24 December 2015

Kimchi fried rice with shrimp

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, this week I opened a jar of Korean-style fermented cabbage that I found lurking in the cold pantry downstairs for more than five years, since I made it. I half-way thought I would probably just end up throwing it out, but when I opened the jar the cabbage and carrot mixture looked and smelled really good. We had some for lunch yesterday and we are both feeling fine this morning.


I cooked the kimchi as part of a pan of fried rice. It was really simple. Sauté a diced onion and chopped garlic clove with a diced up smoked sausage that has been marinated in soy sauce and ginger. Coarsely chop up a generous cupful of the kimchi and sauté that in the same pan after taking the sausage mixture out. When the kimchi has dried out some, put the sausage/onion mixture back in the pan (photo above).


Then add about 3 cups of cooked rice that has spent a few hours drying out so that the grains will stay fairly separate. Finally, put in the peeled and deveined shrimp — between 15 and 20 of them. Toss the rice and shrimp with the kimchi mixture, adding dashes of soy sauce and hot pepper paste (mine had basil in it) as well as a little of the kimchi liquid. Cover the wok over low heat just long enough for the shrimp to steam through and turn pink. Serve with sesame oil.

Kimchi fried rice might make a good non-traditional dressing or stuffing to go with the Christmas turkey.

I had gone to the market in Saint-Aignan earlier in the morning to pick up our turkey. It weighs 3.7 kilos (8 lbs.) and it cost the equivalent of $40 U.S. (37 euros). So that's $5.00/lb. It's a local farm-raised bird. I'm going to poach it in vegetable broth today or tomorrow and then roast it in the oven long enough to brown it nicely right before we carve and eat it. I'll make a pan of bread "dressing" (stuffing) and cook it separately in a baking dish. The poaching liquid will be the base for a good gravy.

Merry Christmas Eve...

25 comments:

  1. Good to see you survived :-) I'm going to serve our kimchi tonight to see what it's like. I'll leave the other jar longer to fester some more and see what the difference is.

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    Replies
    1. Susan, if it is less than six months old, the lactofermentation won't have completed its cycle....
      what you eat tonight may well taste very odd indeed!
      Edible... but very wierd!

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    2. I think the kimchi needs a month or two of fermenting at least. That transforms the salt into flavor. Young kimchi would probably be too salty.

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    3. It wasn't too salty, but it was too cabbagey still.

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    4. I think longer "curing" would reduce the cabbaginess. Or more spice and vinegar maybe. I just like cabbage's taste, so I have a head start. Cole slaw... Collard greens... all kinds of cabbage.

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  2. Sounds yummy Ken - Sue bought a heap of prawns for our Chrissy lunch. We are roasting in very high 30s in Melbourne.

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    1. Hello Leon and Sue, we are roasting in the mid-teens in Saint-Aignan. And with the new boiler, the house is very warm. Merry Seafood Christmas.

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  3. On a per-pound basis, how long do you poach your bird? And do you bring it up to room temp first?
    Lucky you to find such a small turkey. Here the frozen breasts alone weigh about 8 pounds. Just
    not normal. We're having a big organic chicken.

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    Replies
    1. I wrote on a blog post that I just found that an 8 lb. turkey seemed done after poaching for 90 minutes. I would shoot for about that time, and then put the turkey in the oven for another 30 or 40 minutes to brown. I have no experience of "birdzilla" turkeys that weigh 15 or 20 lbs. I imagine a big chicken might be 5 or 6 lbs. so maybe 60 to 75 minutes would be enough poaching and then the roasting. Happy Holidays.

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  4. Replies
    1. To you too. Or in Louisiana language, "toux youx tooux."

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  5. Merry Christmas Eve, Ken and Walt!

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  6. Looks yummy! Do you remember that episode of MASH where the villagers were burying kimchi to age it, and the 4077th thought it was a bomb? Very funny. Anyway, that fermented stuff lasts a long time. Glad you made use of it and enjoyed it.

    Merry Christmas to you and Walt (and to the furry friends, too). We're expecting 9 for dinner tonight. Should be fun.

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    Replies
    1. Merry Christmas, Ginny. Thanks for the holiday letter. Hope you are all well and happy. I do remember that kimchi episode of MASH.

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  7. Christmas turkey, ooooh oooooh! I know yours will be deliiiisssssh :)
    This dish looks and sounds great, too.
    Merry Christmas Eve! to everyone!

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    Replies
    1. My onions and carrots and celery are chopped, and I'm ready to go with the poaching, roasting, and stuffing-making tomorrow morning. There are still choux de Bruxelles to trim and cook too. Happy Christmas to you and E.

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  8. Ken it sounds like a lovely meal. Wishing both of you the Merriest of Christmases. And thanks for your lovely blog and the nice community of readers you have created.

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    Replies
    1. Happy Christmas to you two too. I appreciate all your nice comments.

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  9. Very late to the party -- but the thoughts and wishes are still here:
    Merry Christmas Ken and Walt

    Mary in Oregon

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  10. 50 minutes to go.... Euro time....
    MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!
    And a healthy, prosperous and fulfilling Twenty-Sixteen!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Tim. Same to you and Pauline.

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