Bibimbap rice bowl

By: Katy Holder
From: Dinner Like A Boss
Serves: 4 people
Prep: 25 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Photographer: Benito Martin

Bibimbap is a Korean dish of a rice bed with lots of delicious toppings. The ingredients list looks long, but many of the ingredients are duplicated. Traditionally, a bibimbap is all about the different toppings and usually includes meat, vegetables and egg, but you could reduce the number and decide if you want it vegetarian, vegan or with meat. Look through the toppings and choose your favourites. What is vital is the rice! I would suggest serving this dish at the weekend, or when you have sufficient time to prepare each topping.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
300g	short-grain sushi rice
or	jasmin rice
2 tablespoons	vegetable oil
4	eggs
	gochujang chilli sauce, optional

Soy chicken or beef

Quantity	Ingredient
2 tablespoons	soy sauce
2 teaspoons	white sugar
1 tablespoon	rice vinegar
2	garlic cloves, crushed
500g	boneless, skinless chicken thigh, preferably free-range
or 500g	beef steak
1 tablespoon	vegetable oil
1	spring onion, finely chopped

Pickled carrots

Quantity	Ingredient
125ml	rice vinegar
55g	white sugar
1 teaspoon	sea salt
2	medium carrots

Garlic zucchini

Quantity	Ingredient
2	zucchinis
1 tablespoon	vegetable oil
1	garlic clove, crushed

Sesame green beans

Quantity	Ingredient
150g	green beans, ends trimmed, cut into 2-3 cm pieces
1/2 teaspoon	sesame seeds
1 teaspoon	sesame oil
2	spring onions, finely chopped

Method

Rinse the rice well. Cook the rice in a rice cooker or according to the packet instructions. Get all the other ingredients ready, so each component can be prepared and cooked quickly.
For the soy chicken or beef, combine the soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar and garlic in a shallow dish. Cut each chicken thigh into thirds or the beef into large pieces and add the meat to the dish. Toss to combine and set aside to marinate while preparing the remaining ingredients.
Make the pickled carrots (alternatively, you could also just serve raw grated carrots). Put the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar. Transfer to a medium heatproof bowl. Peel, then shred the carrots using a mandoline or cut them into thin matchsticks (see note). Add the carrot to the pickling liquid, toss to combine and set aside. For a less vinegary flavour, only leave the carrot in the pickling liquid for 5 minutes.
Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and cook the chicken or beef, in two batches if necessary, for 4–5 minutes on each side, or until just cooked through for the chicken, and 2–3 minutes on each side for the beef. Cut the meat into 1 cm slices, then put it in a bowl and combine it with the spring onion. Keep the meat warm until you are ready to serve. Wipe out the pan or wash it if the marinade has stuck to the bottom.
Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil for the sesame green beans. For the garlic zucchini, cut the zucchini in half lengthways, then into 5 mm semi-circles. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in the frying pan over a medium heat and fry the garlic for 30 seconds. Add the zucchini and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes, until softened and light golden. Wipe out the pan ready for the eggs.
While the zucchini are cooking, make the sesame green beans. Cook the beans in the boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain well, then return them to the pan and toss with the sesame seeds, sesame oil and spring onion.
Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the frying pan over a medium–high heat and fry all the eggs, ensuring the yolks are still runny.
To serve, divide the rice between wide bowls and arrange the different ingredients (except the eggs) in small, neat piles on top. Place a fried egg on top at the end, and serve the gochujang chilli sauce on the side (if using). To eat, add a little sauce, break the egg yolk and mix it into the remaining ingredients.

Gochujang chilli sauce

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
2 tablespoons	gochujang chilli paste
2 teaspoons	white sugar
1 teaspoon	sesame oil
1 teaspoon	sesame seeds

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a small serving dish with 1–1½ tablespoons of water.

Note

If you don’t want to matchstick the carrots you can just make them into ribbons using a wide vegetable peeler, or you could do this with cucumber instead.