Food for comfort - Kimchi Bokkeumbap (김치볶음밥) @ Kimchi Korea Onejaya, Kuching

It's one of those days where I crave something warm with a little bit of heat. And as always, I think of the flavorful red hot soups and stews served with pork, egg, tofu you name it with some kimchi on the side. But I also wanted something rich and chewy, slightly greasy. I crave kimchi fried rice. I've had a love/hate affair with this dish in the past. When I was working at the small Korean restaurant under Mdm Mee Kyung, she would always whip up some kimchi fried rice for us after doors open for the evening shift. Initially I disliked it because it was spicy and I hate being slowed down at work by spicy food. But at the same time it was delicious and I loved it. And soon after she left Kuching to return to Korea I began to miss it more and more especially when she made it.

So I went to my old workplace for a late brunch before heading off to college to get some work done. I haven't had this dish for almost a year. I wonder if the new boss maintained the taste..
As always with any Korean dish which involved a fried egg, I would always order an extra egg just to slightly dilute the spice. The runny yolk is guaranteed to leave a smooth creamy texture in your mouth and amplify the flavors it comes into contact with.

Sweet heavens it looks divine

I forgot to ask for some ssamjang (쌈장) but oh well. I was hoping the egg yolk to be all runny and silky and it was! No pictures tho hehe ^^

Banchan (반찬) of the day was the usual kimchi coupled with another which is different every day.Today it was seasoned sauteed cucumber. I have always loved it when my boss made spinach, sprouts or steamed egg (계란 찜) for the second side dish. Sometimes we would be the ones eating more of it than the customers! =P

Lemme just take a minute or two to appreciate the beauty before diving right in

And dive in I did. You gotta mix the yolk in with the rice yo!

The taste was just as I remembered. Spicy, salty, slightly sour and almost crunchy. The crispy edges of the fried eggs gave a little bit of smokiness. The spring onions and the chopped kimchi really gave my mouth a workout. The overall flavors were rich when eaten with the still liquid egg yolk. The sesame oil was really essential to finish everything off nicely, as with a lot of Korean dishes. Eating this once again brought back memories of scrambling to finish breakfast or dinner before customers came to our tables WHILE WE WERE STILL EATING!! This also brought back memories of me scraping the leftovers of rice off the pan in the kitchen when I was hungry.But I did notice it was less spicier than it was. Maybe the 'kakak' who does the cooking now knows I can't handle spicy food well and remembered it.
I managed to survive the meal on one can of Sundrop.

Taking care not to spare even one grain of rice.

The whole meal amounted to RM15. Which I guess was pretty decent. For sure cheaper than any other Korean restaurants in town if not, the cheapest.
Rice + 1 extra egg = RM12 + RM1
1 can of drink = RM2

And I'm guessing you guys want me to reveal the recipe for this dish? I guess I will but I will not reveal 100% of it ^^

Now kimchi fried rice is normally made with kimchi, rice, some vegetables and that's almost about it. At least that's what I observed from reading many recipes online. But there's this one key ingredient that makes the whole dish so flavorful, that makes the rice slightly sticky, greasy and almost a glutinous consistency.

GOCHUJANG!!!!
Now gochujang alone is not responsible for awesome tasting kimchi bokkumbap. The original form of gochujang is like thick heavy paste. The gochujang has to be mixed with a number of different ingredients which I shall keep secret for now. But I will give you some hints. The result of this gochujang mix will leave the gochujang slightly liquidy but still thick, almost like a crepe batter consistency but thicker. As for the ingredients, they're sweet, and one of them will make you go 'seriously??' That's it, sorry can't say more ><
However I shall teach you guys how it is done as I have previously done it which remains faithful to how my boss used to do it with perhaps a little variation.

Ingredients
Cooked rice
Kimchi (chopped into small pieces, old sour kimchi is preferable)
Kimchi juice (the liquid left over at the bottom of the kimchi container. DON'T EVER THROW IT AWAY IT IS PRECIOUS)
Onions (chopped)
Sesame oil
Gochujang (pre-mixed with secret ingredients ^^)
Green onions for garnish
Toasted sesame seeds
An egg

Method
1. Add sesame oil, salt and the cooked rice into a mixing bowl. Mix well with a spoon or...whatever. The rice should taste slightly salted with a hint of sesame oil.
2. In a pan (durh), heat some cooking oil and add onions and the kimchi. Sautee well for a minute or two. At this point in a separate frying pan you can fry up your egg(s).
3. Add the rice, keep frying well. Make sure the rice and the vegetables are mixed well. You can also add in your kimchi juice now.
4. Add a ladle (or less) of gochujang. The gochujang keeps the rice from drying out and helps it from burning easily so go on and fry on medium high to high heat.
5. Fry until you think it's enough. Remember to taste as you go. At this point the rice will be sticky and kinda oily but that's normal. Once you think it's ready, serve it.
6. Get yo' fried egg on top of it, sprinkle with maybe a tablespoon and half of sesame oil, be generous with the sesame seeds and green onion. And there you go!

Note that I didn't include any specific measurements for the ingredients. The answer to that is because: I am Malaysian! (Y) and Malaysians cook agak-agak style. If you think it's enough, it's enough. We estimate almost every single shit when cooking. Usually by instincts and with Korean cooking, well you can to a point cook by estimation also. But to make y'all lives slightly easier, I will give you my estimations.

1 portion of rice = 3/4 small bowl of kimchi + a handful of onions.
1 portion of rice = 1 ladle of gochujang.

Sesame oil and garnish no need estimate lah. You wan little, you don't put also can. You want a lot, drink the sesame oil like soup also can =D
This is a versatile dish. You can add anything from spam to bacon to minced pork or you can even make it in the samgyeopsal pan when all the pork is finished! A great way to use up the pork fat left in the pan. Imagine the flavors mmm...(sorry to any Muslim readers >_<)

Kimchi Korea @ Onejaya, Jalan Song is open Monday to Saturday. On weekdays do not come between 3pm to 5pm as it is their idle time. Saturday is full day 10-10 with no idle time.
I highly recommend this place not just because I used to work there but because I do think it's one of the two Korean places which will really give you value for money. They serve mandu, ramyeon, japchae, samgyupsal, stews and lots of other things. Be sure to check it out!
And for a halal option, you can visit The Kimbap opposite Cityone which until know seems to be the only halal Korean restaurant in Kuching. In case you missed it, here's my post on Dolsot Bibimbap at The Kimbap.

Any Korean restaurants in Kuching or dishes you would like me to try? Or have you been to this little cozy restaurant? Or even better, did you try making this dish with my recipe? Sound off in the comments below and tell me what you think :)