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An unmixed bibimbap bowl with seasoned vegetables arranged in wedges around a fried egg

Bibimbap Recipe: Build the Bowl From Four Parts

A bibimbap recipe you can build from what's in the fridge. Learn the four modules — rice, namul, protein, sauce — and swap any part without ruining it.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 400 g / 2 cups cooked short-grain rice cooked with 10% less water
  • 150 g / 5 oz spinach
  • 150 g / 5 oz soybean sprouts
  • 1 medium carrot julienned
  • 1 small zucchini in half-moons
  • 4 dried shiitake mushrooms soaked, or 100 g fresh
  • 150 g / 5 oz minced beef
  • 2 eggs, fried with runny yolks
  • 2 tbsp gochujang for the sauce
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1 tbsp water, 1 tsp sugar or honey, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds, 1 small clove garlic for the sauce
  • Extra toasted sesame oil, salt, garlic and soy sauce for seasoning each vegetable

Method
 

  1. Start the rice with 10% less water than usual — everything else takes about as long as the rice does.
  2. Soak the dried shiitake in hot water for 20 minutes until pliable throughout, then squeeze out and slice.
  3. Marinate the beef 10 minutes in 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp sesame oil and a grated clove of garlic.
  4. Blanch the spinach 30 seconds, cool it, squeeze it dry in your fist, then season with salt, sesame oil and garlic.
  5. Cook the soybean sprouts in the same water, covered, for 5 minutes. Drain, cool and season the same way.
  6. Sauté the carrot with a pinch of salt for 2 minutes, then the zucchini for 2 minutes, then the mushrooms with a splash of soy sauce for 3 minutes, plating each separately.
  7. Stir-fry the marinated beef over high heat for 2 minutes, until no pink remains and the marinade has reduced to a glaze.
  8. Whisk the sauce ingredients together until the mixture ribbons off the spoon.
  9. Fry the eggs over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes, until the whites set and the yolks still move.
  10. Pile warm rice into wide bowls, arrange the namul in wedges around the rim, add the beef and the egg, and spoon the sauce over.
  11. Mix by cutting down through the rice with a spoon and folding from the bottom up until the whole bowl is one even color, about 20 seconds.