Tasty Korean Rice Bowl (Bibimbap 비빔밥)

Bibimbap (비빔밥) is one of my ultimate comfort foods of all time. If I have a limitless bottom in my stomach, I can eat Bibimbap all day. So, what is Bibimbap? It is basically Korean rice bowl with vegetables (and sometimes with meat) that you mix it first with gochujang (고추장) paste or Korean red chili paste. You only mixed everything once you are ready to devour it. So, think of it, once the rice is mixed thoroughly, it is like an explosion of flavors in one bite!

Here is the literal meaning of Bibimbap. It is a combination of two words – Bibim 비빔 + Bap 밥. Bibim 비빔itself means “mixed” and Bap 밥 means “Rice”. You can practically put any combination of vegetables (and, if you like, meat as well!) on top of the rice. In the recipe below, I use carrot, spinach, bean sprout, napa cabbage kimchee, seaweed, dweji bulgogi, and eggs into the rice bowl. However, you can use tofu, mushroom, cucumber, beef, chicken, and so on.

For Bibimbap, as long as you have steamed rice, assortment of veggies, fried eggs, sesame oil, and gochujang paste, you are good to go ^.^. So, another tips on making Bibimbap, you can practically use any leftover dishes, blanch a bit of veggies, add on to steamed rice, fried eggs, sesame oil and gochujang paste, mix everything up inside the rice bowl and voila~ you get one delicious Bibimbap ready to be enjoyed! Super easy and simple, right?

Tools I use:

• Deep saucepan – Non-stick deep saucepan that I mainly use for boiling egg, blanching veggies or making some sauces. I love it because it’s not too heavy, non-stick and so easy to clean.
• Frying pan – Non-stick frying pan for any kind of cooking needs such as frying, sautéing, or stir frying that I really love to use. Evenly heated, easy cleaning and very durable.

Tip: You can omit the meat if you are vegetarian – it will still be as delicious as the gochujang sauce is the one that pretty much ‘do the flavoring’. Also, if you don’t have any fresh vegetables handy, you can use the frozen one. Steam, boil or blanch all the veggies first, squeeze all excess liquids before adding them into the rice bowl.

Ingredient:

• 2 bowls steamed rice
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• ½ cup kimchee (cut napa cabbage kimchee)
• 1 bunch spinach – cut each stem into 2 or 3 equal length
• 1 cup roasted seaweed – shredded into smaller pieces
• 2 eggs
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup dweji bulgogi (optional)
• Olive oil to fry
• Water to blanch

Gochujang Sauce

• 2 tablespoons gochujang
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons boiled water
• A sprinkle roasted sesame seed

Direction:

• Put the steamed rice into each bowls.
• Bring water to boil in the deep saucepan. Once the water is boiled, put a sprinkle of salt in the boiled water and blanch the bean sprouts. It takes probably less than a minute or until the bean sprouts is soft. Remove excess liquid and set aside.
• Repeat the same blanching process with spinach. Remove excess liquid and set aside.
• Heat up about ½ tablespoon of olive oil in the frying pan. Once heated, stir fry the shredded carrot for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the frying pan and, under low-medium heat, fry two sunny-side up eggs for about 4 minutes or longer (depending on how you like to get your egg done).
• Let’s assemble the bibimbap (or rice bowl).
• Put the steamed rice into each bowls. Then, arrange a small amount of each prepared toppings over the rice – spinach, carrot, bean sprout, kimchee, roasted seaweed, dweji bulgogi (optional).
• Place the fried sunny-side egg to the middle of the rice bowl. Serve with the gochujang sauce on the side.
• To enjoy, pour over the gochujang sauce to the rice bowl and mixed everything up thoroughly before you start your first bite. Enjoy!