Bibimbap (비빔밥) is a tasty Korean Rice complete meal in a bowl with Seasoned vegetables, beef, kimchi and gochujang sauce for a spicy little kick.
![img_6244[1]](https://www.hwcmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/img_624411.jpg)
Mr. Anonymous, also known as my better half, has been leaving friendly notes and comments on Healthy World Cuisine stating that he feels that Korean food has been unrepresented and he would like some BiBimBap. He is in luck. I have some very lovely Korean friends who are are living right next door to me in Hong Kong.
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What is Bibimbap?
Bibimbap (비빔밥) is a signature Korean dish. The word literally means "mixed meal" or "mixed rice". Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste). A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions.
The ingredients are stirred together thoroughly just before eating. The best part is the crunchy rice on the bottom of the bowl as it is usually served in a hot stone pot pre-heated in the oven.
I asked my dear friend if she could show me how to make this popular Korean dish called BiBimBap. I thought because this is such a popular Korean dish that she probably cooks this dish every week, but I was wrong.
She told me that actually Koreans feel this is quite a complicated dish because of all the prep and steps involved. Most generally families go out to eat this dish instead. Hmm... I wonder how Mr. Anonymous will take this news??? (I don't have the heart to tell him)
Culinary Challenge
No worries! I am always up to a good challenge and I asked my cooking friend if we could split the tasks and make BiBimBap together for both of our families. Cooking together with friends who share a similar passion for cooking makes for a very happy experience in the kitchen.
Sharing Cultures
Friends who cook together learn each others’ culinary skills and cultural history, and encourage each other to try new things. Cooking together gives you a chance to slow down and talk while you are chopping, sautéing and simmering. It helps you realize that the act of cooking is much more than feeding your family, but it feeds your soul. A big thank you to Yoonsun. This BiBimBap recipe is dedicated to you.
Lots of Ingredients
- ½ Cup Kimchi (chopped)
- 2 handfuls Bean Sprouts
- ½ Onion (sliced thin lengthwise)
- 1 Carrot Julienne sliced
- 1 Zucchini Julienne sliced
- ½ Cucumber Julienne sliced (do not cook)
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 4 Egg fried whole
- 1 Dried Seaweed (laver) Julienne sliced (do not cook)
- 2 tablespoons garlic
- toasted sesame seeds
- salt to taste
- oil for frying
- 2 Bowls Cooked Rice
Beef and Marinade:
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 1 Kiwi grated with juices (some prefer Korean pear)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
- ½ small white onion, grated or sliced
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon ground red pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup lemon-lime soda, optional
- 3 tablespoon Korean Red Pepper Paste
- ¼ tsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Brown Rice Vinegar or Apple Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- ¾ teaspoon toasted Sesame Seeds
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
- ½ teaspoon Minced Garlic
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: In a medium bowl combine ground beef and all marinade ingredients (soy sauce, kiwi, garlic, onion , ginger, brown sugar, honey, sesame seeds sesame oil. red pepper, black pepper, green onions and lemon lime soda.) Cover and place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours to marinade.
Step 2: In a small pot, bring water to boil and add spinach and quickly cook for about 1 minute and remove, drain and squeeze out water. Add a little oil to a small frying pan, add the cooked spinach and add a little garlic, salt and toasted sesame seeds and saute for about 1 minute. Remove spinach from pan and set aside in a small plate.
Step 3: In a small frying pan, add a little cooking oil and fry kimchi with a little toasted sesame oil for about 3 minutes and set aside in a small dish.
Step 3: In a small clean frying pan, add a little cooking oil and add bean sprouts, little garlic, salt and sesame seeds and stir fry for about 2-3 minutes until translucent and set aside in a little bowl. Repeat this process of frying vegetables individually and adding a little garlic, salt and roasted sesame seeds for the onions, zucchini, mushrooms, carrots (or any vegetables you wish).
Step 4: In a medium pan, add a little oil and add the marinated ground beef and stir fry until brown. Set aside.
Step 5: Cut up cucumbers and slice up laver leaves and set aside (do not cook)
Step 6: Make the special sauce. In a small bowl combine Korean red pepper paste, soy sauce, brown rice vinegar, sugar, toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil and minced garlic. Stir well and set aside.
Step 7: Fry up one egg per person. Some may like it sunny side up, some like it like an egg pancake and cut into strips. Some like their eggs raw, added to the hot dish at the end of the preparation of the dish. (Whatever you prefer)
Step 8: Grease individual hot stone pots and place in oven to pre-heat. I used some hot stone pots and an iron skillet worked really nice to give that crunchy rice on the bottom that everyone loves. (I set my oven to 220 Celsius and kept my hot stone pots in for about 20 minutes- until nice and hot)
Step 9: Take individual hot stone pots or iron skillet out of the oven with oven mitt and set on hot plate. Place about once cup of cooked rice on bottom on hot stone pot and top decoratively with cooked beef and vegetables. Place a dab of Korean Red Special sauce on top and cooked egg on top.
Step 10: Serve BiBimBap as decorated, allow guests to stir and add more Korean special red sauce (gochujang) to taste as desired. Enjoy!
Time saver idea from Yoonsun: Press several heads of garlic at once and freeze in small individual containers for later use.
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BiBimBap 비빔밥
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- ½ cup kimchi
chopped - 2 cups bean sprouts
sprouted mung beans - ½ onion
cut in slices - 1 Carrot
Julienne sliced - 1 zucchini
sliced - ½ cucumber
do NOT cook - 2 cups spinach
- 1 cup mushrooms
sliced - 4 eggs
fried whole - 1 sheet laver (dried seaweed)
do NOT cook - 2 tablespoon garlic
chopped - 2 tablespoon sesame seeds
toasted - salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon oil for frying
- 4 cups rice
cooked
Beef and Marinade
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ cup soy sauce
or tamari for gluten free - 1 kiwi
grated or can use Asian Pear (nashi) - 2 tablespoon garlic
- 1 small onion grated
- 1 tablespoon ginger fresh grated or ½ teaspoon dried ginger
- 2 tablespoon light brown sugar or sugar alternative
- 1 tablespoon honey
or sugar alternative - 2 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon ground red pepper Korean dried pepper
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 green onions sliced thinly
- ¼ cup lemon-lime soda (sprite)
optional
Sauce Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon gochujang
Korean Red Pepper Paste - ¼ teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar or sugar alternative
- ¾ teaspoon sesame seeds toasted
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine ground beef and all marinade ingredients (soy sauce, kiwi, garlic, onion , ginger, brown sugar, honey, sesame seeds sesame oil. red pepper, black pepper, green onions and lemon lime soda.) Cover and place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours to marinade.
- In a small pot, bring water to boil and add spinach and quickly cook for about 1 minute and remove, drain and squeeze out water. Add a little oil to a small frying pan, add the cooked spinach and add a little garlic, salt and toasted sesame seeds and saute for about 1 minute. Remove spinach from pan and set aside in a small plate.
- In a small frying pan, add a little cooking oil and fry kimchi with a little toasted sesame oil for about 3 minutes and set aside in a small dish.
- In a small clean frying pan, add a little cooking oil and add bean sprouts, little garlic, salt and sesame seeds and stir fry for about 2-3 minutes until translucent and set aside in a little bowl. Repeat this process of frying vegetables individually and adding a little garlic, salt and roasted sesame seeds for the onions, zucchini, mushrooms, carrots (or any vegetables you wish).
- In a medium pan, add a little oil and add the marinated ground beef and stir fry until brown. Set aside.
- Cut up cucumbers and slice up laver leaves and set aside (do not cook)
- Make the special sauce. In a small bowl combine Korean red pepper paste, soy sauce, brown rice vinegar, sugar, toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil and minced garlic. Stir well and set aside.
- Fry up one egg per person. Some may like it sunny side up, some like it like an egg pancake and cut into strips. Some like their eggs raw, added to the hot dish at the end of the preparation of the dish. (Whatever you prefer)
- Grease individual hot stone pots and place in oven to pre-heat. I used some hot stone pots and an iron skillet worked really nice to give that crunchy rice on the bottom that everyone loves. (I set my oven to 220 Celsius and kept my hot stone pots in for about 20 minutes- until nice and hot)
- Take individual hot stone pots or iron skillet out of the oven with oven mitt and set on hot plate. Place about once cup of cooked rice on bottom on hot stone pot and top decoratively with cooked beef and vegetables. Place a dab of Korean Red Special sauce on top and cooked egg on top.
- Serve BiBimBap as decorated, allow guests to stir and add more Korean special red sauce to taste as desired. Enjoy!
wok with ray says
This dish looks delicious with all of those colorful veggies and Sprite must be a great addition. Thank you for sharing the recipe. 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Ray for stopping by. I am looking forward to reading your new posts this year as you have so many delicious dishes. I can't wait to give them a try. Take Care, BAM
Kay aka Babygirl says
Oh I just love Korean food but don't eat it a lot sadly. But this dish look s absolutely amazing. I have to save this recipe and try it out one day. Thanks for sharing this 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
This is the same with me. I love Korean food but do not eat it often. However, things are looking up for me now that I have a lovely new neighbor who can cook many Korean dishes.
Kristen says
So glad you shared this with us, despite all of the labor it took. What a fantastic dish!!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Kristin. Actually, it really was not that bad to make, I have made many other dishes that were much more labour intensive. Take care, BAM
Kathleen Richardson says
Love this dish. My son and I have a favorite restaurant when I visit him. I order bibimbap. They put it in the oven assembled so that the rice forms a brown crust where it touches the bowl, food is barely seasoned (add soy sauce or hot sauce yourself) and the egg is cracked on the food as soon as it comes out of the oven and it cooks on the way to the table. Anyways, love your (lengthy!) recipe and the fact that you and your neighbor cooked together for your families.
Healthy World Cuisine says
The crusty rice tidbits on the bottom of the hot dish are my favorite too!! I had to adjust the dish so that teenagers like it as well so that is why I made fried eggs instead of raw to stir in. Verdict by my "teenage QA analyst- plate cleaned"! So, I think that means he liked it.
Kathleen Richardson says
I'm with your boys, I would never want to stir in a raw egg. By the time our hot, hot dishes would reach the table, the egg would be at the easy-over stage. I have the feeling it's a carefully planned thing as many of the restaurant patrons would agree with the boys. Either way, it's a great dish and I was pleased to see you included it.
ceciliag says
This looks stunning and pretty healthy too as a lot of korean dishes are.. colourful food is the best! c
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Celcilia for stopping by so that I could find your website. I love eating the rainbow of fresh veggies.
Tandy says
awesome blog post! My hubby and I cook together most nights - it means we are together 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Tandy, Cooking together definitely creates a special bond between people. Take Care, BAM
thecompletecookbook says
I want to come and visit to cook this with you too. Delicious and I love your little bowls too.
🙂 Mandy
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Mandy! Actually, BAM's Kitchen was live on location at Yoonsun's apartment, just next door, using of all of her cute little Korean dishes. We had a blast, standing on chairs, getting the lighting just right to get those perfect culinary shots. Take care, BAM
Wholesome Cook says
Sounds great, I really enjoy eating out at Korean restaurants but never realised there was sprite in the mince! You learn something every day!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Actually the real surprise to me was when not one but both of my Korean friends told me to marinade the beef in Kiwi juices and not Asian pears. So there you have it... Kiwi fruit and 7 UP/Sprite or some kind of lemon lime drink to marinade, tenderize, and give a little sweetness to the beef. Its delicious. Take care, BAM
Baking with Sibella says
I would love to try this! It looks soooo delicious!!! I am not too good at cooking Asian food, but love to learn. For the first time this New Year's Eve I made homemade Vietnamese egg rolls and I am never going to buy egg rolls again! I just love how you said that cooking with friends not only feeds your family, but it feeds your soul - so true! I will copy that in my book of great sayings/thoughts! 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Sibella for your kind words. Actually, I am just the opposite of you. I prefer to make savory dishes from every continent, including, Asian dishes. However, I do not like to make anything where I actually have to measure and sift your ingredients like you do in baking. That is why I admire you so much. Take care, BAM
Joanne Ozug says
My mom is from Seoul and this is the kind of thing I grew up eating. I love bi bim bap...this makes me really happy!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Kamsa Hamnida! What other kinds of yummy treats from Seoul do you know how to make? Take Care
thebigfatnoodle says
This looks amazing. I haven't had Korean food in ages and you've reminded me that I really need to. When Chinese people eat steamboat, we sometimes dip the beef or meat into a raw egg but fried definitely works too. I really want to try your beef marinade, adding soda to it is something I'd never heard of before. Is that just for sweetness or does it help to tenderise the meat as well?
Healthy World Cuisine says
In Japan, we always used raw egg to dip our sukiyaki in as well as salmonella is not an issue there. The use of lemon lime soda is used both for sweetness and also used an acid to help with tenderizing. In many countries cola, lemons, limes, kiwis, pineapples and all kinds of fruits can also be used to act as a tenderizer.
Zoe @ Pantry and Fridge says
How I do love your posts and recipes. This looks delicious like always. I love the way you write and your insight is so on target. I agree wholeheartedly about cooking with friends. I don't really have anyone that can share that with me - wish I did. Strange, but I don't have any foodie friends. :/
I might get the courage to try this, it's exactly the type of meal I love.
Can't wait to see what's next 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
Of course you have cooking buddies!!!! All of us fellow bloggers and followers are your cooking buddies. We might live in another country but we get a birds eye view of your kitchen when you post your recipes. Take care, BAM
Jen says
I love bibimbap! I went to Korea last year and this is one of the things I make regularly after having it out there! Yours looks delish!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hello Jen. Do you marinate your beef with kiwi and sprite too? I will have to check out your blog to see if you have it posted. Take care, BAM
Rufus' Food and Spirits Guide says
Oh this is wonderful. Katherine's wanted to do this since she had it in London. Korean restaurants are sorely underrepresented here. This looks wonderful, yes, I already said that, but I'm excited!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Give it a try Greg. I did not think it was really that hard to make, just lots of ingredients and some tedious steps but no worse than making our "timpano pasta dome". I am hoping to learn how to make some more delicious Korean dishes soon with my cooking buddy. I agree. I think Korean dishes has been way underrepresented in the the world of food blogging.
Just A Smidgen says
Oh, your Mr. Anonymous is very lucky! You are also so fortunate to have a Korean neighbor/chef next door. This dish is so complex and very unique, it would be the perfect dish to make with someone the first time. I have an Anonymous commenter.. who always leaves the loveliest comments... but according to the I.P. address it is somewhere out of Africa! So not my better-half!!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hello Smidge! We are so very lucky just to have a Korean neighbor that not only likes to cook but is such a lovely friend. I am blessed! I think it is wonderful that you also have a anonymous commenter it makes life more interesting. Take care