How do you bring unparalleled depth and complexity to a perfectly simplistic dish such as fried rice? Simply put, you bump up the salt, fat, and acid. We did just that with our Bacon Kimchi Fried Rice.
Our journey to create this recipe started with a trip to the meat counter at our local grocer. Although not necessary, we made the bacon that’s highlighted in this recipe, and we highly recommend you do the same. So like us, make your way to your nearest grocer or favorite butcher. Request a 1 ½ pound slab of skinless pork belly. For reference and ease of ordering, the slab we received was approximately 6”x6” and 1 ½ inches thick.
Once you have the pork belly and return to your kitchen, we encourage you to get right to work. Don’t fret! Although making bacon may sound intensive, it is not. There is no exhaustive prep work or intensive cooking required. It’s all about time and patience.
With that, let’s talk about curing. Curing pork belly is what makes it bacon. Despite Americans loving smoked bacon, the smoking process does not make it bacon, it’s solely the curing process. Smoking just makes it more “American” than anything else. We opted to smoke our bacon, but we will get into that momentarily.
The cure we created for this recipe pulls inspiration from kimchi paste, the mixture used to make aromatic and savory kimchi. This enables the fabulous flavor of kimchi to be carried throughout the final product we will be making later on.
To make the cure for the pork belly, you’ll want to start by food processing or blending together the green onion, garlic, ginger, miso paste, honey, gochugaru, and pink curing salt. You will be left with a thick, slightly chunky paste. Be advised, do not taste this mixture. The pink curing salt utilized is toxic when ingested by humans. We have calculated a safe quantity for use within this recipe. Please be mindful to carefully measure the pink curing salt when making the cure and stick to what is listed in the recipe.
Once again double-check that the pork belly is skinless. If the skin is still on, use the Forge to Table Paring Knife to carefully remove it. You may be asking, why is this worth noting twice? Well, having a skinless piece of pork belly allows the cure to evenly penetrate the protein, ensuring a proper cure. Speaking of, take your blended cure mixture and massage it into the pork belly slab. Ensure that the pork belly is evenly coated.
Transfer to a vacuum seal bag or plastic zip-top bag. If you are using a vacuum sealer, vacuum all the air from the bag and seal. If you are using a plastic zip-top bag, press out and remove as much air as possible then close the bag. Place on a tray or plate, and transfer to the refrigerator to cure for a total of 4 days. Each day, massage the pork belly and flip it over. After a day or two, liquid may begin to accumulate in the bag. Moisture is being pulled from the pork belly, this is normal.
After 4 days, remove the pork belly from the refrigerator. Open the bag that it is in and run the pork belly under cold running water. Rinse the entirety of the cure off of it. Remember that pesky pink curing salt? We are eliminating the traces of it here so our bacon is safe to consume. Once all of the cure is rinsed off, transfer the pork belly to a metal tray lined with a cooling rack. Place the tray into the refrigerator, and leave the pork belly to rest uncovered overnight for a minimum of 12 hours and up to 24. This allows the pork belly to dry out and form a pellicle. At this point, we can now officially call this pork belly bacon!
On to the good stuff, smoking. This is the last step between you and pure bacon bliss. Start by preheating or setting your smoker to 200F. Remove the bacon from the refrigerator and transfer it to the smoker. Add wood chips or chunks to the wood tray. We recommend utilizing a fruit-based wood such as apple or cherry. It produces a milder, sweeter smoke which complements the flavors we curated with the cure on the pork belly. Alternative woods, such as hickory or mesquite, will lean heavily and can become very overpowering. Leave the bacon slab on the smoker until the internal temperature reaches 150F. Since our bacon slab is on the smaller side, it should take approximately 2 hours. You will likely need to refresh the wood chips or chunks one hour into smoking the bacon. As soon as smoke is no longer visually pouring out of the smoker, you’ll know that it is time to add some more wood.
Once the bacon has reached 150F, transfer it to a tray and place it back into the refrigerator. We recommend letting it rest for a minimum of 4 hours prior to using it in the bacon kimchi fried rice. Although not necessary, it allows the juices and liquid fat to settle within the meat and aids in easier slicing.
Now that you have numerous days invested in this Bacon Kimchi Fried Rice, it’s time to go make it! Luckily it only takes 15 minutes or so. We hope you enjoy it!
Kimchi-Bacon Fried Rice
Ready to bring home the bacon? Discover the layers of flavor within our homemade kimchi spiced and smoked bacon. Whether it’s breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, or meal prep, this is the perfect fried rice to add to your roster!
Recipe and Photography by SyEnna Hackbarth
Forge To Table Knives
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Passive Time: 5 days
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
Kimchi Bacon
4 each green onions, whites only
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 inch knob ginger, peeled
2 tablespoons miso paste, red or white
2 tablespoons honey (optional, substitute with brown sugar)
¼ cup gochugaru (korean red chili flakes)
⅓ teaspoon pink curing salt
1 ½-pound pork belly, boneless and skinless
Apple or cherry wood chips, as needed
Fried Rice
2 cups bacon, ½” diced (substitute with slab bacon)
¼ cup garlic, minced
1 cup kimchi, liquid drained, chopped
4 cups medium grain white rice, cooked, and chilled overnight
2 each eggs
2 teaspoons seasoned soy sauce (substitute with regular soy sauce)
½ teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon gochugaru (Korean red chili flake)
¼ cup green onion, thinly sliced, for garnish
Directions (note: if you use store-bought slab bacon, skip to step 5)
CURE. In a blender or food processor combine the green onion, garlic, ginger, miso paste, honey, gochugaru, and pink curing salt. Blend or process until a thick, slightly chunky paste has formed. Remove the paste from the blender or food processor and massage it into the skinless pork belly. Ensure that the pork belly is coated in an even layer of paste and transfer it to a vacuum seal bag or plastic zip-top bag. If using a vacuum sealer, vacuum out the air and seal the bag. If using a plastic zip-top bag, manually remove the air and close the bag.
REST. Place the pork belly on a tray and transfer to the refrigerator. Leave it to cure for a total of 4 days. Each day massage the pork belly in the bag and flip it over. After 4 days, remove the pork belly from the refrigerator. Remove the pork belly from the bag and run it under cold water. Rinse the pork belly until all the cure has been removed. Transfer pork belly to a baking tray lined with a cooling rack. Return the pork belly to the refrigerator and leave it to dry uncovered for a minimum of 12 hours, and up to 24.
SMOKE. Preheat the smoker to 200F. Remove the bacon from the refrigerator and transfer it to the smoker. Add wood chips (we recommend cherry or apple) to the smoking tray and close the smoker. Smoke the bacon until the internal temperature reads 150F degrees, which will take approximately 2 hours. Refresh the wood chips or chunks around the 1-hour mark to ensure even and continuous smoke is being produced throughout the smoking process.
REST. Remove the bacon from the smoker and transfer it to a tray. Place in the refrigerator and leave to cool uncovered for a minimum of 4 hours.
BACON. Using your Classic Cleaver or 8” Gyuto Chef’s Knife, cut the bacon into ½” cubes. Set aside momentarily.
RENDER. Heat a large wok or carbon steel fry pan over medium-low heat. Add the diced bacon to the pan and cook until crispy and the fat is rendered out. Remove half of the rendered fat from the pan into a heatproof bowl and set aside.
STIR-FRY. Increase the burner heat to medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic to the pan and saute for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the kimchi and cook until the majority of the moisture has cooked off, approximately 1 minute. Place the rice in the pan, stir, break up rice, and toss until all of the grains of rice are equally coated in the bacon, garlic, and kimchi mixture, approximately 1 minute.
EGGS. Push the fried rice to the edges of the pan, creating a circular opening, or well, in the center of the pan. Crack the eggs into the well and quickly scramble using chopsticks or a wooden spoon. You are looking for a smaller curd size, so don’t be afraid to really scramble the eggs as they cook. Fold and toss the cooked scrambled egg into the fried rice.
SEASON. Drizzle the fried rice with the seasoned soy sauce and sesame oil. Toss the fried rice to ensure that the seasonings are evenly incorporated.
SERVE. Remove the fried rice from the burner and quickly transfer it to your serving dish. Garnish with a sprinkling of gochugaru chili flakes and thinly sliced green onions. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Chef’s Notes:
Feel free to add in vegetables like bok choy, carrots, mushrooms, and bean sprouts by searing at the start of cooking, prior to sauteeing the aromatics.
Turn this dish into the ultimate breakfast by swapping the scrambled egg for a sunny-side-up one.
Add a sprinkle of MSG for an umami boost.
If short on time, substitute the bacon in the recipe for store-bought bacon. Alternative proteins such as spam, steak, and duck confit can also be used.
If you are interested in also making kimchi to use in this recipe, check out our go-to recipe here.
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