Hello! And welcome to the 30th post of Pizza Rat's Paradise.
Flavor profile: Savory, umami with a hint of spice, and nutty/caramel sweetness
This Sunday morning, I was struck by an insatiable urge to make fried kimchi, or kimchi bokkeum (bokkeum meaning stir-fried), and to add a dollop of ketchup with it for a bit of added sweetness.
One of the things I've noticed about taste-testing and trying out ingredients, and enjoying them in their purity, is that one has to try the ingredient or dish by itself without the interruption of other flavors (such as rice and egg), that can mask the sole ingredient and mask how bad/good the dish is. It is, in a way, about playing with "negative space," a term I've learned in fine art drawing classes, but I am applying towards cooking.
As I was lapping up the remains of the small serving I had prepared for myself, I was struck by how awesomely tasty and flavor-dense the remaining chili oil was -- and I thought to myself, why not make kimchi chili oil a thing? Chili crisp oil is already extremely popular, and so is pepperoncino oil. I first learned of chili oil as a separate ingredient all in itself from my Taiwanese roommate in college, who bought this tiny, cute bottle of chili oil and would pour it all over their bowl of noodles/rice as a special condiment.
In grad school, I would learn to make Chinese-inspired ginger scallion oil from scratch in a tiny apartment, to make chicken broths that would serve as buffers against winter cold.
Which brings me to the current moment of kimchi oil, a recipe I have devised.
-Stir-fry kimchi (along with generous amount of kimchi juice) for the fermented spicy cabbage flavor in a neutral oil until the kimchi cabbage caramelizes -- it should reach a muted yellow color (will have to add pics someday). It is okay to initially do it on high heat, but it is better to fry on low heat for a longer amount of time, as this will help the oil from combusting and burning on the bottom of the pan.
-When the fried kimchi is ready, add sesame oil to the mix and fry just for 1-2 min, enough to incorporate flavors. One other thing someone could do, that I just thought of, is just add the fried kimchi mixture into a jar, add sesame oil, and let it sit to incorporate flavors over time -- something I haven't yet tried.
-Serve as a topping -- I could see this pairing really well over rice, or creamy carb dishes, even salads/dessert if one really wanted to go there.
Recently, I learned about making rice-flour tortillas from scratch, which I am tempted to try to make bulgogi/short rib/brisket/lengua/blood sausage/small intestine/veg/fish tacos with one day, borrowing a page from Roy Choi and his Kogi tacos. Perhaps I will use this kimchi chili oil as a topping.
If you have made it this far, thank you for reading! 💚
Appreciate any suggestions on what I should do next. If you would like to collaborate or support, feel free to comment, share, like below.
Accompanying Song: