Bibimbap - “mixed rice” - is a traditional Korean rice dish served with sauce and eaten with banchan, which translates to side dishes. Bibimbap is often made using leftover banchan from meals. Each ingredient in bibimbap is prepared individually to bring out its unique flavor, texture and color. You can also make bibimbap with kimchi, gochujang, and sesame seed oil.
Background of Bibimbap:
Noticeably, Korean food is very colorful and generally contains a minimum of five colors to maintain balance in a harmony. In Korean, “Obangsaek” means “five colors” with each color representing the following:
Green = Consistency
Black = Wisdom
Yellow = Fortune
White = Purity
Red = Passion
Ingredient List
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4 cups cooked short grain rice
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2 cups soy bean/mung bean sprouts or mung bean sprouts
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1/2 bunch of blanched spinach
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1/2 cup julienned carrots
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1/2 cup julienned zucchini
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1/2 cup thinly sliced Kirby or Persian cucumber
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1/2 cup thinly sliced Shiitake mushrooms
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1 red bell pepper, julienned
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4 eggs
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1-2 tablespoon(s) minced garlic
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1 tablespoon minced ginger
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2 tablespoons cooking wine (sake)
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1/5 of Asian pear (pureed)
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1/5 of small yellow onion (pureed)
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1/4 lb thinly sliced beef for bulgogi
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Salt (Korean sea salt)
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Vegetable oil
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Sesame seed oil
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Garlic, sugar
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Black pepper
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Ginger
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Soy sauce/tamari
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Gochujang
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Vinegar
For the gochujang sauce:
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1 tablespoon gochujang
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1 teaspoon sugar
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1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
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1/4 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
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1 clove minced garlic
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Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well
Instructions
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Rinse the rice until the water is clear
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In a saucepan, put your hand on top of the rice and fill until your knuckles are covered by the water
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Cook on high until water is evaporated and appears like moon craters
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Turn to low heat, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, fluff rice with nonstick rice paddle.
While rice cooks, prepare the vegetables in the following manner:
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Add vegetable oil in a medium pan over medium heat
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Individually saute each vegetable 3-5 minutes, adding 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil, salt, and necessary seasonings.
Make the bean sprouts:
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Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of salt and bean sprouts.
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Cook for about 3-5 minutes and quickly immerse in a cold bath.
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Using your hands, gently squeeze the excess water. Place bean sprouts in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt, 1 clove minced garlic, 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil and gently hand toss the bean sprouts so they are evenly coated. Set aside.
Make the bulgogi:
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In a bowl, add thinly cut beef with 2 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar, pinch of black pepper, 2 tablespoon cooking wine (sake), 1 tablespoon water, 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger, 2 tablespoon pureed yellow onion and pureed Asian pear.
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In a pan, over high heat, cook stirring rapidly for approximately 5-10 minutes. Set aside.
Plating and Serving
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Koreans believe you eat with your eyes first. Bibimbap is plated in many variations, from simple to elaborate with each banchan ingredient complementing the other. When it is served in sizzling hot stoneware, or earthenware, it is called “dolsot-bibimbap”.
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Place your rice in the center of the bowl and arrange banchan, in a clockwise manner, on top of the rice. You may top it off with a sunny side up egg in the middle for a nice touch and enjoy it with gochujang sauce.
