Kimchi Omurice is some next-level comfort food: umami kimchi fried rice is wrapped cozily into a creamy scrambled egg omelet, topped with a drizzle of ketchup.
Kimchi Omurice: The Ultimate East-West Fusion Comfort
This Kimchi Omurice packs Korean-style kimchi fried rice, with its mild umami, spicy, sour, garlic flavor profile into a slightly runny omelet in the style of Japanese omurice. The flavors and textures work amazingly well together, making this dish super comforting for practically any person of any age. If you have had either kimchi fried rice or omurice by itself, you have a sense of what is possible here.
Kimchi Fried Rice: A Cousin of Pizza(?)
Kimchi fried rice is special because stir frying kimchi develops the flavor into a milder, rounder and frankly irresistible flavor that I think is quite like pizza:
Pizza sauce typically uses garlic, which is a big part of kimchi’s flavorThe red pepper in kimchi is fruity like cooked tomatoThe umami “funk” of kimchi is similar to cheese in terms of aroma
This pizza-like flavor plus the crispiness from fried rice just make the dish addictive and it’s one of my go-to quick meals.
Omurice: Classic Japanese Western Comfort
Omurice is wonderful due to its simplicity of ingredients and careful method:
Beaten eggs are cooked into an omelet, like in Western cooking, but very delicately, so the egg is soft, creamy, and slightly runny. The omelet is stuffed with fried rice, so you can get bits of fried rice with each bite of omelet.The omelet is often garnished with ketchup, which goes perfectly with the creamy egg and filling fried rice.
It’s more of a diner-type dish in Japan, but it’s totally worth making at home for more special occasions.
For the Tastiest Omelet, Use the Best Eggs
In any dish where eggs feature as prominently as they do here, and especially because the eggs are meant to be served creamy and slightly runny, it’s important to use high quality eggs. I love Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs because they are the best widely available eggs: USDA Certified Organic, free range, no antibiotics or hormones, and freshly sourced from small family farms. And you’ll know when you taste the eggs that Pete and Gerry’s isn’t cutting any corners – the rich flavor outshines all the other supermarket eggs.
How to Make Kimchi Omurice
There are two main steps to cooking the kimchi omurice: The kimchi fried rice is quite easy and quick. The omelet ranges from fairly easy to slightly challenging. But I’ll walk you through a few different ways to make it, so you can get a properly cooked omelet that also looks nice.
Easy Kimchi Fried Rice
If you’ve made fried rice before, this is a piece of cake. You’ll saute kimchi and onions for a bit to soften them. It develops the flavor from spicy and garlicky into umami and slightly sweet. From there, you’ll add the rice, chop it up, and mix it together with the kimchi and onions. Once that is hot, just add the frozen veggies and mixed sauce. When the veggies are heated through you’re good to move on to the next part.
How to Cook and Wrap the Kimchi Omurice Omelet
You’ll cook the omelet similarly to how you’d cook any omelet. But using low heat and occasionally stirring the omelet early on, so that the pan-facing side of the egg doesn’t get cooked too hard. You can cover the skillet to cook the top side of the omelet a little bit, but don’t overcook the egg. If you like your eggs extra creamy, you’ll want the top to stay slightly runny. Once you have an omelet that’s set on the bottom and cooked to your preferred doneness, you’re ready to wrap. There are a few different ways that we found to successfully get the fried rice wrapped, and keep the omelet intact:
The Hand Wrap Method (the classic shape, but it’s a little challenging to make)The Taco Method (an easy way to fold)The Bowl Method (also a classic look, and it’s a bit easier to make than the first method)
Each method is explained in the recipe below.
More Korean- and Japanese-Inspired Comfort Food
Korean Instant Pot Short Ribs (Galbi Jim)Korean Seafood Pancake (Haemul Pajeon)Easy Fried Udon (Yaki Udon)Teriyaki Chicken (Yoshinoya Copycat)
