A Korean side dish with bite

Food editor Leslie Brenner discovered this fabulous, easy-to-do take on a Korean rice dish at Yu Restaurant & Lounge in Santa Monica. Korean-born, French-trained chef Andrew deGroot loves the spicy, complex flavors of kimchi rice and spent years sampling home-cooked dishes and restaurant versions before coming up with his own.

Total time: 20 minutes, plus 20 minutes rice-cooking the day before

Servings: 4 as a side dish

Note: Look for kimchi and Korean chile paste (also called Korean hot pepper paste or kochujang) at Asian markets.

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 cup cabbage kimchi, cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces

1 tablespoon Korean chili paste (kochujang)

1 1/2 cups day-old cooked jasmine rice

1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon diced green onions

1. Add the butter, vegetable and sesame oils to a 10-inch nonstick saute pan, and cook on medium-high heat until the butter is melted. Add the kimchi and the chile paste and cook, stirring, until blended and hot, about 2 minutes.

2. Add the rice and cook, turning the rice with a spatula until it has lost its moisture and gets crispy, about 3 to 5 minutes.

3. Drizzle and stir the soy sauce into the finished rice. Spoon into a serving dish and garnish with the green onions.

Each serving: 174 calories; 3 grams protein; 19 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 10 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 7 mg. cholesterol; 535 mg. sodium.