Bibimbap

For some reason I was craving Asian food this week, and made four dinners containing soy sauce! Besides soy sauce, Asian cooking can be a great way to add more vegetables to meals.

Bibimbap is a Korean dish that means mixed bowl. Often served in a heated stone bowl, rice goes on the bottom, and then various vegetables, meat, a fried egg and a spicy sauce are arranged on top. It's quite pretty! Then you mix it all together and eat it. Yum.

The flavor comes primarily from the sauce - kochujang. I wanted to go to an international grocery store and get some, but that hasn't happened yet. So I made my own. I'm not really sure what authentic kochujang tastes like, but my concoction worked quite well. I did have miso in my fridge (it was the first time I've bought it), which I got a bit ago at Whole Foods. I've used miso in several dishes and have actually grown to love the flavor. So if you don't have miso or kochujang, you'll have to come up with some other tasty sauce to make this work.

This dish is very flexible and is great for using up odds and ends from your fridge. I used bok choy, carrots, bean sprouts, cucumber, and pork.

Kochujang

1 Tbsp soybean paste or miso (can be omitted if unavailable - but will change the taste)
3 Tbsp finely ground red chile pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon roasted sesame seed oil
water as needed

Mix all together and add water until desired consistency is reached. The sauce should be thick, but able to be distributed when mixed into the bibimbap.

UPDATE 4/18/11: I went to an awesome international grocery store and found Korean red chile paste. Here's a recipe for Kochujang using the paste instead of miso and red chile pepper:

1 tbsp Korean hot red chili paste
1 1/2 Tbsp chicken stock
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil

Combine all ingredients.

Bibimbap
adapted from J3ss Kitch3n

serves two

at least 3 vegetables: cucumbers (julienned, don't blanch), carrots (julienned), bean sprouts, mushrooms (sliced), spinach, zucchini (julienned)
1 chicken breast, cut into thin strips or pork tenderloin, sliced thinly
2 servings hot steamed rice
1 onion (cut into thin slices)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs
dollop of kochujang

Meat Marinade
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
pinch of black pepper
2 tsp corn meal

Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl and add the cut chicken or pork. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Add each vegetable separately and blanch for a minute or two (test one piece to ensure cooking time is correct). Scoop out with a slotted spoon and immerse the vegetables in ice water. Remove from ice water and set aside. Repeat with each vegetable.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan and fry the minced garlic and onion slices until fragrant. Add the marinated chicken or pork over medium heat and stir-fry until well done, 5-7 minutes. In the same frying pan, add more oil and add the eggs, one at a time if the pan is too small. Fry until set.

Add a serving of hot rice to a bowl, and arrange the vegetables and meat on top. In the middle, add the fried egg and a dollop of kochujang. Repeat in the second bowl.

Serve immediately.