Time for a first: Bacon Spinach Kimchi Scrambled Eggs

Kimchi. I knew it existed. I know people that like it. I know people that make it themselves. But for some reason, I wasn’t even remotely intrigued by it. Seriously, I never even tried it.

Then I had to teach it in a cooking class.

Making kimchi, means tasting kimchi, means eating the kimchi. That’s the short story how this Bacon Spinach Kimchi Scrambled Eggs over Rice came together.

>>

While eating the Bacon Spinach Kimchi Scrambled Eggs over Rice, this blog post started to write itself in my head. One question kept on popping up.

Why?

What is it in kimchi *(see below) that I never really got interested in it? Not even enough to at least try a bite of it? I mean, I love trying new things, fermenting is a thing for me and I like to experiment in the kitchen.

I still don’t have the answer. Instead I will tell you the longer story how I created this super quick Bacon Spinach Kimchi Scrambled Eggs over Rice.

Since a fermentation usually takes a few days before it’s ready to eat, I had to prep this Korean food themed cooking class a few days in advance. You want your students to taste the food you teach them to make, right!?

So I looked online for guidance in kimchi making. The technique of kimchi making might change a bit from recipe to recipe, the ingredients are pretty straightforward. You need a Chinese/Napa cabbage, daikon radish, green onions, garlic, ginger salt and gochugaru. That’s Korean hot chili (powder). At the large Chinese supermarket I only found gochujang (Korean red chili paste) based on gochugaru and decided to work with that.

The large cabbage (4 lb|2 kg) made me experiment a bit with the different techniques of kimchi making. I made one batch using the sauerkraut technique and massaged the salt into the cabbage to break the cells down super fast. In a cooking class of 2 hours I don’t have the time to show the other technique I tested: letting the salt sit a few hours on the cabbage for the slow version of this process.

The first batch came together pretty fast. And spicy. A bit too spicy, so I used less of the gochujang in the second batch. I kept the rest of the gochujang in the fridge, for you never know when it comes in handy.

That day came 2 days later when I tasted both my kimchi’s for the first time. While I was doubting to go to my favorite pizzeria or making a kimchi fried rice that I came across multiple times during my kimchi study, my mind wandered off to an old Instagram post of my friend Stacey of Your Beeting Heart where she combined egg, a green leafy vegetable with .. you guessed it: kimchi.

I had all ingredients in my fridge and improvised this Bacon Spinach Kimchi Scrambled Eggs over Rice, that came together as quick as it took the rice to get cooked.

* Kimchi is a Korean condiment, made from fermented Napa/Chinese cabbage and Korean red peppers. It’s tangy, salty and spicy, refreshing and uplifting. Pretty easy to make yourself.

Quick and easy Bacon Spinach Kimchi Scramled Eggs over Rice - recipe and picture by Edie Dourleijn | edie eats food blog

Super quick Bacon Spinach Kimchi Scrambled Eggs over Rice

You make this dish almost like the name of it: you start with the bacon, then warm the kimchi in the pan, sauté the spinach and last scramble the eggs. All in the same pan, while the rice was cooking in a separate pan. Easy and tasty.

I used for 1:
1/4 cup basmati rice (or more if you’re hungry)
2 slices of bacon
2 T kimchi
1 hand full of spinach
1 green onion
2 twigs of parsley
salt and pepper
gochujang (Korean red chili paste) or another spicy sauce (sambal, sriracha, harissa, etc)

I did:
Boil the rice in salted water until done (check package).

Sauté the bacon, sliced in thin strips (1/2 in|1 cm) over medium heat until slightly browned.

Cook the vegetables. Chop the kimchi fine and make some space in the skillet to warm it. Clean and coarsely chop spinach and put in the skillet too. Let wilt slightly, not too much.

Scramble the eggs. Again, make some space in the center of the skillet and break the eggs over it. Scramble.

Mix all ingredients that are in the pan and add salt and pepper to taste (keep in mind that bacon and kimchi are pretty salty already).

Serve the Bacon Spinach Kimchi Scrambled Eggs over Rice and garnish with the chopped green onion, parsley and some gochujang (Korean red chili paste).

Enjoy!

Join the cooking!