(above photo is missing the egg and has added pickled cucumbers because Deniz likes it that way)

Bibimbap is one of those dishes I love, but don’t make often because it’s so time consuming to make.  There are so many individual components to the dish that make it so delicious, but each one needs to be prepared and cooked individually, which takes time.  It’s kind of funny that the dish originates as a way to easily use leftovers, because I slave away each time I prepare it.  Anyway, to reduce the struggle, I find it’s best to prep the sauce and vegetables earlier in the day, and then cook everything when it’s time for the meal.

The sauce is the key to making the dish right is the sauce.  I got the below sauce recipe from My Korean Kitchen, and modified it slightly to taste.  The below recipe makes more sauce than needed for the dish.  For all the effort, I like having extra sauce to use later.

This recipe also adds Vietnamese pickled daikon and carrots instead of kimchee.  I find that the sweet and sour pickley taste goes so well with the sauce.  Kimchee has always been a little to strong for my taste and the sweetness of the pickled daikon and carrots marries well with other vegetables in the dish.  I got the recipe from Elsie Bauer on Simply Recipes, and modified it to taste.  The below recipe makes more pickled daikon and carrots than is needed for the dish.  Like the sauce, for all the effort, I like having extra for later.

Korean Bibimbap

Perfect for Korean veggie leftovers. Spicy and bold!

Ingredients

• 3 c cooked white rice
• 5 handfuls fresh spinach
• 2 handfuls fresh bean sprouts
• 5 large shiitake mushrooms fresh, sliced
• 3 carrots peeled and julienned
• 1 persian cucumber julienned.
• 3 eggs
• cooking oil

Vietnamese pickled daikon and carrots:

• 1 c water warm enough to easily dissolve sugar
• ½ c sugar
• 1 t salt
• 1 c white vinegar or half-half white vinegar and rice vinegar
• ½ small daikon peeled and jullienned
• 3 carrots peeled and jullienned

Fake meat:

• 6 Morningstar sausage patties defrosted and broken up in to small chunks
• ½ inch knob ginger minced
• ½ t brown sugar
• 1 t soy sauce
• 2 garlic large, minced

Sauce

• 3 T sesame oil
• 3 T water
• 1½ T apple cider vinegar
• 3 T white sugar
• 6 T gochujang 고추장
• 3 T roasted sesame seeds
• 1 T minced garlic

Instructions

• At least 4 hours before the meal, place the Pickled Daikon and Carrots ingredients in a tall glass jar in the order they are listed. Stir the sugar and water until the sugar is fully dissolved before placing the rest of the ingredients. Place the jar in the refrigerator.
• Prepare all the ingredients as described in the ingredients list.
• Mix the Sauce ingredients in a squeeze bottle in the order listed. Shake the bottle, enough to ensure thorough mixing.
• Heat a large saute pan on medium high heat with 1 t of cooking oil. Add the cooked rice and press down to maximize surface contact with the pan. Cook for 3 minutes or until the rice is slightly browned.
• Reheat the saute pan on medium high heat with 1 t of cooking oil. Add the jullianed carrots and stir to coat with oil. Cover the pan and cook for 3 minutes, stirring once to evenly brown. Sprinkle with salt and add 1/4 t of sesame oil. Stir to combine. Remove from pan and place in serving bowls.
• Reheat the saute pan on medium high heat with 1 t of cooking oil. Add the bean sprouts and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Sprinkle with salt and 1/4 t sesame oil, and stir to combine. Remove from pan and place in serving bowls.
• Reheat the saute pan on medium high heat with 1 t of cooking oil. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Sprinkle with salt and stir to combine. Remove from pan and place in serving bowls.
• Reheat the saute pan on medium high heat with 1 t of cooking oil. Add the spinach and cook for 1 minute, flipping constantly to ensure leaves are touching the pan and cooking the same. Sprinkle with salt and stir to combine. Remove from pan and place in serving bowls.
• Add 1 to 2 T of drained pickled Daikon and Carrots to the serving bowls.
• Add 1 to 2 T of julienned cucumbers to the serving bowls.
• Reheat the saute pan on medium high heat with 1 t of cooking oil. Crack the 3 eggs into the pan, taking care to keep them separate. Cook for 1 minute and then flip over. Continue cooking for as long as needed to cook the yolks to desired consistency. The traditional dish calls for runny yolks, but I don’t like runny yolks, so I try to puncture the yolk and then fully cook them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Remove from pan and place in serving bowls on top of vegetables.
• Squeeze the Sauce into the bowl in a swirly pattern. Serve and enjoy.

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