Kimchi Mari is a very quick (5 min) kimchi rice dish that you can make any time. Just need rice, kimchi and few seasonings. No cooking required! (except for rice). So simple and delicious!!
Yesterday was one of those days when I really did not feel like cooking anything but still wanted to have something good to eat for lunch. And then it hit me…Kimchi Mari 김치말이. I almost forgot how great this is! I LOVE how easy this is to make and how light and refreshing it is. I used to make this all the time when I lived in Korea.
The story behind Kimchi Mari (Also the name of my blog)
Now, if you don’t have any friends or family who came from North Korea during the Korean war, you probably have not heard of this dish before. Kimchi Mari is very uniquely North Korean, similar to Naengmyun(냉면) or Bossam Kimchi(보쌈김치). And unlike the latter dishes, very few restaurants serve Kimchi Mari. I think I have rarely seen it in menus in all the restaurants I have visited in Seoul.
Because both sides of my family are originally from North Korea (both my parents escaped separately to South Korea during the war and met up again afterwards-talk about destiny..), I grew up eating many North Korean dishes such as the ones above.
As a kid, I often had sleepovers at my cousin’s home and my aunt made Kimchi Mari for us as a nighttime snack! When I first saw it, I thought they were crazy – eating a full rice meal as a snack?? But once I tasted it, I could not stop eating it. Kimchi Mari is especially refreshing and delicious when it is made with ice cold Kimjang kimchi(김장김치) during the winter months.
But not many of us have that luxury so just use the best quality, well-fermented kimchi you can get and it will still be good.
Anyway, that’s why I enjoy this dish and when it became the time to name my blog, I thought of this dish because it’s the quintessential Korean food that reminds me of home and my heritage. Also, it’s pretty catchy and easy to pronounce, no?
Added 12/28/2020
Of course, I never imagined I would read or hear – “Hello Mari, Hello Kim”,.. lol. Which I don’t mind at all. At least, no one has called me ‘kimchi’ so far.. 😜😝
What is Kimchi Mari 김치말이?
The word ‘mari(말이)’ comes from the verb ‘malda(말다)’ which refers to the act of adding and mixing rice in a broth or soup. So, Kimchi Mari by definition is rice mixed into kimchi soup. However, the version I introduce here is a dry version without the soup.
I am not sure why my family made this version without the soup but I actually prefer this version when rice is used because it’s kind of hard to find the rice once they are swimming in the soup! So I guess this recipe is a unique family recipe.
Kimchi Mari (Cold Kimchi Rice) Recipe
Servings: 1 Prep Time: 5 min Difficulty: very easy
Ingredients (adjustable) in Recipe Card below
Step-by-Step Directions
1. Measure about 1 C of cooked rice. Room temperature rice works best. Use leftover, old rice if you have any. If using freshly cooked rice, let it cool and come to room temperature.
2. Slice baechu(napa cabbage) kimchi into bite sizes pieces (about 1/3 in wide). Measure about 1/3 C. Use more if you want it to be more flavorful and spicy. If you like radish and have radish Kimchis like Kkakdugi, Chonggak Kimchi, you chop or slice these thinly and mix in with the rice also.
3. Add kimchi, sesame oil, sugar and sesame seeds to rice. Mix everything together with a spoon.
4. That’s it! Taste it and adjust sugar, sesame oil and sesame seeds. My mouth is watering just looking at these pictures…
5. If you’d like you can also add some crumbled roasted gim (seaweed). And then it would look like this –
This is all you need to make a nice, simple meal that’s refreshing and just so addictive.
What to serve with
You really don’t need much else with this meal but you can certainly make some light soups to go with it. I love it with Sogogi Muguk (Beef Radish Soup) or Bugeo Guk (dried pollock soup)
Suggestions for Banchan or side dish for Kimchi Mari – Cold Kimchi Rice:
myulchi bokkeum, sauteed burdock, sauteed dried shrimp will all go really well with this dish.
Variations
- Substitute or add radish or other kind of kimchi to vary the flavor
- Add some kimchi juice or dongchimi 동치미 juice to the rice if you want to make it moist. If you are making it very soupy, add some ice to make it extra crispy and zingy.
FYI
Kimchimari Guksoo (김치말이 국수) is a cold kimchi noodle soup that is similar to the soupy rice version. This is easier to find at restaurants than this rice dish.
Kimchi Mari (Cold Kimchi Rice)
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked rice (better if not too hot)
- 1/3 cup cabbage kimchi (sliced)
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1 dash sprinkling of sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a bowl, add 1 cup cooked rice. If rice is hot, let it cool and come to room temperature.
- Slice 1/3 cup baechu(napa cabbage) kimchi into bite sizes pieces.
- Mix kimchi, sesame oil, sugar and sesame seeds with rice.
- Taste it and adjust sugar, sesame oil and sesame seeds.
So simple, easy and so tasty!
It was nteresting to read the story behind your Blog name.
Yay!! Thank you for reading my story and the 5 stars!! Glad you thought it was tasty.
Wow! I saw a youtuber mixing this up as a side in her mukbang, and have been eating it ever since. I really didn’t think it had a name!
Haha – yes it does have a name! And you can also do it with noodles – it’s called kimchimari guksu. Enjoy!
My mom made this for me many years ago and I always thought she just smashed the rice and kimchi together but every time I tried to replicate it, it just didn’t taste right! Now that I added the sesame oil and sugar and waited until the rice was no longer hot- it’s exactly the right dish!! Thanks so much for sharing this!
Yay!! I’m soo happy to hear that it is exactly what your mom made!! Not many Koreans make this or know about this.. only Koreans who came down from the North during the war – like mine. Thank you so much for the comment, always makes it all worthwhile for me. Cheers!
i am a korean who moved to canada at an early age and i have had this as a simple meal all my life and never in my life did i realize this was a north korean thing??? now i’m questioning my entire family history LOL
Haha.. I mean Kimchimari originates from North Korea (before the war) but I am sure it has spread to many South Koreans after many North Koreans moved down South. So who knows maybe your parents lived next to a North Korean family. Thank you so much for sharing!
looks good!!!1
Yesh ! another way to enjoy my kimchi 🙂
Thank you for the recipe, I bought a big jar of kimchi it’s quite boring to eat it as side dish sometime. This recipe is just perfect for someone lazy and love to eat good food like me haha !
Would it ok if I use normal rice rather than sticky rice ?
Great to hear that! When you say “normal” rice – do you mean the long grain rice? The best rice to use is the short grain rice which I think is sometimes called sticky rice since it is lot stickier than the long grain. I think long grain rice should be ok – totally different texture tho.
Is the North Korean style white kimchi the one that’s not spicy and is more fruity?
Yes! It is white (which means there is no red chili) and not at all spicy. People also add Asian pears to it which makes it taste a little fruity..
thanks for asking!
I just recently watched my aunt who is 81 and hails from the northern region of Korea do her version of this dish. She mixed her homemade white kimchi and its liquid into plain white rice until everything looked right to her and then voila––a satisfying easy one-bowl meal!
Yes, I remember that version very well. And the North Korean style white kimchi is amazing! Thanks so much for sharing.
Looks delicious! I will have to try it soon. My grandparents on my mom’s side are from North Korea too. Sadly my grandma and grandpa both had their respective families in North Korea but lost contact with them. But they made a new family including my mom and her three sisters! My mom makes the cold kimchi noodles often, but I’ve never had the rice version!
Good to hear from another person who has relatives who lived in North Korea! I know.. aren’t cold kimchi noodles so yummy?! Definitely try the rice version and let me know how you like it! Thanks for stopping by.
Hm that looks delicious indeed! I actually don’t like cold rice much at all but this looks so good that I will have to make it anyway! 🙂 Thanks for posting this recipe!
thanks! I usually don’t like lukewarm, room temperature stuff too – I like it either really hot or really cold. But I would say this is an exception. Hope you like it!