Kimchi to Koreans is like rice to Filipinos, pasta to Italians or potatoes to Americans. Kimchi is a fermented side dish (vegetables with different seasonings) that originated from Korea. It is a staple of their diet. With its interesting and complex flavor, it’s no surprise that more and more people are getting hooked.

If using Kimchi as a side dish sounds boring to you, here are 5 ways on how you can make the dish the star of the show:

1. Fried Rice

If you’re sick of Chinese fried rice, make Kimchi fried rice instead! For the ingredients, you need a bowl of cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups kimchi, cut-up Chinese sausage or Chorizo, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, minced green onion, 1 egg, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir fry the kimchi before adding the rice and the rest of the ingredients.

2. Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Chop the kimchi into small pieces and simply add it as a layer in your sandwich. Cook the sandwich as you would a regular grilled cheese sandwich. Don’t say no until you tried it! There’s something about the combination of kimchi and cheese that produces a whole new level of flavor and texture.

3. Deviled Eggs

If you would like to add an ethnic twist to your plain deviled eggs, the easiest way to do it is to add kimchi! You will need 2 hardboiled eggs, 1 tablespoon chopped kimchi, 1 chopped up fried bacon, 2 mint leaves and 1 tablespoon mayonnaise. Mix the yolks with the rest of the ingredients then scoop the filling to the egg white halves. This recipe by David Chang totally rocks! You need to try it ASAP.

4. Omelets

Who knew that kimchi can also be eaten for breakfast? But then again kimchi omelet is so good that you would want to eat it for lunch and dinner too! Apart from chopped kimchi, you can also add scallion, shitake or cremini mushroom into the egg mixture.

5. Dumplings

Kimchi dumplings are so easy to make and you only need 2 ingredients: kimchi (obviously) and dumpling wrappers. You can have them any way you want ? deep fried, steamed, pan fried or dropped into soup. No need for a dipping sauce because they are bursting with flavor on their own.

There are so many ways to enjoy kimchi. You don’t have to eat it as a side dish all the time. You can find it in many grocery stores. Look for it in the refrigerated produce section. Go ahead and experiment with what you can do with kimchi. Have fun!