Bibimbap--Cook-off 14

[Jason Perlow]

I'm sort of torn between Gopdol (Dolsot) Bibimbap and Yuke (Yook-Hwe) Bibimbap as my favorite preparations.

[viaChgo]

How is the beef cooked?  Is this dish a candidate for leftover meat?

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I don't know with any certainty, but I would guess that this dish was created as a way to use up leftovers. Korean households usually have a variety of marinated/pickled/seasoned vegetables that are eaten with every meal, called pan chan. I would assume that you add a little of this and a little of that, add some beef (optional) and an egg to help fill it out. Then it would be seasoned with kochujang and sesame oil - also staples in the Korean kitchen.

[torakris]

here is my wonderful recipe for a marinade that is great for bibimbap, pulled out of one of those bibimbap threads:

I would love to share my recipe.

Bulggogi and bukalbi marinade

makes enough for 2lbs of meat

1/2 cup soy sauce (preferably Japanese, NOT the American Kikkoman)

3 Tablespoons sugar (white granulated)

3 Tablespoons apple or nashi, grated preferably on a daikon or ginger grater

2 scallions, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, grated (same way as the apple)

4 Tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

4 Tablespoons dark sesame oil

1 Tablespoon black pepper

Mix everyhting together and add to meat, use right away or marinate a couple of hours.

I use this on any type of beef.

For ground beef use it in bibimbap, or try wrapping it in lettuce leaves with either rice or julienned veggies such as cucmber or daikon, don't forget to add a dollop of kojuchang to the leaf as well.

If you can buy strips of meat already cut that is fine (the last time I was in the US I noticed a stirfry cut in the meat department), you can also cut your own.

If you have access to an Asian market that sells meat, look for the thinly (paper thin) cut slices. This is what I usually use.

It is also great on steaks, but my favorite is with short ribs or the ribs (I don't know what they are called in English) that are about 6 inches long, 1/2 an inch thick and have 3 half circle shaped bones. I always had a hard time finding them in Cleveland, but every store in Hawaii sells them.

[touaregsand]

How is the beef cooked?  Is this dish a candidate for leftover meat?

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I don't know with any certainty, but I would guess that this dish was created as a way to use up leftovers. Korean households usually have a variety of marinated/pickled/seasoned vegetables that are eaten with every meal, called pan chan. I would assume that you add a little of this and a little of that, add some beef (optional) and an egg to help fill it out. Then it would be seasoned with kochujang and sesame oil - also staples in the Korean kitchen.

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Yes and no. Refer to my earlier post about "bab bi byuh mugh uh" and different types of bimbimbap. Korean cuisine however was codified to a certain extent through the Royal courts, landed gentry and by Buddhist monks. For a wealthy family in the old days it was a way of showcasing seasonal vegetables. For the Royal courts it meant enjoying the highlights of ingredients from different regions. Most Koreans I know just like to put their favorite morsels in it when making it at home.

[touaregsand]

I have a slightly OT question for Touaregsand and others who have been to Korea: Are there any modern variations or new twists on the traditional bibimbap that have gained popularity in Korea recently? For instance, using other meats or non-traditional ingredients?

This is the type of information that is hard to find for those of using not living in Korea.

TIA

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You would find bibimbap like that more in Apkujung, Myong Dong and Shinsaegae. Don't really think there is a new style that's "set" and wide spread. I haven't been back in about 3 years. And it's really the type of food that I tend to avoid. I expect things like corn and such at much bigger price tag.

[helenjp]

SO...what are people's favorite veggies/combinations?

I guess the usual suspects are....spinach, carrot, bean sprouts...and heading on out into eggplant, black mushrooms, fern fronds/stalks. and chinese chives territory.

Any favorites I've missed out?

Thanks for the dressing recipe Torakris, that looks like a good'un for lunch boxes because it doesn't have any garlic in it!

[daniellewiley]

Medium grain calrose is the one that was recommended to me, but I was also told that other rices, including brown rice, could be used. Just don't tell chef koo's umma!

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My vegetarian sister-in-law frequently makes a very non-traditional bibimbap with brown rice instead of white, and tofu instead of beef.

She also uses Sriracha instead of kochujang (sp?).

Most of the Ann Arbor Korean restaurants offer both tofu and beef varieties.

[Chris Amirault]

She also uses Sriracha instead of kochujang (sp?).

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I've tried that, and I'm a big fan of sriracha (my ketchup). However, I must say that the distinctive flavor of kochuchang (or gojujang, or kojujang -- all spellings are, of course, approximations of the Korean) is crucial. Where do people find theirs? Any good internet sources?

edited to add: Found one source -- great selection if a bit pricey....

[Chris Amirault]

Click here for a great recipe for dolsot bibimbap provided by our own mamster. It's the one I used for the bibimbap at the head of this thread. If you look at this recipe, you'll see that the ingredients are actually very easy to find, with the possible exception of the gojuchang (see previous post).

[Chufi]

Look what I found today

It's hard to see in the pic but on the red box it says, in very very small print: gochugang. I's a 500 gram jar and it cost me 4 euro.

I see bibimbap in the near future..

[chef koo]

when my mom was too tired to cook something i would do is have just rice with gojuchang and an egg. something if you're too lazy to prepare all the vegetables and meat. if it's midnight and you have left over rice then it's a nice quick snack

[Chufi]

So.. I made bibimbap today.

Here are all the vegetables lined up before blanching. There's rettich, carrot, spinach, taugeh, and a portobello that was lying in my fridge and I thought would be a nice addition. Also in the pic is the beef, marinating in Krinstins wonderful bulgogi marinade.

I cooked all the vegetables one after the other in the same pot of water. Drained them, refreshed them with cold water and put them in separate bowls. They were all dressed with sesame seed and sesame oil, exept the taugeh wich was dressed with sesame oil and rice vinegar, and the mushroomslices, which were panfried and then drizzled with soysauce.

Notes along the way: this is not a complicated dish, but it is logistically fiddly - at least for someone who is not used to Asian cooking. You have all these bowls and stuff and my biggest concern was that after dishing the whole thing up, putting all the vegetables in neat piles on the rice, the rice would be cold. Luckily, it wasn't.

I used a raw eggyolk and it scrambled nicely in the hot rice.

So here's what it looked like:

also on the table: extra gochigang and little bowls of kimchi.

A close-up. The picture really does not capture how pretty it looked.

Oh, and how did it taste?

It was delicious. I did not think a bowl of rice and vegetables could be so satisfying. I guess it's the contrasting flavours that make it so good. You have the mellowness of the rice, the sweet nuttyness of the vegetables, the dark round flavor of the meat, the creamy egg, and then the earthy spicy sweetness of the sauce.

Oh my it was good!

I encourage everybody to go and make some bibimbap!

[little ms foodie]

dumb question alert!!!

so do you mix it all up right before you eat it? So after you took the picture?

[Chufi]

dumb question alert!!!

so do you mix it all up right before you eat it? So after you took the picture?

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well, I never had bibimbap in a restaurant before, so I did not really know what to do.. but we did the obvious thing.. just break up the egg yolk and mix it with the rice and some sauce, then eat alternate bites of everything.

Don't know if that's the right thing to do but it made the most sense to me.. it looks beatiful so you don't want to mix everything into one big mess.. also it's nice to have bites with contrasting flavors and textures..

But maybe now an expert on Korean food will tell me that indeed you are supposed to mix everything up?

[sanrensho]

so do you mix it all up right before you eat it?

Mix it all up before you eat. That's how you get the kochujang evenly mixed throughout the rice and toppings.

http://www.lifeinkorea.com/cgi-bin/Food.cfm?Subject=rice

Edited October 11, 2005 by sanrensho (log)

[nacho]

dumb question alert!!!

so do you mix it all up right before you eat it? So after you took the picture?

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I've only had this once while in Seoul, and my Korean friend ordered it for me, so I didn't know what to expect. The waiter brought it out and put the hot stone bowl on the table in front of me (I forget, but I think they added all the veggies and egg right there at the table before putting it in front of me) and I looked at it, heard the rice sizzling and felt the heat coming off the bowl, so decided to continue to talk while it cooled a bit (I'm a clutz and didn't want to burn myself). My Korean friend, trying to be polite and not interrupt me, kept looking down at the bowl a bit impatiently, and finally said "You better stir that!!"

So yup, stir it all up.

It was great. I'm looking forward to trying to make this as soon as I can get to the Korean grocer to pick up a dolsot.

Edited October 12, 2005 by nacho (log)

[touaregsand]

(I forget, but I think they added all the veggies and egg right there at the table before putting it in front of me)

That would be something very particular to that restaurant. Not common at all. I've never seen it. And I've eaten my way through South Korea lots of times. Bibimbap is one of my favorite Korean dishes.

[touaregsand]

dumb question alert!!!

so do you mix it all up right before you eat it? So after you took the picture?

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well, I never had bibimbap in a restaurant before, so I did not really know what to do.. but we did the obvious thing.. just break up the egg yolk and mix it with the rice and some sauce, then eat alternate bites of everything.

Don't know if that's the right thing to do but it made the most sense to me.. it looks beatiful so you don't want to mix everything into one big mess.. also it's nice to have bites with contrasting flavors and textures..

But maybe now an expert on Korean food will tell me that indeed you are supposed to mix everything up?

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Yes, you mix it all up before you eat. But you can still "choose" to take bites of this or that by scooping up this or that with your spoon.

[Chufi]

by scooping up this or that with your spoon.

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ok so I basically did everything wrong.. did not mix it all up.. ate with chopsticks instead of spoon.. I'm embarrassed.

But it tasted so wonderful, I'll have it again real soon and then do it the right way.

[touaregsand]

by scooping up this or that with your spoon.

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ok so I basically did everything wrong.. did not mix it all up.. ate with chopsticks instead of spoon.. I'm embarrassed.

But it tasted so wonderful, I'll have it again real soon and then do it the right way.

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As long as you got the food into your mouth and you enjoyed yourself, no one here cares how you ate it. No need to be embarassed at all.

[Grub]

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Woah, NICE picture! Everyone's using digital cameras these days -- and I feel like an old fart for even suspecting that you're making use of an SLR (I'm sure digital cameras can (or shortly will) emulate anything possible on film ) -- but just to make sure, didya use a digital camera for that shot, and how'dya do that brilliant double/long-time exposure with the arms and chopsticks?

[tejon]

Made my Bibimbap last night. Marinated, grilled beef with daikon, carrot, cucumber, bean sprouts, green onions and Korean kale, each cooked and seasoned individually. The cucumber was raw, mixed with rice vinegar and a pinch of salt and sugar. Daikon, carrot , bean sprouts and kale all got blanched, then mixed with varying amounts of sesame oil, salt, garlic, etc. The green onions were quickly stir-fried in a bit of oil and salt. Rice underneath, meat and vegetables on top, with gochugang crowning all:

Quick mix together before eating:

Heaven

Edited October 12, 2005 by tejon (log)

[slkinsey]

No egg?

[tejon]

No eggs in the house, and we were hungry! I usually add in an egg, raw or fried. It's delicious both ways, just different.

[Chufi]

Woah, NICE picture! Everyone's using digital cameras these days -- and I feel like an old fart for even suspecting that you're making use of an SLR (I'm sure digital cameras can (or shortly will) emulate anything possible on film ) -- but just to make sure, didya use a digital camera for that shot, and how'dya do that brilliant double/long-time exposure with the arms and chopsticks?

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simple..

very old, cheap digital camera.. room lit by candlelight and only 1 lamp.. switch off the flash on the camera.. camera adjusts to the low light and the shutter stays open for a very long time.. add 1 impatient husband who can't wait to dig in.. and voila!