Easy Peasy

Hubby and I love trying new food and all kind of different cuisines. But it's often hard to just pick up and go to try the newest restaurant now that we have a toddler to take care of. Just because we can't go out to eat every night, it doesn't mean we have to eat the same thing every week. I love learning how to make all our restaurant favorites at home, some successful and some not (many many failed Pad Thai attempts later, I totally give up!). This week's menu includes Bibimbap, the yummy, hardy korean one pot rice dish.

Before I start to share my recipe, I just want to say that this is my version of the dish and it's not 100% authentic! The dish is super easy, it's more assembly than actual cooking, all the components can be made ahead and warmed before serving. The longest step is probably frying the beef, but even that only takes around 10 minutes!

Bibimbap

Serves 2

1 cup of cooked rice (or whatever amount you want)

1 package of sliced beef (the kind you buy for hot pot)

1 cup of korean kalbi bbq sauce 

Seasoned Bean Sprouts, Spinach and Carrots (see below)

2 Fried eggs

 Seasoned Bean Sprouts, Carrots and Spinach

 

1 cup of bean sprouts

1 brunch of spinach

2 carrots, julienne 

Marinade
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

All three of these vegetable toppings are boiled separately, to save time, I boiled the bean sprouts first, then the spinach and carrots last, all in the same boiling water. 

Drain each ingredient separately and mix with one portion of the marinade (ie. do 3 portions of the marinade recipe and use one per vegetable). Set aside. You can use other vegetables like cucumbers or chinese mushrooms for the bibimbap.

Once all the vegetables are done and marinating, mix the sliced beef with the korean kalbi bbq sauce. This is a store bought marinade which is great to have, for beef, beef short ribs, chicken drumsticks and even salmon. It is readily available in any asian market, but if you can't find it, here is a recipe.

The sliced beef is so thin that it doesn't take long to marinate, a quick 10 min marinate is enough. Fry the beef while mixing and breaking the chunks apart, set aside when done.

Fry 2 eggs, sunny side up! You are now ready to assemble your yummy dinner!

Fill 2 bowls with cooked rice, place each topping (carrots, spinach, bean sprout and beef) on top of the rice, then top with the egg. Ta-da! All done!

The traditional bibimpbap is served with the korean red pepper sauce, but since we didn't have any on hand, we served it with sriracha hot sauce. The meat and veggies are so flavorful that you really don't need any other sauce. The oozing egg yolk tastes so good with all the salty toppings! 

It seems like there are alot of steps to this dish, but it doesn't take any time at all! It took around 30 minutes from start to finish, which makes this a good option for a weeknight dinner!