This simple, simple dish is super, super tasty. It’s just a few ingredients, but it’s a dish much loved by Koreans and a staple of our everyday lives.
This version is simple, but you can dress it up with a bit of beef, chicken, pork, ham, or even spam. Many Koreans also like to put a fried egg on top, but my family prefers this simple version that I’m showing you here. When my son lived in the school dorm, visits with him were rare. I talked to him on the phone before he came and I asked:
“What food do you miss the most? I’ll make it for you when you come.”
I figured I would need some time to prepare and shop ahead of time, but he answered: “I miss kimchi-bokkeumbap.”
“What? That’s it? Is there anything else?”
“Just kimchi-bokkeumbap, Mom.”
As you see in this video, you don’t need to prepare much in advance for kimchi-bokkeumbap if you have kimchi and rice on hand. So of course I made it for him, along with grilled beef and lots of high protein food. As soon as he came home, I was ready to stir fry. He loved it!
A lot of people say making fried rice is best with leftover rice straight from the fridge, or just day-old rice, but I’ve never really tasted the difference in flavor, taste, or texture. I use fresh rice all the time. I just let it cool down a bit before I stir fry, and my kimchi bokkeumbap is always delicious. It’s the best fried rice I have ever tasted, much better than the kimchi-bokkeumbap at a Korean restaurant.
Ingredients
- 3 bowls steamed rice (3 cups)
- 1 cup chopped kimchi (should be aged, well-fermented and sour)
- ¼ cup kimchi juice (spicy red juice from a jar of kimchi)
- ¼ cup water
- 2-3 tablespoons gochujang
- 3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 green onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
- 1 sheet of gim, roasted and shredded into seaweed strips
Directions
- Heat up a wide, flat pan or skillet. Add the vegetable oil.
- Add the kimchi and stir fry for 1 minute over medium-high heat.
- Add rice, kimchi juice, water, and gochujang. Stir all the ingredients together for about 7 minutes with a wooden spoon.
- Add sesame oil and remove from the heat.
- Garnish with sprinkled chopped green onion, roasted gim, and sesame seeds. Serve right away.
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Does it okay to put cheese on it ? By the way , this is my first time cook bokkeumbap and it surprisely so delicous . Thank you for your tutorial and recipe . I appreciate it so much . You’re the best cooking teacher !!
Yes, if you want, you could add some cheese.
Yummy! Fried egg made it less spicy And my kids love it!
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I will definitely try this recipe. I know I’ll love it. I do make my own Kimchi now and bought your book at Christmas….
Will the recipe be good if I used some beef, chicken, pork, or prawns?
Will it still taste nice?
My boyfriend loves when we have some leftover meat and rice so that I will make kimchi bokkeumbap. Every recipe I have tried has been so delicious! You are amazing :)
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Your bf must be a foodie, too! : ) You guys are right! Whenever I have some leftover vegetable side dishes in the fridge, I just stir-fry them with rice and chopped kimchi. Yum!
Hello! Thanks for the recipe. Tried it today, without gim, but it was amazing.
Hi Maangchi!
Thanks so much for the recipe! I didn’t know anything about Korean cooking, but was able to make a delicious dinner following your video. Since I don’t have a lot of experience, I was wondering if you could help me out with something. I tried to fry the rice so that it was a little crispy on the outside, but my rice kept sticking to the bottom of the pan, and when I tried to scrape it up, the soft part of the rice pulled free, leaving the layer of crisp on the pan. I was unable to achieve any level of crispiness in the final product. Does this have to do with pan heat? Oil? Type of pan? Something else?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Oiled cast iron on medium high heat usually works the best for me, and stainless steel the worst.
I’ve attempted this several times before but without gochujang… I didn’t know what I was missing. Gochujang is magic.
I doubled everything in the recipe and added eggs, spam, and chinese sausage. GLORIOUS. This will last me a week (if I have self-control).
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Mouthwatering! “I didn’t know what I was missing. Gochujang is magic.” You are very right! : )
Hi Maangchi, thanks for your comment. I made this again, but with some small adjustments.
1. Before cooking, I spread the newly-made steamed rice on a baking sheet and set it in front of a room fan for 5 minutes, which dried it out very quickly. This made a huge difference in the end result compared to using rice straight out of the rice cooker.
2. I removed the kimchi from the pan after stir frying it and put the rice in the pan by itself for a couple minutes, which gave it a really nice crispy texture on the outside.
3. I didn’t add the 1/4 cup water mentioned in recipe. I only added the kimchi juice.
With these changes, the rice was less mushy and even better this time (I didn’t think that was possible).
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I just got back to the states after a short trip in Korea. I’m planning on moving to Korea after I graduate, in order to travel the world and teach. After my short trip, I had the wildest cravings and even though there are a lot of Korean restaurants where I live, I wanted to try my hand at cooking something myself. While I was away one of my favorite comfort dishes was kimchi fried rice, and after I found your recipe and this amazing website, I was easily able to make it myself! I’m really happy that you have such detailed videos and I even went out and bought your book as well, thank you for making this amazing website! :)
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Thanks for sharing your story! Yes, kimchi fried rice is one of the easiest and most delicious one-pot meals. When you have some old kimchi in the fridge, you can just stir fry it up with some rice and hot pepper paste. By the way, your kimchi-bokkeumbap photo looks wonderful, I’m going to Tweet it!
Wow you can cook very deliciously which makes my mouthwatering. I love all of the recipes that you had directed in Korean ways. Like every receipts!! :D
I’ve made this 2 days in a row and I’m already thinking about making it again tomorrow! I LOVE it that much!
I just made it omg its sooooooo good i still cant eat raw kimchi but fried with rice is just heaven!!!
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I want to cook this for my husband but I don’t know if how much ingredients for 2 servings .can you help me maangchi? Thankyou in advance!
Well, I just made this whole recipe and ate all of it for dinner by myself. Oops! So much for saving it for tomorrow’s lunch!
Hi Maangchi,
My wife and I love kimchi bokkeumbap. My wife spent a year living in South Korea about ten years ago and learned how to make a version of this recipe. We use marinated chicken breast (similar to bulgogi), and we create a well of mozzerella in the middle that can melt inside the crispy rice. We love it!
Your crispy kimchi bokkeumbap sounds very delicious!
Hi Maangchi ^^ I added some beef strips and scrambled egg to this Kimchi Fried Rice.. A hearty (and sinful hehehe..) meal for breakfast on Saturday morning.. ^^ have a great weekend to you ! ^^
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I love this dish. Whenever I have some leftover bulgogi I like to add that, or chicken that I cook in more or less the same way. But really, add kimchi and gochujang to almost anything and it will be good! ;)
I also like to make it with leftover red cargo rice. Not a very Korean thing to do I guess but it comes out very substantial, chewy and delicious.
Hi Maangchi….I am slowly making my way through your recipes…I have a question.
Can I use Fresh shitaki mushrooms instead of dried? Is there a difference is taste or texture?
You can use fresh shiitake mushrooms in this recipe.
I didn’t see mushrooms listed in this recipe. Am I missing something? Would they be a good addition?
I’m half Korean so this may sound crazy, but I am trying to stay away from carbs for a while to lose some weight but I am majorly craving kimchi bokkeumbap. Is there a reasonable substitute for rice? I know, crazy. Thanks! Tracy
I actually came across a recipe for cauliflower “rice”. I think I am going to try it tonight!
Thank you Maangchi!!! I just made this quick dish for the first time, and couldn’t believe how flavorful and satisfying it is. I served it with a store roasted chicken, and with homemade baek kimchi (also your recipe) on the side. This will become a family favorite.
Baek-kimchi is a perfect choice for roasted chicken and kimchi bokkeumbap! Smart cook! : )
I just made this recipe after not knowing what to do with the kimchi I bought…I think my dad was getting upset that I haven’t touched it much since I bought it. It turned out great! As a young 14 year old, this was definitely a quick and awesome recipe on a school night. Your recipes have definitely been helping me with learning how to make Korean food :)
I’m glad you like this recipe. This is my family’s favorite recipe, too.
Maanchi, seriously you have started my journey on discovering Korean food. It looks great and I will keep you posted on my progress. Anyone watching you can tell you are passionate about your cooking. When you taste your food it looks to me like its really really delish!. It doesn’t hurt that you are so cute as well. Please come by when you are in Toronto. We have a very large Korean community here and I can find all these ingredients easily…..thanks for teaching me how to start cooking Korean.
Great! Good luck with your Korean cooking.
This is really excellent as written. Thanks! Also, I made it for breakfast by keeping everything the same except, instead of rice, I used old-fashioned oatmeal (but no need to fry it, just add the other ingredients to the cooked oatmeal), and topped it with a soft-cooked fried egg. Sounds weird, and maybe it is, but it is really, really good. (I have a nice picture but I don’t know how to attach it.)
It sounds good and creative! Thank you for the tip.
maangchi i made this three times but the texture always comes out very mushy after i add the kimchi juice i cant even add water is there a way to solve this?
Add less kimchi juice to your taste. Good luck!
Hi! I learned from my mom that the key to making good fried rice is to use rice that is cooked the night before. This way the fried rice will be fluffy and not mushy. Hope this helps!
Great recipe. Paired it with some bulgogi marinated chicken thighs I barbecued. Perfect!
Hi Maangchi,
Was inspired when you said you made ‘upgraded’ version using meats or vegetables!
I ran out of kimchi so I chopped up chonggak kimchi and used the chonggak kimchi juice and threw in leftover soy sauce beef.
It was EXCELLENT!!
Thank you, Maangchi!
Great! You made chonggak kimchibokkeumbap! : ) https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/ponytail-kimchi
Ah, this recipe was really good! It came out perfectly for me ^^
I added a fried egg too because I really like that. Also, I love spicy food, but I can’t handle it very well so I added a bit of mayonnaise. I’m not sure if it goes with it right, but it tasted really good!
Thank you for the great recipe! So so good.
I love your modification to this recipe! Good luck with your Korean cooking!
Hi maangchi!
Will adding a couple cloves of garlic improve the flavour profile? Or are they completely unnecessary?
Cooking my first Korean meal for my family this weekend!
Thanks so much for your help, glad I found your recipes :)
“Will adding a couple cloves of garlic improve the flavour profile?” I usually don’t add garlic when I make kimchi bokkeumbap, but if you want, go ahead, why not!
Happy cooking!
Hello from Singapore! i only have store-bought kimchi and there isnt much juice in it! What can i substitute it with? I have been addicted to korean food and so thankful that i found your youtube channel! Gonna try cooking more korean food at hm =D
You can add a little bit water then. Yum! : )
Hi Maangchi!
Thanks for another delicious recipe :-) My question is: do we only use the kimchi leaves or do we also use the kimchi filling (chives, radish, green onions…)?
yes, use all of them.
Hi, Maangchi! :) This is one of my favorite meals! It’s delicious , easy and quick! all most simply brilliant !
yey! thanks for your link to original bulgogi recipe Maangchi! =D I can’t wait to try the pear onion puree bugolgi version too! bet it’s bulks of delicious. words can’t describe how awesome your recipes are ^^
oh~ thank you so much for your nice message!
Hi Maangchi, thank you for all your awesome recipes and videos! I’ve used your easier version of bulgolgi marinade and the beef came out delicious! You mentioned in your present bbq bulgolgi recipe with video that you had a simpler version from years ago without video and that simple bulgolgi version was originally posted together with this kimchi rice. That simpler bulgolgi marinade doesn’t have pear onion puree in it. I’m interested in switching back and fourth between your present version and simple version bulgolgi marinade that doesn’t have purée in it. Can you please share the simple version again to refer back to? Thank you in advance I am fan and follower and bit anxious it moved actually if any of your wonderful recipes weren’t here thank you Maangchi! =D
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your interest in my recipes and nice words. The original recipe for bulgogi is now here:
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/easy-bulgogi
Hope you enjoy both recipes!
This looks so good! When I’ve made Chinese versions of fried rice it always called for leftover rice so it didn’t clump. Do you need leftover cold rice or hot rice to make this recipe?
Either one is fine. I like freshly made rice, though.
hi Maanchi, im from Mongolia
today i found your blog and im so apreciate now, cant stop watching your videos,,,,,
i just love Korean foods and i want taste your foods with you so badly :-p
anyways, thanks for your recipe, i will make it when im in my hometown because right niw here in taiwan its so difficult to find ingrediants, so need to wait,,,,,,
love you!!!!!!!!!