Kimchi fried rice

If you're a bit of a kimchi addict you'll love this recipe for kimchi fried rice which comes from chef Judy Joo's book Korean Food Made Simple. I think would be brilliant for a weekend brunch.

KIMCHI FRIED RICE

KIMCHI BOKKEUM BAP

SERVES 4

Judy writes: My sister used to make this for me when we lived together in New York, and I loved it! Fried rice is the perfect way to use up leftovers, so feel free to improvise. Any kind of veggies or meat you have in the fridge – just toss them in. This is a great lunch or side dish. A variation, called omurice, is to make omelettes with the eggs and wrap them around the fried rice like a burrito. At Jinjuu, we like to fancy up our kimchi fried rice with a garnish of julienned roasted seaweed (kim) and lotus root chips.

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 slices thick-cut bacon, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 clove garlic, grated or finely chopped

9 button mushrooms, destemmed and diced

1⁄2 courgette, diced

3 spring onions, thinly sliced on an angle

225 g (8 oz) drained Cabbage Kimchi (there's a great recipe in the book but you can obviously use ready prepared kimchi), chopped

700 g (11⁄2 lb) steamed short or medium grain Korean rice, at room temperature

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 soft sunny-side-up fried eggs

In a large pan heat the oil over a medium- high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a kitchen paper-lined plate to drain.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the carrots and garlic and cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring constant- ly, until the carrots are just softened. Add the mushrooms, courgette, two-thirds of the spring onions and the kimchi and cook for 4–5 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the rice and drained bacon, breaking up the rice with a wooden spoon and combining it with the other ingredients. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice is hot. Season and spoon the fried rice into four bowls and top each with a fried egg and the remaining spring onions.

TIP: Kimchi can stain your chopping board and the smell has a habit of lingering, too. To avoid this, put the kimchi in a bowl and use kitchen shears to cut it into smaller pieces.

What to drink: When I tried this dish in Judy's restaurant JinJuu (with which she is no longer associated) we drank cocktails (Jumi - Earl Grey infused soju with yujacha (citron tea) and HIte Korean lager with the meal which worked really well. Maybe just the yujacha (for which you can find a recipe here) if you have it for brunch!

From Korean Food made Simple by Judy Joo, published by Jacqui Small

Easy Korean Kimchi Hotpot

Want to cook something authentically Korean to celebrate Korean New Year next week? Try this easy, traditional Korean kimchi hotpot suggests Nathalie Gardiner.

My friend and fellow student, Aehyeon from South Korea, tipped me off that the best way to start cooking Korean food is using ready-made kimchi as she does in this simple recipe.. The delicious fat of the pork belly and the sharpness of the kimchi is a perfect combination.

You can switch the pork for beef or chicken and make it as spicy or mild as you like. You can use authentic Korean kimchi* (I used this one, which I sourced from an Asian supermarket here in Paris), a couple of jars, which you can find in most major supermarkets, or you could even make your own*. This recipe is super-adaptable so feel free to play around with it and work out what you like. You can even make a batch ahead for weeknight meals or take-to-work lunches.

Serves 6

500g chopped kimchi

450g pork belly, cut into bite sized pieces

2-4 tsp chilli powder (depending how hot your kimchi and chilli powder are and how much of a tolerance you have for chilli heat. Koreans like it hot!)

2 tsp of sugar

4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped

400g firm tofu, cut into bite sized cubes

Salt (add with caution as kimchi can be quite salty)

1. Combine the kimchi (with any liquid from the pack or jar), chilli powder, pork and sugar in a large saucepan.

2. Add 1.5 litres water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Add the cubes of tofu, and cook on a low to moderate heat for 10 more minutes.

4. Remove from the heat and check the seasoning, adding salt if it needs it. Add the chopped spring onions

5. Serve alone as a soup or with noodles or sticky rice and hot sauce on the side if you want to ramp up the heat.

What to drink

Best served with an ice-cold Hite lager and some good old fashioned Soju, or if you want to drink like a local, mix the two together (70/30 beer to soju) for a somac. Seol-nal!

If you're a kimchi fan you'll also enjoy this recipe for kimchi fried rice

* If you live in Bristol Caroline Gilmartin of Every Good Thing runs excellent kimchi classes.

6 vegan recipes that meat eaters will love

Is it possible to eat vegan food that’s as satisfying, sumptuous, and comforting as their meat-based counterparts? The growing popularity of vegan cuisine – particularly amongst non-vegans – has made the concept of “plant-based eating” enormously trendy, but not always easy. Monica Shaw has picked out six great vegan recipes that even carnivores will love.

Last year, Veganuary reported a 183% increase in participation in 2018, with over 168,000 people pledging to go vegan during the month of January (and record numbers have already signed up this year). It’s interesting to note that almost half of these people consider themselves “omnivores”, while only 17% are strict vegans and the rest vegetarian or pescatarian. It points to a growing trend amongst the general population – not just vegans – towards eating less meat.

Our reasons for eating less meat are myriad – health concerns, the environment, animal welfare – but almost all can agree that taste will help usher in more plant-based eating. Those “pulled jackfruit” burgers might be tasty, but such imitations can often leave people longing for the real thing. If you want to create a vegan meal that won’t leave carnivores feeling like something was missing, then look to world cuisines that naturally lend themselves towards vegetarian fare. Think India, Mexico, Morocco, and Japan, places where vegan staples (pulses, tofu, vegetables) have been embraced for centuries. These cultures have it figured out!

For inspiration, we’ve collated six delicious and satisfying recipes that prove vegan dishes can stand on their own.

Tarka Dal

Indian food has to be one of the ultimate vegan options out there, with many dishes – particularly those from Kerala – being inherently vegan or vegetarian by nature. A great starting point is dal, a generic word for pulses, typically made with lentils and for which there are endless variations. A great starting point is Jenny Chandler’s Tarka Dal, a classic recipe that’s very easy to make. Serve with rice and greens for a hearty, wholesome meal. And always make extra as the leftovers are superb and it freezes beautifully, too.

Recipe: Tarka Dal

This recipe is from Super Pulses: Truly modern recipes for beans, chickpeas and lentils by Jenny Chandler published by Pavilion Books. The book is a lexicon of bean and lentil inspiration. Many of the recipes are vegan or vegetarian, but it also includes meat and fish recipes, too. This is a great book for those who might not want to cut out meat completely, but certainly find ways to cut back, or augment their meat dishes with more pulses and plants. (Image credit: Clare Winfield)

Pumpkin and Lentil Tagine

Moroccan tagine works brilliantly as a vegan dish and can be made with all manners of pulses and vegetables. Vegetarian chef Erin Baker uses pumpkin and lentils in her vegan tagine, but you could easily add other seasonal vegetables. This is the ultimate winter warmer.

Recipe: Pumpkin and Lentil Tagine

Erin Baker runs The Natural Cookery School in the Cotswolds and has just released The Veg Table, a vegetarian cookbook focussed on world recipes. It’s highly approachable – lots of complex flavours but quite straightforward recipes that are ideal for everyday cooking. (Image credit: Michael Ruggier)

Tacos with Maple, Lime, and Chipotle Marinated Tempeh

If you haven’t tried tempeh then it’s time to get on board with this uber healthy fermented soy product that’s full of protein and a sponge for flavour. Tempeh works particularly well with sweet/smoky flavours and has a heartiness that is enormously satisfying. Marinade is the key, and it’s worth leaving ample time to ensure your tempeh is allowed to soak up whatever flavours you throw at it. Try this Mexican twist on tempeh from Demuths Cookery School.

Recipe: Maple, Lime and Chipotle Marinated Tempeh Tacos

Demuths Cookery School offers vegan cookery courses at all levels in the city of Bath. Their website includes a huge recipe database of beautiful vegan recipes so if you can’t make one of the course, you can easily make their recipes at home. (Image credit: Rob Wicks)

Five Spice Smoked Tofu Nuggets

Elly Pear has created a vegan version of chicken nuggets using smoked tofu. They are “ridiculously delicious”, particularly when served with satay sauce. Perfect as party food or served with rice and veggies for a tasty and nutritious supper.

Recipe: Five Spice Smoked Tofu Nuggets

Check out Elly’s newest book Let’s Eat which includes over 90 pescatarian recipes centred around vegetables, grains, and pulses. (Image credit: Martin Poole)

Frying Pan Turkish Flatbreads

Everybody loves pizza, and whilst vegan mozzarella does exist, lovers of the Buffalo kind will be sorely let down. Instead, turn to these Frying Pan Turkish Flatbreads from Anna Jones where cheese isn’t part of the equation.

Recipe: Frying Pan Turkish Flatbreads

Anna’s latest book The Modern Cook’s Year won the Guild of Food Writers Cookery Book Award and OFM’s Best New Cook Book of 2018. It’s a superb collection of vegetarian recipes focused on seasonality.

Korean Vegetable Bulgogi

Bulgogi literally means “fire meat” and is usually made with beef. The secret is in the sauce, a salty/sweet/savoury concoction that happens to also work really well with vegetables. Kellie’s Korean Vegetable Bulgogi is her vegan take on this dish, using aubergine, mushrooms, and walnuts to give a “meaty” minced beef texture and some seriously hearty comfort food.

Recipe: Korean Vegetable Bulgogi

Kellie’s website Food to Glow is loaded with vegan global food recipes like this, so worth a browse if your particularly after big flavours and lots of colour. (Image credit: Kellie Anderson)