Bibimbap (비빔밥)

Anything with an egg on top has got to be good, right?  Yeah, pretty much.  Still trying (and meeting with very little success so far) to convert my parents into Korean food enthusiasts, I decided to prepare for them this bibimbap, which has got to be one of the more accessible Korean dishes for the Western palate.

Bibimbap is just downright delicious, and it's hard for me to see how anyone couldn't love it.  It's a big bowl of steamed rice covered with an arrangement of blanched and sesame-seasoned vegetables, bits of beef bulgogi, and topped with a nice fried egg.  Finish it off with a big dollop of the spicy-sweet-sour chili sauce cho-gochujang, mix it all up in your bowl, and go at it with a spoon.  Yum.

Such a simple dish, easily transforming leftover banchan into a square meal, I could eat it all the time.  Thankfully my parents didn't flip out when they tasted this.  I count that as a major success.  To top it off, my mom even said it was tasty.  Well, I think we've taken a good step in the right direction!


Bibimbap (비빔밥)

Steamed rice
An assortment of banchan and fresh vegetables*
Bulgogi
Fried egg
Cho-gochujang

For each serving, scoop a cup of steamed rice into a large bowl.  Arrange an assortment of your favorite banchan on top of the rice and place a little bulgogi at the center.  Top with a fried egg and serve with plenty of cho-gochujang.  Mix well before eating.

* Here I used, clockwise from top: blanched julienned carrots, siguemchi namul (시금치 나물), kongnamul (콩나물), musaengchae (무생채), shredded lettuce, shredded green cabbage, gosari (고사리).  Some of these I had purchased pre-made, making things a lot easier!  For a more thorough guide to bibimbap preparation, I recommend this post.