Recipe: Kimchi Rice Casserole

Some of you may have read my previous post on the ultimate kimchi fried rice. I read recently on Molly Wizenberg's twitter that she could go the rest of her life eating only kimchi fried rice. This dish truly has that kind of perfect mix of comfort and complexity, with the endless variations of preparation, ingredients, and presentation. At least that's my opinion because I see it almost like a risotto, though of course the "blank slate" of risotto doesn't have to mess with fermented napa cabbage!


I decided to see if I could continue to meld some classical techniques to enhancing this dish or serving it in more creative ways. Previously, I'd written a recipe on kimchi arancini, based on those little fried balls made of leftover risotto and a chunk of cheese (which melts gloriously in the middle).

I rummaged through my old apartment where my former roommate Jason still lives. It's this dingy old place in Glassell Park, just steps away from my favorite taco truck in L.A., Rambo's. I still have a lot of my old kitchenware and junk there, such as a Black & Decker food processor (which will come in handy in the future). I also picked up a very large ramekin that's used mainly for souffles. Back in the day I thought I was going to make a lot of souffles. This nice ceramic ramekin is useful for so much more than souffles since it's ovenproof and elegant.

Last night I was hungry, but because I only had some leftover eggs (for eggnog) in the fridge, I decided to whip up a batch of eggs en cocotte (or shirred eggs). Basically you grease the inside of the ramekin with butter, drop in 2-3 eggs (or 1 if you have a small ramekin), pour in a bit of cream and a dollop of butter, then season with salt and pepper. Place into a hot water bath in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. I drown mine in ketchup because I happen to be Korean, and Koreans just love their ketchup. If you ever open a Korean person's fridge and they don't have a large bottle of ketchup, tell them to check their DNA.

I was happy to see that my parents had made a vat of kimchi chijae (stew) and left half a rice cooker of white rice. Ding! That means I can make some quick kimchi fried rice! (I wasn't in the mood for the leftover chijae).

I started as usual by frying up the kimchi whole. This way you can flip the pieces back and force so that they cook evenly and let out some juices. The flavor also intensifies and mellows at the same time. The spicy kick dies down a bit but the fermented and vinegar flavors develop and meld into a deep, rich red-orange color.

In the meantime, I buttered up the souffle ramekin like I did for the eggs last night. After the kimchi was near dry and starting to leave blackened bits on my frypan (the residual sugars burning up), I removed the kimchi to a cutting board to cool a bit. Cooling the kimchi lets those flavors continue to build since it continues to cook off the pan. After a minute or two, dice them into small pieces.

I turned to the rice cooker, which very forgiving at incorrect water-to-rice ratios. Thankfully this batch of white Korean rice (short grain, washed several times before cooking to rid it of extra starch) was made well - too not overdone. For a nice kimchi fried rice, it's essential to have rice that's almost a bit undercooked, but not quite al dente (that's for risotto).

I shoveled in about 2.5 cups of rice into another ceramic bowl, to retain its heat, then mixed in a knob of butter, soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, a gentle stream of sesame oil, 4 cracks of black pepper, and a whole egg. Mix it all together, letting the residual heat of the rice (still warm from the cooker) to bind the egg and melt the butter. I sometimes add a hefty dollop of peanut butter, but I think that's better left for when the dish hits the fry pan.

After this, I spread the rice into the ramekin and pop into the broiler underneath the oven. Give it about 12 to 15 minutes, until the top of the casserole starts to get crispy, redolent, lovely. At this point, the rice at the top resembles the bottom of a paella pan. Yep, you know how awesome this is.

To finish off the dish (because every dish needs a garnish), I crumble some toasted dry seaweed laver (ggim in Korean), one final shot of umami. Eat this huddled over a table at your kitchen table, by yourself like I did, or if you care to share, don't pick more than one. It wouldn't be fun to have more than 2 spoons fighting for that top layer of rice.


Kimchi Rice Casserole

Serves 1 hungry person, or 2 people who don't mind sharing

2 1/2 cups of cooked white rice
1 1/2 cups of store-bought kimchi, preferably from a large Asian/Korean Market
1 tablespoon of butter, plus a bit more for greasing
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 hefty pinch of toasted sesame seeds, preferably black
1 large egg
1 sheet of dried toasted seaweed laver

1. Grease 1 large oven-proof ramekin, pyrex, or enameled cookware with butter, then set aside. Preheat broiler.

2. Cook kimchi over medium-high heat in a 12-inch non-stick skillet. Add a dash of oil to make sure it doesn't stick too much. Flip routinely to let the kimchi pieces cook evenly, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from pan, let cool for a minute, and chop into small dice.

3. Mix white rice with kimchi, butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds and large egg. Throw into broiler for 12-15 minutes, or until the top of the rice casserole is crispy, possibly even browned or blackened.

4. Crush seaweed laver in hand and sprinkle over the top. Best enjoyed with a nice American Pale Ale, like Sierra Nevada.