Hello! To start this post off, I want to give a shoutout, as well as a thank you to Aunty Sue, for sharing this dish idea with us. On that note, I’d just like to say that if anyone has any interesting foods or ideas related to food that you’d like me to write about, please do send them this way! My family and I have discovered loads of new dishes during shelter-in-place, but it never hurts to have more inspiration.

Today my mom maid homemade BiBimBop. Yes, BiBimBop, the stuff that you might order at say, Tofu House or any Korean bbq location. While one might think that this classic staple from Korea might seem tricky or hard to make, it’s actually a super casual, easy meal to put together. If you didn’t know this, BiBimBop means “mixed rice” or “mixed meal”, indicating that it’s made up of a few different elements, and also that really anything can be put into it. Just mix rice with any combination of vegetables, tofu, or meat and you’ve got yourself an amazing dinner. That’s essentially BiBimBop. Whatever you’ve got! While there are more traditional aspects of this food that are generally seen in most instances of it such as bean sprouts or carrots, there’s really no right way to do BiBimBop. As said on the website with the recipe below, one of the biggest reasons why this yummy dish works is because you can use all your leftovers; all your foods that may go bad soon. It’s like a “clean-up”, but you don’t actually throw anything away.

My mom and Aunty Sue’s version of BiBimBop feature sliced (or cubed) pieces of bulgolgi beef marinated in that authentic, sweet Korean sauce that’s used with other BBQ items such as galbi. Supporting it are bean sprouts, zuchinni, carrots, spinach, fresh kimchi, and bell peppers. At first I thought it was odd to include the latter in a Korean dish, but just as BiBimBop says, anything works! And after a digging in to my first bowl, I realized that even though some of the vegetables didn’t really seem “Korean”, they still tasted delicious together. Additionally what’s kind of neat is that some of the toppings had sort of opposite textures. The carrots/kimchi were cold and crunchy whereas the spinach, bean sprouts, and bell peppers were more warm and soft. What a perfect combination! I already love that tangy, mouth watering bulgolgi beef, and then you just through in all these fresh vegetables. It really doesn’t get any much better than that.

As you can tell, the BiBimBop really was a big hit. Not only did it taste delicious, but it was also super easy to make. So go try it out! If you’re missing a little Korean BBQ or just craving something new, this is just the food. As long as you have a couple elements, you’ve got yourself a BiBimBop. Just don’t forget to bring the kimchi 🙂 ….

On a last note: We eat the BiBimBop separated, meaning that all the components are on the side, and then you sort of make your own bowl. Often, however, you will see that this is not the case. Fried rice-stir fry BiBimBop is another way to eat it (you’ll find this more at restaurants) in which you mix everything together beforehand, usually combining it with some egg. The recipe featured sort of explains how to do the second version, but if you wish to do it our style, you can just skip to the sections where they explain how to make each of the individual sides and then make them by themselves.

Recipe: https://mykoreankitchen.com/bibimbap-korean-mixed-rice-with-meat-and-assorted-vegetables/