Bee Bim Bop (Bibimbap)

We have our friends Lisa and Brad to thank for this recipe. They invited us over for bee bim bop, we all swooned over the awesomeness of it, and I begged for the instructions.

Bee Bim Bop (assembled bowl)

This dish is simple to make (although not fast, so it's not a weekday meal for us). It's great for feeding company and kids because everyone can make up their own one-dish meal from what's on the table. My kids can avoid the loathed mushrooms, and it becomes vegetarian by just ignoring the ground beef.

Plus, it's pretty.

The first time we made this we didn't have the hot pepper paste, so we borrowed some spicy bean paste from our neighbors. It was also delish, although the flavor is not exactly the same.

[Can I just pause here to say what a wonderful world it is when I can borrow a cup of sugar or a quarter cup of Chinese bean paste from my neighbors?]

The serving sauce is addictive: hot, sweet, umami deliciousness. 

This recipe does not include quantities for the vegetables, but just make as much as you feel like having. (we make sure we have lots of zucchini because the kids love it made this way.) The 1 lb. of ground beef, and the hot sauce quantity in this recipe should be enough for 6 or 8 people.

Lisa's authentic-enough-for-me Bee Bim Bop

ingredients are indicated in green

Step 1:  Steam rice (1.5 to 2 cups of rice will feed 4-8 diners.)

Step 2:  Chop and saute the following individually with a little s/p and evoo.  Everything gets chopped in very fine rectangular pieces. Those less lazy about washing their food processor than I am, may want to get it out for this step. Set each finished vegetable aside in its own serving dish (or in its own spot on the platter.)

     Onion

     Zucchini

     Carrot

     Mushrooms (we've used fresh, or reconstituted Shitakis.)

Step 3:  Mix 1 lb ground beef [or beef of your choice - in the meal in the photo I think we used chuck roast] with 

2T soy sauce

1T sugar

1T sesame oil 

pepper

Brown the meat mixture.

Step 4:  Fry 1 egg per person, sunny side up.

Step 5:  Build the bowls!  Layer rice, veggies, meat, egg and a drizzle of sesame oil. Put hot sauce on the table (see below). Garnish with green onion (optional).

Step 6:  Eat!

Hot sauce

Sunchang Gochujang is the right paste for this sauce, if you can find it

Mix 

2T hot pepper paste

1T soy sauce

2T sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, pressed

2T honey