Bibimbap

Thanks to Zac for his fabulous introduction. This is neither cheesy nor as well written, but I hope it will do.

Zac and Elise got us these stone bowls for Christmas a couple of years ago. I decided to finally try to use them to make Bibimbap. And I did it! There are a few things I can work on, but both Kaleb and I were pretty satisfied. I found a recipe in the Japan and Korea section of "The Best International Recipe" book we have by America's Test Kitchen. It's a great book.

I didn't heat the bowls up hot enough to make it crispy and sizzling, but I now have experience making it once and can make it better next time. I will also experiment with making the meat more tender. (I am not the best meat cooker, I often have Kaleb cook meat if he's around, which maybe I shouldn't do because I should practice.) I also just bought stir fry meat instead of what the recipe called for and I guess that was a bad idea.  I actually wouldn't mind it without the meat and with an extra egg... whatever floats your boat.

You don't actually need the stone bowls to make it, it just won't be super crispy. If you put it all together while it's all warm then it's still really good. You can also add a step before cooking the egg where you oil your skillet, pack the rice in and cook it for about 6 minutes to make a crispy outside like the stone bowl would. Recipe below.

INGREDIENTS

Serve with kimchi and gochujang (Korean spicy bean paste).

PICKLED VEGETABLES

2 cups bean sprouts

1 medium carrot, peeled and grated on the large holes of a box grater

1 medium cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 cup seasoned rice vinegar (or regular rice vinegar)

RICE

2 cups short-grain white rice

2 cups water

BEEF, SPINACH, AND EGGS

5 ounces blade steak, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, wiped clean, stemmed, and sliced thin (couldn't find shiitake, just used what I could find)

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 (10-ounce) bag baby spinach

salt and pepper

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1. Toss the sprouts, carrot, cucumber, and vinegar together in a medium bowl to combine. Press lightly on the vegetables to submerge in the vinegar as much as possible, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours. Drain the vegetable from the vinegar and set aside. (I felt that this was a lot of vegetables in relation to everything else, next time I will either pickle less vegetables or make a little more of the other toppings and rice. Try it once and adjust to your preferences.)

2. Meanwhile, bring the rice and water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat, then cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 7 minutes. Remove the rice from the heat and let sit, covered, until tender, about 15 minutes.

3. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position, place 4 oven safe serving bowls on the rack, and heat the oven to 200 degrees. Toss the beef and soy sauce together in a medium bowl.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef and mushrooms and cook until the beef is cooked through and the mushrooms are soft, about 3 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a platter and keep warm in the oven next to the bowls.

5. Add more vegetable oil and the garlic to the skillet and return to medium-high heat until the garlic is sizzling and fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the spinach and cook, tossing constantly, until wilted, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste and spoon onto the platter in a separate pile next to the beef in the oven.

6. Portion the cooked rice into the warm serving bowls, top with the beef, mushrooms, and spinach, and return to the oven to keep arm while cooking the eggs.

7. Fry the eggs until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Season with salt and pepper.

8. Put the eggs on top of the bowls and drizzle with sesame oil. Add pickled vegetables, and serve immediately.

I have heard that bibimbap is often just leftovers mixed into rice, or it can be fresh ingredients like in this recipe. So the recipes can very dramatically. I think the egg is important. And definitely get kimchi. Feel free to share your favorite ingredient combinations.