If there ever were an ultimate kimchi fried rice, this would be it. Think perfectly seasoned,
glistening red pebbles of rice with seared pieces of meat, soft, ripened kimchi, and a crispy
crust on the bottom. It turns out there are many secrets to the makings of the kimchi
bokeumbap served at Dong Il Jang, a Korean barbecue-cum-sushi place on West 8th Street
in Los Angeles that is arguably the best in town.
First of all, you can't order it off the menu. It isn't listed. The fried rice featuring the
Korean national dish that is kimchi (fiery fermented cabbage) comes at the end of a
barbecue fest that is rosu gooey: thick slabs of unmarinated ribeye pieces the size of sushi
that you cook tableside on a generously-buttered grill and quickly dip into a salt, pepper
and sesame oil sauce before wrapping it in strips of fresh green onions.
The impressive array of banchan, or side dishes, includes two types of kimchi (not
including one made separately for the fried rice); gamja jorim, sweet and salty braised
potatoes; oiji muchim, spiced pickled cucumbers; mu muchim, pickled radish strips; and
my personal favorite, a relatively "New Korean" concoction: chopped Romaine lettuce
salad in a sweet and spicy dressing with sesame seeds.
Make no mistake. As good as it is, the meat is merely an appetizer, an amuse-bouche to
what is clearly the star of this meal. Nothing beats the anticipation we feel as our waitress
brings a bowl of chopped kimchi and meat, along with a dollop of a secret gochujang-based
sauce (Korean chili paste) to the table after the last piece of meat has been consumed. "Will
it be standard spicy?" she asks. "Yes!" my eating partner and I exclaim gleefully.
What happens next is sheer magic. The waitress artfully pours the contents of the bowl onto
the same grill the meat was cooked on, making a delightful sizzling sound. This may not be
everyone's cup of tea, but the leftover banchan from the table is also piled onto the grill.
Bean sprouts, pickled radishes, green onions - it's all good. She adds the chili paste, cooks
the kimchi and meat some more, and adds the rice, which she so adroitly incorporates into
the kimchi mixture that all of us at the table can't help but stare in awe at her super-fast
hand movements.
"They go through training so it's done right," says Seong Oon Kim, the founder and owner
of Dong Il Jang for the past 30 years.
Many of the wait staff are old-timers and make it look effortless.
Kim started serving kimchi fried rice about 20 years ago. The genesis: "Rice came with the
meal and Koreans like spicy food, so I figured we would offer something different," says
the 74-year-old. The fried rice was a hit with customers, and rosu gooey continues to be the
most popular item on the extensive menu.
As awareness about Korean food grows among mainstream palates, non-Koreans have also
been flocking to Dong Il Jang and embracing the unique fried rice dish, adds Kim, noting
that non-Koreans currently make up about 40 percent of the restaurant's clientele. 
What are the secrets of his fried rice success? 1) Frying it on the same pan the meat was
grilled on helps to retain all the meaty goodness; 2) the Napa cabbage kimchi used is made
especially for the fried rice; and 3) the chili paste is mixed with spices and condiments that
he will not reveal. "Even our wait staff has tried to replicate our kimchi fried rice at home
to no avail," Kim says with some satisfaction. 
Using the same pan also helps to produce crusty fried rice, or nurungji, which is the best
part and must be scraped after waiting for about three minutes for the crust to form.
The restaurant is an homage to Kim's own father who ran a restaurant by the same name in
Seoul in the 1950s. The Dong Il Jang sign outside of the restaurant is the original sign used
by his father's restaurant, and the name means "the best in the East."
Much like its loyal staff that has been working there for more than 20 years, Dong Il Jang
has a devoted fan base spanning several generations. Take 39-year-old Roy Kim (no
relation to the owner), an attorney from Orange County, who devours a bowl of kimchi
fried rice whenever he makes it to the restaurant. "I've been [coming] since I was 8," Kim
says. "I remember driving to Koreatown with my folks on the weekends to have dinner."
Aside from the sumptuous taste, he likes the fried rice because "I always feel like I'm
getting something for free at the end."