Bibimbap is a mixed rice dish that has been called Korea’s national dish. In fact, if you attend a government-sponsored conference in Korea, you may be presented with the opportunity to stir a giant cauldron of bimbimbap with your fellow attendees. I have done this myself (with a big wooden spoon shaped like a canoe paddle) and it was rather fun.

But I digress. Though mixing and eating bibimbap is enjoyable, cooking it is rather laborious. Since bibimbap consists of multiple types of sautéed vegetables and beef, making it involves a lot of chopping and several batches of frying. This recipe cuts down on some of that work, so I am giving it the (not-very-original) name of “Easy Bibimbap.”

Easy Bibimbap (Rice Mixed With Beef And Vegetables) — 비빔밥

4 large servings

Ingredients

• 3 c. uncooked rice
• ½ lb. lean beef
• 1 cucumber
• 1 zucchini
• 1 green onion (or 3 scallion stalks)
• ½ lb. fresh bean sprouts
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• salt
• gochujang (Korean hot red pepper paste)*

Beef seasoning:

• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce**
• 1 Tbsp. chopped green onion
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• dash of black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil

Bean sprout seasoning:

• 1 Tbsp. chopped green onion
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce**

*You can buy gochujang in plastic, tub-like containers at Asian grocery stores or for $10 on Amazon.com. The tubs are easy to identify, even if you don’t read Korean, because they are always red in color, to match their contents. (See photo above.)

**To make this recipe gluten free, I used San-J Organic Tamari Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (available at Whole Foods or for $6.69 + shipping on Amazon.com.)

Steps

• Place rice and 4½ c. water in pot. Bring pot to boil and reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let rice sit for 10 minutes.
• Cut beef into thin strips. Mix with beef seasoning ingredients and stir fry in skillet.
• Slice cucumbers into very thin rounds, sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt and let stand 10 minutes. Press out excess liquid and sauté quickly in 1 Tbsp. sesame oil.
• Add chopped green onion to sautéed cucumbers.
• Follow same procedure for zucchini.
• Wash bean sprouts. Drop bean sprouts into a pot of boiling water and let pot return to a boil for one minute. Drain sprouts and mix them with bean sprout seasoning ingredients.
• Beat eggs with a pinch of salt and make thin egg pancakes. Slice egg pancake into thin strips.

To serve:

• Dish hot rice into large bowls and arrange vegetables and beef on top.
• Garnish with egg pancake strips.
• Mix gochujang with water to form a more diluted paste. (Use 1 tsp. of water for every 1 Tbsp. of gochujang. You can also add a drop of vinegar.)
• Add gochujang to rice and mix with large spoon.

[Recipe from “Korean Cooking”, an out-of-print cookbook created by the Korean Institute of Minnesota.]