I always forget about Kimchi. How fresh and delicious it is—perfectly spicy and full of flavor. Seeing the recipe in Small Victories for Kimchi Fried Rice incited that “YES!” reaction in my belly and so I went forth fearlessly into the world of fried rice!

Luckily, it turned out for me, fried rice is about the easiest thing to whip up for a quick weeknight meal. And bonus: you can make a lot of it ahead of time, like the rice and scallion “salad” to top it off.

I added bacon because a) BACON and b) Kyle is the type of guy whose go-to meal is “meat on bread” and so I threw him a bone by adding a touch of the good stuff into this dish.

The also topped it off with a soft-boiled egg for some protein and to make it feel a little more like a meal than a side dish. The result was a bowl full o’ comfort, and made great leftovers for lunch the next day.

I paired the kimchi fried rice with a classic Dark & Stormy—bold but with a little sweetness to balance out the spice of the kimchi. It’s a great cocktail to serve for guests, too, because of the rum float atop the ginger beer.

One important note about the Dark & Stormy: I’ve made it with ginger simple and seltzer vs. ginger beer, and the latter is just better. Plain and simple. The syrup and seltzer just doesn’t have the strong flavor that really makes for a good Dark & Stormy. I love to keep ginger beer on hand—the mini bottles of Fever Tree are my favorite, since you never really need a full bottle for two cocktails—it will keep in your pantry for quite some time, and its a great addition to so many cocktails.

I’ve got one more recipe up my sleeve from Small Victories, and I can’t wait to share it! In the meantime, grab that leftover rice, pick up a jar of spicy kimchi, and get cookin.’

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Kimchi Fried Rice
adapted from Small Victories

• 4 scallions, chopped
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• toasted sesame seeds, optional
• 1 16-oz jar kimchi, chopped, juices reserved and set aside
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6-8 slices of bacon, diced (or, if you have it already cooked, simply crumble and set aside)
• 4 cups white or brown rice, cooked (leftover is great—so is Minute Rice. No judgements here!)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, plus more to taste
• salt to taste
• sesame seeds or furikake for garnish

To make the scallion “salad” combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl, mix well and set aside.

To make the rice, warm the canola oil in a skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, bacon (if uncooked), and a pinch of salt. Cook about 5 minutes until onion is soft. Add chopped kimchi and let cook for another 5 minutes. Add the rice, reserved kimchi juice, bacon (if previously cooked), and about 1 tbsp soy sauce. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add more salt and soy sauce to taste.

Serve in bowls topped with the scallion salad and a soft-boiled egg, if desired. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or furikake if you have it on hand!

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Dark & Stormy
makes 1 cocktail; build each individually

• 2 oz dark rum
• 5 oz ginger beer

Assembly
Fill a rocks glass with ice. Fill about 3/4 of the way with ginger beer. Using an inverted spoon, pour the dark rum slowly over the back of the spoon so the rum floats on top of the ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wedge.