The Spotify Playlist That Teaches You How To Make Kimchi Fried Rice
Rice — the ever-present grain, which has a place as an ingredient in myriad dishes and an incredibly important crop in the world's history — is one of the most unexpectedly challenging things to cook properly. One Spotify user got inventive in an attempt to streamline the cooking process of kimchi fried rice, interestingly enough. Could audio or music-based "recipes" become a movement of the future, moving away from the tried-and-true written recipe format? Read ahead to learn more.
Kimchi fried rice is an incredibly popular iteration of the iconic fried rice. Equally as enjoyable as a side as a main, a lunch, snack, or dinner, or cold or hot, kimchi fried rice is cherished for a good reason: a chewy, textural diverse amalgamation of browned, crisped rice interspersed with vegetables and — of course — a heaping amount of bright, acidic kimchi.
Most fried rice usually calls for leftover rice, so the hardest part is behind you! But as noted by NPR, Spotify user Noah Conk utilized the platform in order to help instruct cooks on how to make kimchi fried rice (as well as provide some relevant background tunes whilst you cook). According to the outlet, Conk's playlist shares his recipe for the beloved rice over the span of three hours and 51 tracks.
How does the playlist 'recipe' work?
While the Spotify playlist may at first seem to be a cutesy nod to the ingredients in the dish and not an instructional play-by-play like traditional recipe might be, that's incorrect. Noah Conk ingeniously built the playlist to literally read as a recipe: When one scrolls the playlist, the song titles themselves become the recipe. The first 10 songs, first example, are "Ingredients – 3- Tablespoons – Unsalted butter – Medium – Onion – One – Cup – Kimchi – Half cup – Spam!" Brilliant! When read this way, the recipe is "written" meticulously, clearly outlining each ingredient and step (via NPR).
The song titles that come after "Instructions" — the 23rd song on the playlist — are "Saute – Melt – Butter – Medium Heat – Add – Onions- Add – Kimchi – Spam in a Can – Cook – Until – Dry," and the last few songs of the playlist are "top off – with – sesame seeds," ending with "Winner's circle" as the final song, a fitting tune to bask in whilst enjoying your Spotify-assisted kimchi fried rice.
After creating the playlist, Conk tweeted out, "I don't know why I did this, but I made a Spotify playlist on how to make kimchi fried rice (to the best of my capabilities)." He added in a follow-up, "I really went all out on this." Indeed, he did. He told NBC News, "Kimchi fried rice is a pretty simple recipe, but there are some nuances in the steps when making it."
The future of recipes: audio?
Just as many recipe developers and cookbook authors would indicate, it's always insightful to read through a recipe in full prior to embarking on the cooking process — and that's also the case here! Clearly, the playlist beautifully illustrates this tenet.
NPR states that Noah Conk views kimchi fried rice as a comfort food after he "reconnected with his Korean roots in college." Chonk also clarifies his usage of unsalted butter, which allows for the cook to decide on the salt level, as well as the pure butter flavor to accentuate the inherent qualities of the uber-flavorful kimchi. According to NBC News, Conk was motivated to make his playlist recipe after seeing similar ones for foods like banana bread online. "I've always wanted to make this type of playlist," he shared.
While it may not occur to you to seek out Spotify when looking for recipes, perhaps this playlist might indicate a shift in the way in which recipes are "written" and consumed. So next time, instead of pulling out a stained cookbook or Googling a recipe, navigate to your Spotify app. and see if you might be able to find a fitting playlist-based "recipe."