Hey everyone! It’s Kevin here, and today I have a recipe for a healthy version of one of my favorite Korean dishes, kimchi fried rice!
This cauliflower kimchi fried rice recipe uses cauliflower rice instead of regular white rice which just about halves the amount of calories per serving! Don’t worry though, with the strong combination of flavors from the onions, bacon, and kimchi, you won’t even notice! I was hesitant to try this at first because I thought there was no way that cauliflower rice could taste as good, but I’m so glad to report that I was proven completely wrong.
I was inspired to make cauliflower kimchi fried rice because I haven’t been able to exercise as much as normal due to the Covid-19 situation. I needed a healthy alternative, and I’d seen some regular cauliflower fried rice recipes before, so I decided to give cauliflower kimchi fried rice a shot, and it turned out so much better than I expected!
Why Cauliflower Rice?
Cauliflower rice is a popular low-carb and nutritious substitute for regular rice. It’s also incredibly easy to make at home!
Among the many health benefits of cauliflower rice, it only has 25 calories per cup, compared to 240 per cup of white rice. It is also high in fiber and has many of the vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Because of its low calorie content and high fiber, it is a popular rice substitute among those who are looking to lose weight.
However, you may be thinking that while it’s great that cauliflower is healthier than regular rice, it’s not worth sacrificing the integrity of your dish to replace rice with cauliflower rice. Before making this recipe, I would have been inclined to agree with you, but trust me, with this cauliflower kimchi fried rice, you won’t miss the rice.
How To Make Cauliflower Rice
Now that you’re hopefully convinced that cauliflower rice is just as delicious as regular rice in kimchi fried rice, let’s talk about how easy it is to make cauliflower rice at home!
There are two ways of making cauliflower rice at home: with a food processor (which I recommend), or with a box grater. I’ll describe how to do both, but I want to emphasize that it is MUCH easier to make with a food processor.
To make cauliflower rice with a food processor, start off by cutting the cauliflower into small pieces that will fit in your food processor. Then, add some of the cauliflower to your food processor (don’t pack it too tightly). My food processor has two functions: chop and grind. I found this to be perfect since I could first use the chop function to cut the cauliflower into smaller pieces then use the grind function to cut them to rice-sized pieces. Your food processor may be slightly different, but the idea will be the same: cut the cauliflower smaller, then grind them into rice.
To make cauliflower rice with a box grater, start off by cutting the cauliflower into relatively large pieces. In one hand, grab a piece of the cauliflower and in the other, hold the box grater. Grate the cauliflower using the large holes on the box grater. The reason I don’t recommend this option as much as the food processor is that first, it’s a lot messier with pieces of cauliflower flying around as you grate, and second, the pieces probably won’t be as even in size.
A third option is to head to your local grocery store and buy some (frozen) cauliflower rice!
Kimchi Fried Rice
Kimchi fried rice is one of the most popular dishes in Korea. Every kid grows up eating this dish at home, and you can find it in almost any Korean restaurant, even in the US. Most families in Korea have their own family kimchi recipe, so every family’s kimchi fried rice will taste different! To compare to the US, kimchi fried rice is as popular in Korea as hamburgers are in the US.
Personally, kimchi fried rice is also one of my all time favorite Korean dishes. I used to not really like the taste of kimchi because of the sour fermented taste. However, the after frying it with bacon and onions, the flavors combine in such a way that the sourness goes away, and you’re left with a brilliantly unique spicy and savory taste that can’t be found anywhere else.
If you’ve had kimchi sitting in your fridge for a long time and it’s too fermented to eat by itself now, kimchi fried rice is the perfect way to use it up! Not only will you open up some fridge space, but you’ll get an amazing well-rounded meal out of it. Just be sure to save some of the kimchi brine to add to the fried rice at the end so you can adjust the spice level.
Kimchi fried rice is a great meal by itself, but Korean meals always have side dishes. Try eating this cauliflower kimchi fried rice with dubu jorim!
Ready to dive into this healthy low-carb cauliflower kimchi fried rice? Let’s get started!
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Healthy Cauliflower Kimchi Fried Rice
Course: Main CourseCuisine: KoreanDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes20
minutes310
kcalFeel free to indulge yourself with this delicious spicy, savory cauliflower kimchi fried rice which only has about half the calories of normal fried rice! With the amalgamation of flavors from the onions, bacon, and kimchi, you wouldn’t even know that this dish uses cauliflower rice!
Ingredients
1/2 head cauliflower (about 3 cups if using store-bought cauliflower rice)
1 onion (chopped into 1/4 inch pieces)
8 strips bacon
1 1/2 cups kimchi
4 tbsp kimchi brine (to taste)
4 eggs
- Equipment
Food processor (or box grater; if not using frozen cauliflower rice)
Large pan or wok
Nonstick pan
Directions
- Cauliflower Rice (skip if using store-bought cauliflower rice)
- Food Processor: cut the cauliflower into small pieces and place into food processor. You may have to do a few batches depending on the size of your food processor. First use the chop setting to get the pieces smaller, then use the grind setting to make them into rice-sized pieces
- Box grater: cut the cauliflower into large chunks. Grate each piece using the large holes on the box grate. This method works, but it’s very tedious and doesn’t work as well as the food processor
- Fried Rice
- Add half of the bacon to a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until first side starts turning brown, then flip and cook until other side starts turning brown. Repeat with the rest of the bacon. Drain the bacon on a plate lined with paper towels. Leave the bacon fat in the pan, as we’ll use this to cook the fried rice
- Using the bacon fat, cook the onions over medium heat until they start turning translucent, about 5 minutes
- Add the kimchi and keep cooking until the kimchi also starts turning translucent, about 5 more minutes
- Cut up the bacon from step 1 into 1/4 inch pieces and add to the pan. Mix well and cook together for about 3 minutes
- Add the cauliflower rice to the pan and mix well. Cook until the cauliflower bits become soft and lose the strong cauliflower taste, about 5-8 minutes. Add kimchi brine 1 tbsp at a time while mixing until you reach your desired spice level
- When the fried rice is almost done, cook the eggs sunny side up one at a time on a nonstick skillet. Place an egg over each serving of fried rice and enjoy!
Notes
- Store in airtight container in fridge for up to 5 days.
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