Bibimbap

Ingredients

• Cooked short-grain rice600 g
• Beef — in thin strips250 g
• Spinach200 g
• Soybean sprouts150 g
• Carrot — julienned1
• Shiitake mushrooms150 g
• Eggs4
• Gochujang4 tbsp
• Sesame oil3 tbsp
• Soy sauce2 tbsp
• Garlic3 clove
• Sesame seedsto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Marinate the beef in soy, garlic and a spoon of sesame oil for twenty minutes.

   20 min

2. 2

   Blanch the spinach for thirty seconds, squeeze it dry and dress with sesame oil and a pinch of salt. Boil the sprouts three minutes and dress them the same way, with garlic.

   8 min

3. 3

   Fry the carrot and the mushrooms separately, a couple of minutes each, seasoning each on its own. No need to wash the pan in between.

   6 min

4. 4

   Sear the beef over a high flame for two minutes. Fry the eggs separately, leaving the yolks runny.

   6 min

5. 5

   Divide the hot rice between bowls, arrange the vegetables and beef in sections, and top with an egg and a spoon of gochujang. Each person does the mixing.

About the dish

Every vegetable in bibimbap is cooked separately and seasoned its own way: spinach with sesame oil, carrot with salt alone, sprouts with garlic. The point is that until it is mixed, all the flavours exist apart.

The name means mixed rice, and the mixing is done by the eater rather than the cook. A beautifully arranged bowl exists exactly until the first move of the spoon.

In the dolsot version — in a screaming-hot stone bowl — the rice against the sides turns into a crust called nurungji. At home a heavy cast-iron pan will do it.

Worth knowing

• — The vegetables can be made the day before; they keep for a day and arguably improve. Assemble the bowl just before serving.
• — Serve the gochujang on the side: heat tolerance differs, and once it is stirred in there is no taking it back.
• — For the nurungji crust, oil a hot cast-iron pan with sesame oil, press the rice in and leave it alone for three minutes.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

640 kcal

Protein

34 g

Fat

22 g

Carbs

76 g

More from Korea

• Kimchi jjigae — A stew of over-fermented kimchi with pork and tofu. The older the kimchi, the better it works.