Bokkeum-bap

Plain fried rice where the soy goes round the edge of the pan rather than onto the rice, so it caramelises instead of steaming.

Pork, Beef, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains beef, pork.

Ingredients

• 500 g cooked short-grain rice, cold and a day old
• 150 g pork, beef or ham, diced small
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced small
• 100 g frozen peas
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 eggs
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• black pepper

Method

1. THE SOY SAUCE GOES ROUND THE EDGE OF THE PAN, NEVER ONTO THE RICE. Poured down the side of a very hot wok it hits bare metal, boils off its water in a second and caramelises, and what reaches the rice is concentrated and smoky. Poured over the middle, it lands on cool rice, sits there as liquid, and steams -- the grains go soft and patchily brown and the whole thing tastes of wet soy. Same two tablespoons, completely different result.
2. THE RICE IS COLD AND A DAY OLD, for the reason the kimchi fried rice on this site gives at greater length: fresh rice is full of water and steams rather than fries. Broken up with wet hands before it goes in.
3. THIS ONE HAS NOTHING ACIDIC IN IT, which is the whole difference from that page. No kimchi, no brine, no gochujang -- so there is nothing to hide behind, and the seasoning is soy, sesame and the browning itself. It is the plainer dish and much the easier one to make badly.
4. THE PAN IS NOT CROWDED AND THE RICE IS PRESSED RATHER THAN STIRRED. Two portions at a time, pressed flat against the metal and turned every thirty seconds or so. Constant stirring keeps it from ever touching the pan long enough to colour.
5. AND THE EGG IS COOKED SEPARATELY. Scrambled into the rice it coats every grain and makes it claggy; fried and laid on top, or made as a thin omelette and shredded, it stays itself.
6. Rice broken up with wet hands into separate grains.
7. Oil in a wok or wide pan over a high heat. The meat cooked 3 minutes until browned.
8. The onion and carrot added, 3 minutes. The garlic, 30 seconds.
9. The peas thrown in.
10. The rice added and PRESSED flat against the pan, turned every 30 seconds, 4 minutes, until hot through and catching in places.
11. A well pushed to one side and THE SOY SAUCE POURED ROUND THE EDGE of the pan, not onto the rice. Left 5 seconds to sizzle, then tossed through.
12. The sesame oil and plenty of pepper stirred in off the heat.
13. Pressed into the pan and left undisturbed 1 minute for a crust underneath.
14. The eggs fried separately, yolks soft.
15. The rice divided between warm bowls, an egg set on each and the spring onions scattered over.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under South Korea · All recipes