with various dishes from the past few days are still there, in my mind, even if I can’t see them with the fridge door closed. I need to use up my leftovers before they go bad!
This recipe happened when I needed to empty out my fridge. I turned annoying leftovers into a delicious bowl of kimchi fried rice! The amounts I listed make enough for 4 people- adjust accordingly!
What is kimchi? Kimchi is a Korean dish prepared by marinating vegetables such as cabbage, radish, or carrots in salt, and then fermenting it with Lactobacillus bacteria. It's most similar to pickles and sauerkraut, but it's usually spicy because of powdered red pepper is added. You can buy ready made kimchi at Korean grocery stores or try to make your own if you're feeling adventurous! Did you know that kimchi is often compared to yogurt as both have healthy probiotics (bacteria) that help your digestive system? For my fellow dietitians and science lovers, here are a couple of scientific review articles about the purpoted health benefits of kimchi as a probiotic.
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of cauliflower, cut into florets
½ cup of cabbage, shredded
½ cup of sweet peppers, diced (red, orange, green, yellow, your choice)
¼ cup ground beef, cooked
3 cups of cooked rice (brown, white, jasmine, whatever leftovers you have)
1 tsp of soy sauce
¼ cup kimchi, drained (add more or less depending on your spiciness tolerance)
Pepper to taste
Think of my recipe as an outline when you look in your fridge. As long as you have the key ingredients for kimchi fried rice (rice, eggs, and kimchi), you’re good to go! Don’t have sweet peppers? Substitute them with diced red onion or diced zucchini. Don’t have ground beef? Go vegetarian by going meatless or swapping in tofu! Don’t have cauliflower? Try broccoli, carrots, peas, or some other veggie!
Important tip: fried rice should not be soggy. If you’re trying to use up leftover vegetables that produce a lot of water (tomatoes, English cucumbers, etc), this may not be the way to do it unless you can make sure the water evaporates.
Instructions:
Scramble eggs in a non-stick pan. Adding oil here is optional depending on how non-stick your pan is!
Sautée garlic until golden, then add cauliflower and cabbage to the pan. Sautée until excess water is gone.
Mix sweet peppers and ground beef in with the rest, sautée.
Add rice- if it’s been refrigerated, break it up gently in the pan and mix until evenly distributed.
Drizzle on soy sauce and stir in the kimchi! Season with pepper as needed.
Disclaimer: I’m not Korean and therefore am not suggesting that this is authentic Korean food!
Enjoy while hot! You can pack this to go and zap it in the microwave for a quick and healthy lunch. Did you try this recipe? Do you hate leftovers too? Did you use other ingredients? I’d love to hear how it turned out for you!
Nutrition facts were estimated with eatracker.com. Unfortunately, no info for kimchi was available on this database, the Canadian Nutrient File, or Health Canada's Nutrient Value of Some Common Foods... and the label on my container was gone.
