I guess the Korean dish Bibimbap must be one of the visually most frustrating foods in existence. Essentially, what you do is cook rice, sauté some vegetables, stir fry some meat and then arrange everything in a bowl. This is how you serve it.
Immediately after serving, however, you or your guests take a good look at it and enjoy the colourful appearance, after which you take a spoon and mix everything into a moderately undefinable mixture. "Bibimbap" apparently means "mixed meal".
Here is a simple Bibimbap recipe. The ingredients are per person.
- 1 cup rice
- 1 tablespoon dried seaweed
- 3 mushrooms, sliced
- 1-2 tablespoons beansprouts
- 1 small carrot
- 50g beef, cut in thin stripes
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean fermented hot pepper paste)
- 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ tbsp sesame oil
Boil the rice.
Soak the seaweed in some water, (optionally) season with hoisin sauce and rice vinegar.
Cut the carrot into thin stripes (julienne).
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan or wok.
Sauté the mushrooms. Remove from the pan.
Sauté the beansprouts. Remove from the pan.
Add some vegetable oil if necessary. Fry the egg. Remove from the pan.
Stir fry the beef briefly over high heat, (optionally) season with bean paste.
Put the rice in a bowl. Put the gochujang in the middle. Place the egg on the gochujang. Arrange the drained seaweed, mushrooms, beef, carrot stripes, beansprouts and pepper paste around the egg.
Season with sesame oil and serve immediately.
Look at it.
Take a big spoon and mix everything, then eat.
