Dish of Korean Fried Rice
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Korean Fried Rice


Korea   -   Bokkum Bap
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 1-1/2 #
**
30 min
Yes		 Korean fried rice is different from Chinese in a number of respects, and some recipes may be more complex, but the theory and usage are the same. Fried rice is not served with meals. It is a light lunch and snack food, often made by street vendors.

1
3
6
3
4
5
2
1
1/4
1/8
2
2/3
1/4
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4
#

oz
oz
oz
oz

T
t
t
T
t
t
---
T
Rice, cold (1)  
Black Mushroom (2)
Potato (3)
Carrot
Zucchini
Onion
Scallions
Oil / Lard (4)
Salt
Pepper, black
Oil / Lard (4)
Salt
Pepper, black
-- Finish
Dipping Sauce (5)

In the home, this recipe is often made from yesterday's rice with left over vegetables and meats. For more on this see Comments.

Do Ahead   -   (8+ hrs - 5 min work)
  1. Make RICE well ahead, preferably the previous day and refrigerated overnight.
  2. Soak BLACK MUSHROOMS in cool water for at least 1 hour.
  3. Make Dipping Sauce (Note-5 - 10 min)
Prep   -   (10 min)
  1. Wring excess water out of Mushrooms. Remove stems, and cut into 1/4 inch squares.
  2. Peel POTATO and cut into 1/4 inch dice. Hold in cool water until needed.
  3. Peel CARROT and cut into 1/4 inch dice.
  4. Cut ZUCCHINI into 1/4 inch dice. Cut ONION into 1/4 inch dice. Cut SCALLIONS into 1/2 inch lengths. Mix all with diced Mushrooms.
Run   -   (20 min)
  1. Drain Potatoes. Mix with Carrots.
  2. In a wok or spacious sauté pan, heat 1 T Oil over fairly high heat. Stir in Potato mix and fry stirring until almost cooked through, about 8 minutes. If you wish, you can add some water and steam them so they cook faster, just evaporate the water before the next step.
  3. Stir in Zucchini mix, along with 1/4 t Salt and 1/8 t Pepper. Fry stirring until barely cooked, about 3 minutes. These vegetables should still have plenty of crunch. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  4. Fluff Rice well, separating the grains as best you can.
  5. Add 2 T Oil to the pan and heat it well over fairly high flame. Stir in Rice, along with 2/3 t Salt and 1/4 t Pepper. Fry stirring and breaking up any lumps for about 5 minutes.
  6. Stir Vegetables back into the pan and fry stirring for about 2 minutes.
  7. Serve warm, with some Dipping Sauce drizzled over.
NOTES:

  1. Rice:

      1 pound is 3 to 3-1/2 cups loosely packed. 1 cup raw Jasmine rice makes about 1 pound. Long grain rice is best, and it should be cooked fairly firm so the grains are quite separate. Preferably it should have been refrigerated overnight - the colder the better - this changes its starch composition.

  2. Black Mushroom:

      These are the same dried Shiitakes found in every Asian market and many supermarkets.

  3. Potatoes:

      I use White Rose, which stand up well to stir frying. For details see our Potatoes page.

  4. Oil / Lard:

      The traditional frying media in most of Asia is Lard, and it is used in Korea. If you use it, you will have a lot less trouble with rice sticking to the pan. Lard has a health profile better than butter, and is far and away better for you than the trans fats and denatured omega-6 oils the AHA has told you to use. Do render your own lard though, it's easy. For details see our Lard page.

  5. Soy Scallion Dipping Sauce:

      This is a popular Korean dipping and topping sauce for fried foods. It is easy to make by our recipe Soy Scallion Dipping Sauce.

  6. Comments:

      This is a very simple home style recipe, which will use rice cooked the day before. All ingredients given here are fresh, and the recipe is vegetarian, but in the home it might be made partially or entirely from left over vegetables and meats (with cooking times adjusted to suit). As you might expect, ingredients vary widely. The vegetable mix should be brightly colored, red and green bell peppers are often used for color. recipes may include some chopped kimchee.
    One thing that seems fairly standard, is that all the ingredients are cut into dice between 1/4 and 3/8 inch on a side. Korean fried rice recipes can be a lot more complex, and are often topped with an egg, fried sunny side up, or with strips of omelet, but the egg is not stirred in raw as it often is in China.
    While this recipe presents the rice very white, Many recipes stir in some Oyster Sauce and/or Soy Sauce near the end of cooking for various darker shades.
  7. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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