Bi Bim Bap - Ethnic Foods R Us

(Photo Attributed to Author: abex)

Bi Bim Bap Recipe-

Ingredients:

(6 servings)

Meat and meat sauce-

1/4 lb. (100 grams) minced beef (skirt or flank steak)
1 tbsp. dark, mushroom flavored soy sauce
1 tbsp. hot sesame oil
1 tbsp. minced garlic

Vegetables and Other Ingredients-

12 oz. (350g) bean sprouts, room temperature
7 oz. (200g) seasoned spinach, room temperature
6 oz. (175g) shiitake mushrooms (use fresh if you can, if not use dried shiitakes, and rehydrate them)
1 small carrot, peeled and julienned
One large cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp ground salt
9 cups freshly steamed rice (1-1/2 cup per serving)
6 large eggs
Vegetable oil

Bi Bim Bap Sauce-

4 tbsp. gochujang Korean hot chili sauce
2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
2 tsp. rice vinegar
2 tbsp. minced garlic

Other Items You Will Want-

Good quality, very sharp, vegetable julienne and peeler instrument
Some real stone, Korean Bi Bim Bap serving bowls (optional, but hey – if you want the true Korean ethnic experience, go for the gusto!)

Directions:

Put your rice on to steam first, it should be cooked just right, about the same time as the rest of the dish is prepared.
Prepare the Bi Bim Bap sauce by simply blending all the ingredients listed above together well.
Mince your skirt or flank steak and blend the meat sauce into it, then allow it to marinate for the next half an hour while you prepare the rest of the dish. The longer the better, the meat will just keep getting tastier.
Rinse off the mushrooms well, pat them dry, then slice the caps very thinly—take the stems, cut off the tough parts at the ends, and chop them into thin rounds.
Rinse the carrots well, peel and julienne them.
Fry the mushrooms and carrots in your wok or pan in a small amount of oil and about one level teaspoon of salt, on medium high heat, for just 2 or 3 minutes, it doesn’t take long until they are well cooked and tender.
Using a wok or large fry pan, add in some oil and cook the minced meat on medium high heat. It will only take 4 or 5 minutes to thoroughly cook. You do want it well browned and done, not rare or even medium rare.
While the meat is frying, in a separate pan, fry the eggs. Traditionally, Koreans serve them sunnyside up, with the yolks soft, but you can fry them however you wish. One Korean restaurant I like to go to offers any choice of preparation, including a squared off patty of scrambled egg.
To assemble the Bi Bim Bap dish, place 1-1/2 cups of steamed rice in the bottom of each serving bowl, put a portion of the meat, mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, spinach, and bean sprouts arranged around the top perimeter, leaving a space in the middle, where you place the fried egg.
Serve immediately, with the Bi Bim Bap sauce as a condiment, for each person to adjust the amount of hot & spiciness to their tastes.