These days I almost always have a batch of kimchi going in the fridge and my latest batch was ready. I could not wait to to try it and I knew exactly what I wanted to make, a kimchi pizza. Kimchi generally comes with a lot of liquid so you often need to squeeze the excess off. When making some dishes such as the kimchi quesadillas you even need to think about removing some of the moisture from the fermented cabbage to make sure that you do not end up with a soggy quesadilla. With a pizza however, I figured that all of that flavour packed kimchi juice would make the perfect pizza sauce. Bacon goes so well with kimchi that I did not even think about making the kimchi pizza without it and you couldn’t have a pizza without some cheese. I still wanted something else on the pizza and I thought that some shiitake mushrooms would do well. Since I had just cooked some bacon I lightly sauteed the mushrooms in the grease before adding to the pizza to get even more of that bacon flavour. After the pizza came out of the oven I finished it off with some fresh sliced green onions and some toasted sesame seeds. The kimchi and bacon pizza with shiitake mushrooms exceeded all of my expectations! The spicy kimchi all covered with gooey melted cheese went so well with the salty bacon and everything worked really well in pizza form including the kimchi juice ‘pizza sauce’. I am going to have to make this again soon!
Kimchi, Bacon and Shiitake Mushroom Pizza
ingredients
- 4 strips bacon (cut into 1 inch slices)
- 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)
- 1 cup kimchi (chopped)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese (grated)
- 1 pizza dough
- 2 green onions (sliced)
- 1 tables sesame seeds (toasted)
directions
- Cook the bacon in a pan and set aside.
- Add the mushrooms and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Assemble pizza.
- Bake in a preheated 500F/260C oven until golden brown, about 5-10 minutes.
- Serve garnished with green onions and sesame seeds.
Mariel says
January 28, 2010 at 3:08 amThis is wonderful, I'm starving after reading this post! I am completely obsessed with kimchi… So good to see a fellow Canadian food blogger hyping up kimchi in non-traditional ways!
Chef Aimee says
January 28, 2010 at 3:47 amI love Korean food because of kimchi, so this recipe is awesome!
Jennifer says
January 28, 2010 at 4:25 amWhat a GREAT idea to put kimchi on pizza!
poppyseed says
January 28, 2010 at 4:30 amPizza looks awesome. What is kimchi?
Sook says
January 28, 2010 at 4:48 amWOW Kevin, I never thought of adding kimchi to a pizza! That is brilliant! I just made some kimchi and when it's old enough, I'd like to try this recipe. Thanks!
Sophie says
January 28, 2010 at 7:32 amWaw,…I never thaught either to use kimchi to top a pizza!! What a grand & clever idea!!
The pizza looks excellent to me!
MMMMMMMMMMMMM,…very tasty!
Nina Timm says
January 28, 2010 at 7:59 amA fusion pizza – would not mind a couple of slices of that!!!
emma says
January 28, 2010 at 8:23 amPizza Hutt here in Japan does a Korean Bulugogi pizza that you might like. It's good but it would be better if the Japanese could get over their obsession with putting mayonnaise on their pizzas. The most common pizza here is tuna, corn and mayonnaise! Here's their pizza menu online (all Japanese but english headings and scary pictures!
http://www.pizzahut.jp/menu/pizza.php
MaryMoh says
January 28, 2010 at 8:24 amI'm very sure this pizza tastes great because I love kimchi and the shitake mushrooms. Looks awesome. I'll have to try this. Thanks for sharing.
Rosa's Yummy Yums says
January 28, 2010 at 8:32 amAn awesome pizza!
Cheers,
Rosa
Joanne says
January 28, 2010 at 11:13 amI'm pretty sure this pizza could only come out of your kitchen (and I mean that in a good way). Awesome combination of ingredients! I bet this pizza would do so well in pizza places here.
diva says
January 28, 2010 at 12:22 pmbeen having bad kimchi cravings lately and went out for Korean last night. This is yum! i want this for lunch now!
♥peachkins♥ says
January 28, 2010 at 12:27 pmI've never imagine kimchi as pizza topping..
Fun and Fearless in Boston says
January 28, 2010 at 1:40 pmKimchi pizza is seriously one of my favorites! Growing up, this was the perfect compromise of Korean and American food in my house that seemed to please both my parents and I!
Jeff says
January 28, 2010 at 2:17 pmHuge fan of kimchi and one of my favorite chicken dishes is just chicken tossed with kimchi, ginger, garlic, dash of sesame oil, and marinated overnight. I just simply throw it in a wok the next day.
Nicely done and love the pic!
Phoo-D says
January 28, 2010 at 3:35 pmWow – what a fantastic sounding pizza! I am learning to love kimchi and just bought our first jar to play with at home. This sounds like a perfect way to use it!
Jo Zalea says
January 28, 2010 at 4:06 pmI LOVE kimchi, bacon, mushrooms, and pizza, so this sounds heavenly! I have to try this soon!
Joy says
January 28, 2010 at 6:09 pmWOW how creative are you Kevin!!! This looks freaking insanely delicious — talk about using creativity!! I am going to try this one on my next pizza night 🙂 beautiful blog you have here!
Jenn@slim-shoppin says
January 28, 2010 at 7:22 pmI've never had Kimchi before, but this looks amazing! And I love a thin pizza!
Pam says
January 28, 2010 at 9:17 pmYou are unbelievably creative!
info@dailychef.com says
January 28, 2010 at 9:36 pmWhat a great way to use kimchee. Ever try it on a hot dog… also fantastic
screwdestiny says
January 28, 2010 at 10:33 pmWow, that looks awesome. Now I just need some kimchi…
meaghan says
January 28, 2010 at 10:42 pmwhoa! My new batch of kimchi is ready, too… I've been wondering how kimchi would taste on pizza. It's great in burritos and on tostadas, too. I might have to try the pizza.
You have great ideas, Kevin. Thanks for sharing.
Kevin says
January 29, 2010 at 11:49 ampoppyseed: Kimchi is a Korean form of pickle. Its most well known form, and the one I used on this pizza, is that of a spicy fermented cabbage that I made myself. Kimchi Recipe
Catherine says
January 29, 2010 at 7:01 pmLooks incredible Kevin! So yummy!
Anonymous says
January 30, 2010 at 1:09 amLooks absolutely delicious, but how many servings does it give by the way?
Kevin says
January 30, 2010 at 1:52 amAnonymous: It is a large pizza so I usually get 4 serving out of it.
Anonymous says
February 3, 2010 at 4:21 amHi Kevin! I eat kimchi every day, but never have I had kimchi pizza. How brave and wonderfully creative of you.
eatme_delicious says
February 18, 2010 at 9:51 pmWow this is definitely one of the most interesting sounding pizzas I've seen in a while!!
Anonymous says
March 6, 2010 at 4:36 pmENOUGH WITH THE KIMCHEE ALREADY…ONE TRICK PONY
Vegetrendian says
March 11, 2010 at 3:31 amAs far as I see, you are a Kimchi king! Keep these excellent recipes coming!!
Anonymous says
March 17, 2010 at 12:31 amKevin, I have a crew of Korean painters working for me at the moment and they brought me some home made Kimchi, the first thing I made was your pizza recipe, excellent, excellent.
Thanks.
MK says
June 14, 2010 at 6:39 pmKevin, this sounds wonderful, I believe I will try it tonight! I love that you get how perfect kimchi is paired with a rich, meaty taste! My mouth is watering…
Espresso Style says
August 23, 2010 at 6:51 pmI'm from Romania, Eastern Europe and I've never had kimchi. How is it?
you make yours at home?
I only saw the making of kimchi in a Tony Bordain "No Reservations" Show and it seemed kinda complicated!
Kevin says
August 27, 2010 at 12:30 pmEspresso Style: Kimchi is on the spicy side and packed full of flavour! I really like it and make it myself: kimchi recipe If you can find the Korean chili pepper flakes it is actually pretty easy to make yourself.