Cassie’s Ruminations

Bibimbap (Korean Mixed Rice Bowls)

This is a Korean dish that is very versatile. The name literally means “mixed rice.” I make mine with galbi marinated thinly sliced beef; stir fried zucchini, carrots, and cabbage; and a fried egg. Kimchi is more traditional, but I’m not much of a fan, so the stir fried cabbage works as a good compromise. Bean sprouts are also quite traditional, but they looked lousy today, so no. Part of the appeal to bibimbap, apart from the simple fun of saying it “bee-bihm-bahp” “bee-bihm-bahp” 🙂 , is that it’s very easy to customize. All of the ingredients are stir fried separately, so if a guest doesn’t like carrots, he simply doesn’t put any in his bowl.

Bibimbap
Serves 4

For the beef:
12 oz thinly sliced beef
4 large cloves garlic, pressed (about 4 tablespoons)
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp honey
½ of a ripe bartlett pear, cored and grated
2 tbsp sake
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp black pepper

For the vegetables:
2 medium small zucchini, quartered lengthwise then sliced
2 medium small carrots, halved lengthwise then sliced
½ small savoy cabbage, sliced
canola oil
sesame oil

For the egg:
4 eggs
1 tsp canola oil

For serving:
8 cups hot cooked medium grain rice
gochujang or sriracha (hot sauce) to taste

Mix together all the beef marinade ingredients in a large zip top bag. Add the beef and seal. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Cook the rice according to your favorite method or just the method on the package.

When the rice is just about done, heat 1 tbsp of canola oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add the beef and cook until just browned. Remove to a bowl and cover to keep warm.

Add about 2 tsp of canola oil and 1 tsp of sesame oil to the pan and add the carrots. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Remove to a bowl and keep warm. Add a bit more of the oils if necessary, then add the zucchini and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until tender, and remove to a bowl. Finally add the cabbage, cook for 1-2 minutes to brown a bit, then add a splash of water and cover and cook for a final 1-2 minutes or until tender as well. Remove to a bowl and keep warm.

Add a little more canola oil to the pan and fry the eggs to your desired doneness – a little runnyness is traditional, but hard set is just fine.

Scoop rice into bowls, arrange some beef and veggies of your choice around the edges, and place a fried egg in the middle. Serve immediately. Diners should add hot sauce to taste and mix everything together into a tasty mish-mash.