Kimcheebap

Kimchee bap is a lesser known Korean dish than dolsot bibimbap but it has much in common with the dish that is now considered representative of Korean food.

I had never heard of dolsotbibimbap from my Korean mother. I learned of its existence when I ordered the dish in a Korean restaurant in my 20’s. When I dined out with my family in Korean restaurants, no one ever ordered dolsot bibimbap. I suspect it was because dolsotbibimbap was considered by my family as a home-made dish, and while we were out we might as well order Korean food that couldn’t be easily had at home. Dolsotbibimbap originated as a way to make use of leftovers and kimchee bap serves the same type of purpose.

Dolsotbibimbap is an artful layering of sesame oil, rice, assorted marinated, cooked and raw vegetables, egg and beef. Kimchee bap includes many of these ingredients but they are stir-fried together, kind of a kimchee fried rice.

Kimchee bap was always referred to as “hot rice” by my mother and she made it with sour kimchee.  When kimchee becomes sour, it hasn’t gone bad but it has become a bit soft and a bit too sour to serve on its own. There are other delicious Korean recipes for sour kimchee that are worth checking out if, like me, you can’t keep up with the gifts of your mother’s constant kimchee production. At times, my mother would rinse this kimchee and others she didn’t. Both versions are delicious and the very different flavors are worth experimenting with.

Many Korean recipes for kimchee bap call for egg and beef. We mostly had a vegetarian version but at times my mother would add leftover beef, pork or tofu. The additions that I most enjoyed were those that included many different vegetable dishes such as bean sprouts, fern, shredded and seasoned fresh sea weed and sautéed spinach. As is common in many Korean dishes, texture is very important and the different vegetable combinations my mother tossed in provided just that.

Online recipes for kimchee bap differ than what I grew up with. In many of these recipes, the rice is sautéed in sesame oil on its own. Shredded beef is marinated in soy sauce, garlic, scallions, sesame seeds, and sesame oil, and then added to the dish. The kimchee is steamed in a rice cooker and the whole shebang is topped with shredded egg.

My mother’s version was easier and I think, tastier: she sautéed the rice in sesame oil. As the rice got crispy she would add soy sauce, garlic, scallion, kimchee, veggies, and most importantly, gochujang, the hot red pepper paste found in many Korean dishes. That’s what made it “hot rice.” And if she did add beef or pork it was shredded bulgoki or pork ribs that had already been marinated and cooked, making use of leftovers in the true tradition of this Korean dish.