Bibimbap: My Attempt at Korean Cooking

Hello, hello.I know I’ve been neglecting my crafting lately. Sadly, with a full time job, I only have time for one extra curricular activity, and right now it’s photography. However, I’ve started cooking again, so hopefully I can fill the silence with some great recipes I’ve been making.Starting with today.

If I could only pick one ethnic cuisine to eat for the rest of my life, it would definitely be Japanese. Sushi is food fit for the gods. If I could only pick two cuisines, they would be Japanese and Korean. I LOVE Korean food. I crave it at least once a week and I eat so much kimchi, my DNA must have converted from Chinese to Korean by now.

Lately, I’ve been on a Korean food cooking binge. I found the cutest little Korean market near my office. It’s run by a super sweet woman who treats her customers like sons and daughters. Stepping into her shop makes me feel like I’m visiting my auntie for dinner. Yesterday, I picked up a stash of Korean pastes, spices, and produce and made my husband and myself a delicious Korean dinner. Check it out:

For a Chinese gal, it tasted pretty authentic! I’m going to pat myself on the back for this one. No more spending $12 on bibimbap when I can make it at home for much less.

I’m no expert at Korean cooking, but here’s the recipe that worked for me, which has been mixed and matched from a bunch of internet recipes, based on the ingredients I had access to:

Bibimbap for Two

Prep work: Meat and marinade:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 pound thinly sliced rib-eye

2. Mix all the ingredients and marinate the meat for at least an hour or two in the fridge.

Rice:

1. Wash and cook 1 cup of short grain white rice according to instructions.

Veggies:
6 oz fresh spinach, washed and chopped
1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts, washed
1/2 cup fresh soybean sprouts with the stringy ends picked off
1/2 cup peeled and julienned daikon radish
Sesame oil
Sesame seeds
Sugar
1/4 tsp Korean chili powder
Clove of Minced garlic
1 tsp rice vinegar

3. Spinach: Blanch spinach in boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove, rinse with cold water, drain, and place in a dish with 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, pinch of minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds. Mix well.
4. Bean sprouts: Blanch bean sprouts for 20 seconds. Drain, place in a dish and add 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, dash of salt and sprinkle of sesame seeds. Mix and set aside.
5. Soybean sprouts: Repeat step 4 using soybean sprouts, a plus pinch of minced garlic,
6. Daikon: Place daikon in a bowl, and add chili powder, rice vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and a pinch of salt. Mix and set aside.

Sauce:
4 Tbsp Korean red pepper paste (gochujang)
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 Tbsp honey
1/2 Tbsp sugar, or to taste

7. Mix all sauce ingredients together.

Assembly:
8. Heat a cast iron skillet up on medium and add a tbsp of oil. Cook the marinated meat without moving it around too much on the pan (try to flip it only once).
9. When meat is cooked, portion rice out into two bowls. Top with meat and veggies.
10. (Optional) Cook an egg over easy so the yolk is hot, but still runny. Add on top of rice, veggies, and meat.
11. Top with red sauce. Break the egg open, mix well, and eat!

My favorite thing about bibimbap is that you can make it any way you want by mixing up the veggies. I’ve had it with julienned carrots and cucumbers, shitake mushrooms, I’ve even been to a restaurant where it was made with corn. It’s always delicious. Next time, I’m going to try making dolsot bibimbap (the rice is cooked in a stone pot so it comes out nice and crispy). I don’t have a stone pot, but I will try using my cast iron as a substitute.