When I was in fifth grade I went to a Korean restaurant with my family where I excitedly ordered the bibimbap in a stone pot. I hadn’t had bibimbap before (I was not an adventurous eater back then like I am now), but the dish looked so delicious that I had to try one. I’m not sure if my stomach couldn’t handle the raw egg on top or something wasn’t fresh in the bowl, but I had the worst case of food poisoning and gastritis of my life (funnily enough, I now live with chronic gastritis that often causes me immense pain!) that sent me to the ER for the night. I stopped eating bibimbap for many, many years after that event, but I still love the dish and have tried it now and again. Last night I made my own version of bibimbap at home, which took several steps and ingredients to result in a tasty and healthy dinner (I was inspired by this recipe)! Here’s hoping I don’t have the same GI issues with the leftovers!
Ingredients:
- One pound of ground beef or turkey
- One zucchini
- One large carrot
- One container of mushrooms
- One bag of spinach
- Two cloves of garlic
- 3/4 cup of Aloha Shoyu or Kikkoman
- 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar
Instructions:
- Slice zucchini into 1 cm rounds and cut into quarters
- Slice mushrooms
- Julienne carrot to the best of your ability (I should have used a slicer of some sort so it wouldn’t have taken me 30 minutes to do this step!)
- Finely minch garlic
- Mix garlic, shoyu, sesame oil, sugar, and rice vinegar together in a bowl and set aside
- Cook zucchini, mushrooms, and carrots individually with a pinch of salt until softened
- Wilt spinach on medium with salt and sesame oil, draining any excess oil as needed
- Place cooked vegetables in sections on a large plate or serving tray
- Cook ground meat of choice and drain excess oil/fat
- Season meat with shoyu sauce and simmer until sauce is fully incorporated
- When all parts of bibimbap are cooked, fry an egg until edges are crispy and yolk is still runny
- Add rice to a bowl and top with meat, vegetables (plate them in sections), and egg
- Pour any leftover sauce on top of bowl
- Mix bibimbap until fully combined and enjoy!
