Bibimbap: Fun to Say, Easy to Make, Good to Eat.

CSA Share 7/24/2012

• Sungold cherry tomatoes
• Red heirloom slicing tomatoes
• Rosemary
• Genoan basil
• Garlic
• Lettuce
• Kohlrabi
• Beets with tops
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini and summer squash
• Scallions

Bi-Bim-Bap.  I love saying that word.  Loosely translated from Korean, it means "mixed rice" and describes a classic Korean dish of raw and/or cooked vegetables, marinated cooked meat and a runny egg over rice in a bowl.  The contents are then all mixed together by the eater, along with some amazing korean hot sauce (gochujang) and consumed with kimchee on the side.

If you happen to find yourself in a Korean restaurant, order the "dolsat bibimbap" (a.k.a. "stone bowl" or "hot stone" bibimbap) and you'll get the above, but served in a broiling hot stone bowl such that the rice at the bottom develops a beautiful crispiness, like the best paellas.  If you're at home and don't happen to have a five-hundred-degree-Farenheit stone bowl handy, regular ol' bibimbap is a healthy, balanced dinner and a great way to use a variety of vegetables.  It requires some specialty ingredients, all of which are found pretty cheap at any asian grocery.  In case you don't have access to an asian grocery, some reasonable subsitutions are included.  Feel free to vary the veggies below - I try to use what ever's in season (translation: whatever I get in my share each week!)

Bibimbap

• 1 to 1 1/2 cups cooked white rice per person. I like shortgrain, but use what you have around.  Brown is good too.
• 1 serving of beef per person -or- 1 serving of chicken per person - or- 1 serving of pork loin per person.  These should be cubed, but uncooked (for now).
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• Soy sauce
• Mirin (sweet asian rice wine for cooking.  Sub in any sweet white wine, or dry white wine with 1/2 tsp of sugar added)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil.
• A squeeze of gochujang (you can sub in sriracha, or equal parts Tobasco and ketchup if you're really, really in a bind).
• 1/2 medium cucumber, cut into matchsticks, per person
• 1/2 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks, per person
• 1/2 medicum zucchini or summer squash... you guessed it... cut into matchsticks, per person.
• About 1/2 a cup of cooked spinach or beet tops per person.
• 1 scallion per person, sliced into little rounds.
• 1/4 of raw kohlrabi, matchstick'ed (preferably with a mandolin) per person.
• 1 egg per person, sunny side up.
• Gochujang (or sriracha) to serve.  Avoid the ketchup trick here, it won't work.
• Kimchee to serve.

Caveat before starting this one:  As you may have noticed, I'm not a mise en place kind of guy - I like to get things done fairly efficiently via multi-tasking.  If you're the sort of person that needs to have everything set up in little prep bowls like your favorite celebrity chef before starting, by all means do so, just be realistic about the time it will take you to accomplish this dish - possibly take over an hour.  If you multi-task, it won't take you much longer than it takes for the rice to cook and to get everything arranged in the bowl - 30 to 40 minutes depending on skill and comfort in the kitchen - to make two of these.

Get your rice a'cooking according to package directions.  During the 20 minutes you have to wait (40 for brown rice - plenty of time there) add your meat, garlic and onions with a little oil or cooking spray to a pan, and stir-fry over medium-high heat until the contents are nice and golden brown.  There will be a brown residue on the bottom of the pan - don't panic, this is okay.  Your food is not burned.  While your meat is cooking and your rice is doing its thing, start slicing your veggies, setting them aside for later.  When your meat is golden brown, add the soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil and a squeeze of gochujang to the pan and stir furiously, scraping up said brown residue and making a great korean-style teryaki pan sauce.  Adding liquids to create a sauce is technique called "deglazing" a pan, and will be your best friend in the kitchen.  Set aside.

If you have time (like if you're using brown rice) and don't like raw zucchini, stir fry it quickly with a little olive or other cooking oil before using it in your dish.  The spinach or beet tops can be quickly steamed, stir fried, or you can even microwave steam it, like in this sad excuse for a recipe from the Food Network.

While or after your rice is cooked and your meat is done, fry one egg sunny side up per person.  Once  your eggs are done and your veggies are sliced, arrange them in serving bowls as such:  A layer of rice, with veggies (except scallions) arranged around the edge of the bowl by type, meat in the middle, egg on top of everything.  Scatter your scallions over the bowl and serve with extra gochujang and kimchee.   Be true to the name of the dish:  mix it all up and enjoy!