Bibimbap with Ginger Garlic Fried Rice

In recent years, Korea has witnessed extreme growth worldwide in almost every sphere of life but is most notably recognized by the originality of the food made with fresh assorted vegetables. Undoubtedly, Korean food flavors have made their way out of their native lands and have become the focus of exceptional taste internationally. The list of Korean food is endless but I am writing here to talk about the most loved dish in Korea- Bibimbap.

While living in Minneapolis I discovered Moto-i, a ramen restaurant with an in-house sake brewery. As the first sake brewpub outside of Japan, it’s located at the corner of Lyndale and Lake Street in the Lyn-Lake neighborhood and offers palatable Asian-inspired foods and dishes. It quickly became a favorite spot of mine with its house-made steamed buns, delicious ramen, and of course their unique twist on the Korean classic dish bibimbap.

Since relocating back to Chicago, I began craving the Moto-I version of bibimbap but have yet to find a local Chicago restaurant with the same custom version of fried rice offered. Like any great food photographer and food stylist, I merged two recipes to recreate it at home, one recipe with a ginger garlic fried rice and the other with an authentic version of bibimbap.

For those who find this version of bibimbap crave-worthy and would like to try it at home, if you are not visiting Minneapolis, MN anytime soon, I am adding to this food blog post the recipes I have been using below with some photos of the finished dish after the last time I made it. If you like Asian food with a bit of spice I hope you will enjoy this version!

 

Doesn’t the final food styling presentation look delicious in the photo? Bibimbap served with Gochujang sauce along with a Miso soup and pork potstickers with soy sauce.

 

So what Is Bibimbap?

It denotes of mixed rice with meat and assorted vegetables, but there are endless variations to this dish depending on your health and diet preferences. If you are looking to try the authentic version of this dish, then go for bibimbap made with raw beef and raw egg yolk coupled with vegetables. The version I make though has stir-fried beef in a marinade with either a sunny-side-up egg or boiled egg, both with a runny egg yolk. The absolute best part of this dish for me is breaking the egg yolk and stirring it in with the rest of the dish’s ingredients.

So are you ready to try this delicious dish?

Here are the ingredients:

Meat and Marinade Sauce-

• 3.5 ounces of minced beef cuts
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp minced garlic

Vegetables to be used –

• .5 pounds of spinach
• .8 pounds of bean sprouts
• 3.5 ounces of shiitake mushrooms
• 4 ounces of shredded carrots
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3 to 4 servings of ginger garlic fried rice (see recipe below)
• 3 to 4 servings of eggs (depending on portion sizes)

Bibimbap Sauce-

• 2 Tbsp Gochujang
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp roasted sesame seeds
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 tsp minced garlic

Instructions:

To start prepare the meat marinade and mix together with the minced beef. Marinate beef for at least 30 minutes (up to one day in advance) while preparing all of the other ingredients. I do this by sealing everything in an airtight food-saver bag and leave in the refrigerator.

Prep with all of the ingredients does take some time, I like to prepare a good hour and a half to wash and cut everything, and sometimes even do all of this the day before.

Prepare the Bibimbap Sauce

Mix all the ingredients (gochujang, sugar, sesame oil, water, vinegar, minced garlic, and roasted sesame seeds) for the bibimbap sauce until smooth and set aside, and cover as it is ready for the final dish.

Prep vegetables for Bibimbap and fried rice

Once all of your vegetables and other ingredients have been washed, patted dry, and cut set aside in separate dishes. Organize bibimbap ingredients in one area and the fried rice in another.

Ginger Garlic Fried Rice

You might be aware of the use of plain white rice while making the bibimbap but have you ever tried ginger garlic fried rice in it? This part is the whole inspiration for this food blog post!

Fried Rice Ingredients-

• 2 ounces of ginger grated or minced
• 1 and 1/2 heads of garlic minced
• 5 cups of cooked white rice
• 1 tsp of soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp of Shaoxing wine
• 1/8 tsp of ground white pepper
• 4 eggs whisked together
• 3 diced scallions

Once the rice has been cooked and cooled off to room temperature, putting it in the freezer for about ten minutes will help once the rice has stopped steaming. When the rice is ready take a wok or large frying pan, add 1 Tbsp of oil, and allow it to heat to a high flame. Then add ginger to the oil, fry, and allow it to become a bit darkened. Add garlic and cook until fragrant and a little brown, don’t overcook or it will taste burnt! A total of 10 minutes is required for both the ginger and the garlic to cook.

Next add cooked white rice to the wok or pan. Mix well and stir the rice so that all the ingredients should bend evenly. Spread the rice to form a single layer. Stir after some time and again layer them out. This process will help each grain of the rice to be cooked.

The next step is to add the soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, scallions, and ground white pepper to the combined mixture and allow them to be cooked for another 3-4 minutes.

Now add the whisked eggs, pour over the rice uniformly and stir-fry rapidly to cover all of the rice and to cook evenly. This is also to avoid the eggs clumping, unless you prefer some scrambled egg then go for it!

Once the rice is finished plate in a wide or deep bowl and set aside. As the remaining bibimbap ingredients are cooked you will place in sections on top of the rice bowl.

Bibimbap Vegetables

Heat a wok or large frying pan with some oil on a medium flame. Stir-fry each of the vegetables separately, add some salt to each and cook for 2-3 minutes. As each vegetable is finished cooking add in sections on top of the rice.

Bibimbap Meat

Add another 1 Tbsp to the wok or large frying pan on medium-high heat and cook the meat, which will take about 3 to 5 minutes to fully cook.

Cook the eggs, either sunny side up or boiled, per your preference just make sure the yolk is runny. Add to the top of all of the meat and vegetable ingredients and serve quickly while everything is still hot! If you try this recipe please let me know how you liked it!