Kimchi fried rice with smokey tempeh & broccoli

December 20, 2018

We had some leftover kimchi from our scroll experiment, so we decided to try out this simple fried rice for a quick work-night dinner. The baseline version is pretty easy - cook some rice, steam some tempeh and broccoli and fry everything up in a wok. It's delicious as well, with the strong flavour of the kimchi adding some bite to what's otherwise a pretty straightforward stir-fry. 

We made an even simpler version on our second attempt - skipping the steaming just stir-frying the tempeh and some broccolini. This works fine, but if you've got the time I'd squeeze in the steaming step for at least the tempeh - it improves the texture a bit when you fry it.

Kimchi fried rice with smokey tempeh & broccoli

(slightly adapted from this recipe on the first mess)

1.5 - 2 cups of cooked brown rice (it's best if you've cooked this the day before and popped it in the fridge, but it'll work fine if you just do it all on the night)

2 cups broccoli florets

225g packet of tempeh, cut into small cubes

2 gloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1/2 cup vegan kimchi, plus a couple of spoonfuls of the liquid

2 teaspoons chilli paste

1 tablespoon tamari

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons peanut oil

Steam the broccoli and tempeh for about 10 minutes - we used our bamboo steamers, but do whatever works for you.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the peanut oil in a work and stir-fry the tempeh for about 5 minutes, until it starts to brown up nicely. Throw in the garlic, maple syrup and smoked paprika, stir-frying it all together for another 30 seconds or so. Remove the tempeh from the wok and pop it in a bowl.

Heat the other tablespoon of peanut oil and throw in the kimchi. Stir-fry for a minute or so and then add the rice, stirring thoroughly to break down any clumps. Add the tempeh back in along with the broccoli plus the chilli paste, tamari and sesame oil. 

Stir-fry for another minute or so over high heat and then serve.