Bibimbap

7 January 2011

I was able to eat my first Bibimbap when I worked for the Korean Embassy Manila right after college. Our Korean bosses often treated us for lunch and one time they ordered me this Korean rice bowl topping. It looks too Filipino for me, with all the veggies on top of white rice, but the spicy taste made it all truly Korean.

I haven't got the chance to eat Bibimbap again since I left the embassy until me and my husband's couple friends invited us for dinner in their house and they served us this favorite Korean cuisine. Home made Bibimbap, and a little less spicy, still tastes so good that I want to try cooking it myself. After all, I realized I missed Korean foods!

So here goes... Bibimbap recipe for my first Friday of cooking:

Ingredients:

(note: T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon)

1. For the meat: 

Thin sliced lean meat (either chicken, pork or beef)
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 chopped green onions
5 T soy sauce
2 T sugar
2 T oil
1 T sesame oil
1 t sesame seeds
1/8 t pepper

2. For the toppings:

Cucumbers sliced in match sticks with 1 t salt, 1/2t sesame oil

Carrots also sliced in match sticks

Monggo sprouts

Cabbage chopped small

Fried egg

3. For the sauce:

4T soy sauce

2 T sugar

1 T vinegar

1 T green onion

1 T garlic

1 T sesame oil

Steps:

1. Marinade all the ingredients for the meat (#1) together for 15 to 20 minutes

2. Saute with sesame oil in a frying pan after marinading

3. While waiting for the meat to cook, prepare the vegetable toppings. Steam or boil the carrots, sprouts and cabbage, and fry the egg

4. Prepare the sauce

5. When the meat is ready, place each vegetable, meat and fried egg on top of a bowl of rice. Add the sauce.

Dinner is served.