email this pageThe decision turned out to be a good one. Presented in a big bowl, the colorful dish seemed somehow familiar, like the Chinese foods my mother cooked. The rice had a certain nuttiness, the beef and vegetables similar subtleties. And the soft, golden yolk? Delicious.
In Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen (Ten Speed Press, 2001), Washington, D.C.-based author Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall devotes an entire chapter to rice and includes recipes for no fewer than a dozen rice dishes.
I am fascinated most, of course, with the information she offers on bibimbap, the quintessential one-bowl meal. According to Hepinstall, the dish had been served originally in upturned helmets to Korean soldiers on the battlefield. These days, it can be as simple or as fancy as it needs to be.
A college friend of mine who grew up in a traditional Korean-American household in Philadelphia loves bibimbap for its convenience, versatility and accessibility. She always has. Her non-Korean colleagues and acquaintances on the East Coast have long since embraced the dish as well.
Early one evening in my own kitchen, I decide to make bibimbap. In the refrigerator, I locate carrots, zucchini and shiitake mushrooms; they get julienned. I pull out bean sprouts and spinach; these get sorted and trimmed, too. From the cupboard, I retrieverice wine and sesame oil.
The ingredients are cooked separately and assembled at the table. After scooping white rice into big bowls, I arrange the meat, vegetables and mushrooms on top. A fried egg finishes the dish nicely. Tossed together and eaten with a large spoon or a pair of chopsticks, bibimbap is comfort food at its best.
Bibimbap
Ingredients
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
Pinch of ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons rice wine
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 pound beef flank or sirloin steak,
cut into thin strips
2 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
2 cups medium-grain rice, uncooked
Vegetables and eggs:
2 tablespoons sugar
˝ teaspoon salt
˝ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 carrots, peeled and julienned
2 cups spinach leaves, trimmed
1 medium zucchini, peeled and julienned
2 cups bean sprouts, rinsed and sorted
8 fresh shiitake mushrooms, julienned
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 whole eggs
Optional garnish:
2 to 3 green onions, cut at an angle into 1-inch pieces
Red pepper sauce, such as Sriracha, or chile paste
2. Rinse rice. Cook according to package instructions. Keep warm.
3. Remove meat from marinade. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add beef and sauté 4 to 5 minutes or until done. Keep warm.
4. To prepare the vegetables, combine sugar, salt and ground black pepper in a large bowl. Add carrots, spinach leaves, zucchini, bean sprouts and mushrooms, and toss to coat.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté vegetable mixture 4 to 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Keep warm.
6. Heat remaining 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggs and fry sunny-side up.
7. Divide cooked rice among 4 large deep bowls. Arrange vegetables on top. Add strips of beef and cover with fried egg. Garnish with green onion, if desired. Serve with red pepper sauce. Serves 4.
Recipe by Christina Eng, Relish a New Dish, "Mmm Bap," October 2007.
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