Bibimwhat?
Bibimbap! It’s a Korean rice bowl with meat, veggies & egg and it’s delicious. My friend Elizabeth introduced me to this at a great Korean BBQ joint in the city. But, I got the recipe from the Cookie Magazine, which is awesome even if you’re not a parent. It’s super easy, you can leave out veggies that people don’t like, AND you can reuse leftover Chinese food rice. It’s brilliant.
Technically, I think it’s pronounced Bee-bimbap. But, I usually butcher it and call it Bimbimbap because it makes me smile and think Mary Poppin’s must say it that way. Anyway, however one pronounces it, it’s the type of meal that my sister-in-law Becca could do in her sleep. She’s a Fun and an amazingly good, instinctual cook. As a Classic, I’d say that I’m just good at following directions and so have improved my cooking abilities over time with practice. But there’s nothing naturally instinctive about it with me.
At first, I was going to say that I liked this recipe because you’ll already have everything on hand in your kitchen. Then I realized that they call for sesame oil and not everybody has this (or at least I didn’t until 2 years ago.) And if you don’t have any, you should. I say that as a complete non-gourmand. Lots of cool recipes call for it and it doesn’t seem to go bad — or at least not as far as I’ve noticed but I’m horrible at watching expiration dates. (Note from Kate: She might be “horrible” for a Classic, but I bet she doesn’t actually have anything molding in her fridge right now, whereas I can bet money I, an Organic Freedom, do!)
It was one of those 30 minute meals and the toughest thing was shredding the carrots. But, I bet you could do it all with frozen vegetables and it would be even easier. I didn’t steam anything but found that when the rice was still superhot, it steamed stuff when I mixed it all together.
Bibimbap from Cookie Magazine
- 3/4 cup soy sauce
- 6 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 4 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 pound ground turkey, beef or pork (Katie thinks pork ALWAYS tastes the yummiest)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups cooked rice (Chinese takeout can do the trick)
- Assorted vegetables (shredded carrot, canned baby corn, spinach, bean sprouts, red onion …), steamed or raw
- Toasted sesame seeds (I didn’t have these and tasted great without them)
Mix Together the first three ingredients and set aside.
In a pan, brown the meat in half of the vegetable oil, about 5 minutes. Add half the soy-sauce mixture and continue cooking until the liquid is absorbed, 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and cover.
In another pan, fry the eggs in the remaining vegetable oil, 4 to 5 minutes. (I kind of left them over easy if you like eggs that way)
Divide the rice among 4 bowls. Arrange some vegetables and meat and an egg in each. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds, then drizzle the remaining soy sauce mixture over the top. (I put it all in one big bowl and mixed it up like a salad … but when it’s just you and the family, who cares, says this Classic.)
