Lest you all forget my infatuation with the pickled cabbage, it is powerful. When I worked in Manhattan, the attraction to the stuff had me trudging over to the Korean buffet at least once a week. But I no longer work in Manhattan, and while I'm very happy with my new job, I do miss my kimchi.
I’m not sure why it never occurred to me until now to secure my own stash. Like a lot of ethnic foods, I always wanted to place the trust of the food into knowledgeable hands. Maybe it still retains it's mysterious appeal that way. So I looked into making my own, which ended up being a rather short search. The problem, unfortunately, was that kimchi was hard to make, and not just because of the long list of ingredients. Koreans are known to bury barrels of the stuff in the ground for months while it ferments. In my tiny kitchen, where smells whaf around with glee, it didn’t seem like the best time to go fermenting my own. Maybe some day. But for now I'd have to settle for something a little more practical, like purchasing some.
I thought that would be a piece of cake. I live by Fairway Market, which has just about everything a person could ever need. Except for, of course, kimchi. So I took off to Queens (for some shadowy reason, there aren’t many Korean grocery stores in Brooklyn). And that’s how I ended up in Elmhurst at Pacific. It was a fairly average sized store that was serviceably clean. I’m not sure if I was expecting Chinatown chaos with crowds, pushing, and fresh meat laid out haphazardly around, but this looked like any other grocery store albeit with more fish. I paced around the store in search of my cabbage, and looked over the enormous meat counter, the bins of vegetables, and the fish tanks (Side note, this was the first time I’d ever seen a live tilapia before. For a fish that has become so popular for its cheapness, it was a little disconcerting that I’d never actually seen a live one before).
Anyway, in one of the back corners were a few glass containers of kimchi. There was only one kind. I took it home, slide open the lid, and scooped out a nice healthy amount of the stuff, which I immediately packed into my mouth. Beautiful! But after the second bowl, I realized it needed a partner, and that’s where my knowledge skidded off the rails.
A good way to slowly immerse oneself in a cuisine is to find some context. And in that case it was The Good Fork. The restaurant is out in Red Hook, Brooklyn, across the street from where I work. It was voted best new Brooklyn restaurant by Time Out New York, and best neighborhood restaurant. That would explain why it is packed nearly every day. The chef is Korean/American and one of her specialties is steak and eggs over kimchi rice. I had the steak, I had a nice jar of kimchi, how hard could that be?
I didn't have any idea what to do. So I just looked up a recipe for kimchi fried rice, and then grilled steak, and cooked an egg and put it on top. Simple enough. I didn't quite reach the heights of the Good Fork, but it was good. And I got to use my favorite new purchase.
Skirt Steak over Kimchi Rice
- 2 cups of rice
- 1 cup of chopped kimchi
- 1 pound of skirt steak
- 2 green onions
- 1 shallot
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons oil
- salt and pepper
Cook cups of rice according to the directions on the box. When done, let it cool, preferably overnight. Of course, that's entirely too long to wait. So I spread it out on a large sheet pan and placed it by the window like a southern lady in the 1900s would with an apple pie.
Saute the sliced green onions and shallot with a tablespoon of oil for a couple minute over high heat. Add the chopped kimchi and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
Add the rice.
Season the skirt steak with salt, pepper, and a little bit of oil.
Set a cast iron skillet over very high heat for at least 5 minutes. Toss in the steak and cook for 3-4 minutes per side.
At the very end, saute an egg in a little oil.
Slice the steak attractively, and lay it across a pile of the kimchi rice. Then place a nice egg on top. Break yolk and watch the goodness seep all over the steak!
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
So many people have gushed to me about the wonders of kimchee, but I have never been able to bring myself to try it. Perhaps it all goes back to when my friend spilled a bottle of it in my car in high school. That smell never went away. But maybe I just need to get over it and give it a try, because that looks pretty good.
Nick–Tales similar to Laura K's have always scared me off, but you may have convinced me to try kimchee. In any case, another great story of culinary adventurousness.
I use fresh cooked rice when I make fried rice. This saves me time from having to heat up the cold rice again and you can avoid clumps in the fried rice =)
If you like spicy food, adding korean chili paste to kimchi fried rice tastes great too!
Making kimchee isn't that hard at all. I make it all the time at home. I do of course make my mothers slightly modified version but it's tasty and easy. Also if you want to buy really good kimchee Han Ah Reum at 25 W 32nd Street has some.
Alice, one reason to use leftover rice, though, is that it slightly dries out when you keep it a day or so, giving it a nicer texture when you fry it.
This looks delicious. I'll have to try it with brown rice one of these days!
My Korean girlfriend makes this with the addition of cubed spam and red chili paste. It tastes great!
I have always loved Korean food but have never tried cooking any of it. I will now!
Hmmmm.
Don't get hung up on "authentic" kimchee. The reality is that kimchee is peasant food and there are a multitude of varieties based on what is available. A nice form of kimchee involves thinly sliced cucumbers, rice vinegar, salt, toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil and spiced hot to taste. Put it all in a tightly sealed container and stash in a refrigerator for a couple days and then it's ready to eat.
Another type of kimchee uses cubed or sliced daikon. You could also use radishes instead. You could also probably use cubed or sliced carrot.
As long as the vegetable doesn't disintegrate in the jar you can really turn almost anything into kimchee. The ideal behind kimchee is to make a vegetable side dish that has the tartness and/or spiciness to cut through fatty food or meats.
I saw kimchi at Fairway (UWS) today. Upstairs in the refrigerated section.
1) Cold rice makes the texture of the fried rice better since it is drier and is easier to work with.
2) Kimchi Fried rice is so much better with sesame oil and sprinkling of roasted sesame seeds.
3) I would not consider Kimchi peasant food since everyone in Kimchi past and present ate/eats Kimchi. The royal court during chosun period had a royal cookbook that made three different types of Kimchi
4) Love the steak and egg version at the good fork. I think its their best dish but pretty easy to make at home. Kimchi fried rice with sunny sideup egg is pretty standard lunch dish in a korean household. The difference is really the addition of flank steak. I marinate my flank steak first in a kind of kalbi marinade and make a reduction of of the marinade to drizzle over the ensemble. My husband actually likes my version better since I make the kimchi rice more tangy and spicy and overall dish is less sweet.
That looks great. I’ve been making lots of kimchi at home and have more than I know what to do with. I look forward to making this.
I’d be happy to share with you my kim chee recipe. yes, it is fermented. no it doesn’t make my house smell like a wharfies armpit. simple, easy, and so much fun! oh and did i mention fabulous to eat as it goes through it’s several stages of ferment.