Bibimbap

Bibimbap is one of my favorite Korean dishes (I know, I have too many favorites :) ). In Korean restaurants, it is usually served in a stone pot/bowl where the rice at the bottom sticks to the stone and creates a crunchy layer. Since I don’t have a stone bowl at home, I usually prepare it just in a regular bowl. As much as I like the crunchy part, for some reason, I think that the homemade Bibimbap tastes much better than the restaurant one. I think one of the reasons the homemade one tastes so good is because I’ve found a really good recipe here. I like to add lots of hot pepper paste, mix it really well and eat.

Bibimbap

Serves: 4
Preparation Time:  30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1 batch Spinach Side Dish (recipe here)
1 batch Soybean Sprouts Side Dish (recipe here)
1 medium Zucchini – cut into matchstick size pieces (about 10 ounces)
1 medium Carrot – cut into matchstick size pieces (about 5 ounces)
10 Shitake Mushrooms – thinly sliced (if using dried, soak in warm water for 15 minutes until soft)
14 ounces Ground Meat (I used ground Turkey)
4 Eggs
4 cups Cooked Rice
Korean Hot Pepper Paste (Gochujang) – to taste

Prepared ingredients in a platter

Seasoning:
A pinch of Salt
5 teaspoons Oil
6 1/2 teaspoons Soy Sauce (adjust to taste)
2 1/2 teaspoons Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Sesame Oil + plus more for serving
4 cloves Garlic – crushed or finely chopped
Freshly ground Black Pepper – to taste

Directions:

1. In a large platter, place prepared Spinach and Soybean Sprouts.
2. In a bowl, place Zucchini and sprinkle a pinch of salt. Mix well and keep for about 5 minutes. Squeeze out water and keep aside.
3. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Once hot, add 1 tsp of oil and sauté Zucchini for few minutes until translucent and transfer to the platter.
4. In the same skillet, add 1 tsp of oil and sauté Carrots for about 30 seconds and transfer to the platter.
5. In the same skillet, add 2 tsp of oil and sauté Mushrooms for few minutes until lightly browned. Add 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar and cook for further minute. Add 1/2 tsp of sesame oil, stir well and transfer to the platter.
6. In the same skillet, add 1 tsp of oil, add Ground Meat and cook until lightly browned stirring frequently. Add 4 cloves garlic, 4 ½ tsp soy sauce, 1 ½ tsp sugar, 1 tsp sesame oil & black pepper to taste and continue cooking for further minute. Transfer this to the platter.
7. Cook the eggs sunny side up and keep aside.

How to Serve:

1. Place rice in a large bowl and top it up with prepared meat and vegetables attractively.  Place egg in the center and serve with sesame oil and hot pepper paste on the side.
2. Before eating, add few drizzle of sesame oil to the bowl along with desired amount of hot pepper paste. Mix really well with a spoon for few minutes and eat.

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Spinach Side Dish (Sigeumchi Namul)

This is another one of my favorite Korean side dishes. It is so simple to prepare yet quite tasty. Recipe adapted from Maangchi.com.

Spinach Side Dish (Sigeumchi Namul)

Serves: 4 (as a Side Dish)
Preparation Time:  5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 bunch Fresh Spinach (about 1 pound) – cut off the roots
1 teaspoon Salt
2 cloves Garlic – crushed or finely chopped
1 Green Onion – thinly sliced
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
1/2 tablespoon Sesame Oil
1/2 tablespoon Toasted Sesame Seeds for garnish

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add 1 teaspoon of Salt. Add spinach and blanch just until wilted for about 30 seconds.
2. Drain and rinse under cold water a few times, removing any grit or dead leaves along the way. Squeeze out excess water and cut into about 2 inch pieces.
3. Add remaining ingredients except sesame seeds and mix it well by hand.
4. Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with toasted sesame seeds to serve.

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Stuffed Cucumber Kimchi

This is simple and easy recipe from Maagchi's website. The best thing I like about this recipe is that, I can make it and eat it right away. Below is half portion of the original recipe. I used Kirby cucumbers as they are very crunchy and delicious. I believe this can be served on the side of pretty much any dish from any cuisine.

Stuffed Cucumber Kimchi

Makes: 6 cucumbers
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Inactive Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
6 Kirby/pickling cucumbers - rinsed
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/4 cup Korean hot pepper flakes
1 big clove garlic - pressed or finely chopped
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 cup Asian chives - cut into 1 inch length pieces
1 green onion - diagonally sliced thinly
1/4 cup carrot - shredded
1/4 cup onion - thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Slit cucumbers in quarter slits lengthwise, leaving about 1/2 inch at the bottom so that whole piece is still intact. Sprinkle kosher salt and mix gently so that all cucumbers are coated with salt. Leave this aside for about 30 minutes.
2. In a separate large bowl, combine fish sauce, Korean hot pepper flakes, garlic & sugar and mix with spoon to create a paste. Add Asian chives, green onions, carrots and onion to the mixture and mix everything well with a spoon and keep aside.
3. After 30 minutes, rinse cucumbers with cold water to remove all salt and drain them.
4. Stuff seasoning paste between slits of each cucumber and keep them in airtight container. You can wear food service gloves to protect your hands during the stuffing process.
5. Stuffed cucumbers can be served right away or kept in fridge for few days.

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Galbi (Korean Short Ribs BBQ)

I like a lot of barbeque dishes and Galbi is no different. I like to pair it with some Japchae, and some of the Korean side dishes, depending on how much time I have on hand. I’m using Maangchi’s recipe with few more ingredients added. I love the dipping sauce she made which goes really well when spread over rice noodle roll sheets, and wrapped with some meat and vegetables. It is always good to marinate meat overnight but if you are short of time, few hours of marinating will do as well. I like to buy the boneless short ribs from Costco. I like this cut because it is well marbled which produce tender meat at the end and boneless just makes it a bit easier to eat.

Galbi (Korean Short Ribs BBQ)

Serves: 4 to 6
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Marinating Time: Preferably overnight

Ingredients:
4 pounds boneless beef chuck short ribs – excess fat removed and cut into 1/4 inch thick and 5 to 6 inches in length
1 large Asian pear
9 cloves garlic
1/2 Onion (about 1 cup) – cut into chunks
1 teaspoon ginger – roughly chopped
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup Chinese rice wine (cooking wine)
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (optional)
4 green onions – thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Wash the beef couple times under cold water, drain and keep it in a large container or pot.
2. With your food processor or blender, grind pear, garlic, onion and ginger into a fine paste and transfer to a clean large bowl.
3. To this bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour this marinate over the beef, mix well and let it marinate in the fridge, covered for overnight.
4. When ready to grill, remove the meat from refrigerator 30 minutes before grilling and grill on high heat for your desired doneness, approximately 2 minutes per side or more.
5. Serve the meat as a wrap with ingredients such as lettuce, chunks of cucumber, carrots, green chili, rice noodle roll sheet and dipping sauce (recipe below) or serve with some steam rice, Japchae, grill vegetables and cucumber kimchi.

Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:
2 tablespoon soy bean paste (fermented bean paste, Doenjang)
1 tablespoon Korean hot pepper paste (Gochujang)
1 green onion – thinly sliced
1 clove garlic – pressed or finely chopped
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, mix well and serve.

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Japchae (Korean Stir Fried Noodles)

I started eating Korean food only after moving to California and love it ever since. I like the BBQ and most of the side dishes offered in Korean restaurants. This noodle is one of my favorite dishes that I've tried. Few years back when I was a little obsessed with Korean food, I started looking for Korean recipes online and found this Maangchi's website which I absolutely love. I've tried many of her dishes and love them all.

This noodle is a must have for us whenever we do Korean BBQ. Since I always pair it with Korean BBQ, I just take some of the marinated meat from BBQ, slice it thin and use it for this dish.

Japchae (Korean Stir Fried Noodles)

Serves: 4 as a meal or 8 as a side dish
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
12 ounces Korean starch noodles (Dangmyun)
1 bunch spinach (about 1 pound) – cut off the roots
1 medium carrot – cut into matchstick size pieces (about 1 cup)
1 medium onion – sliced into 1/8 inch thick slices (about 1 cup)
1 packet of white button mushrooms – thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
8 green onions – cut into 3 inch length pieces
5 ounces (approx. 1/3 lb) beef – thinly sliced
5 dried shitake mushrooms – soaked in warm water for 30 minutes or until soften, squeeze out water and thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic – pressed or finely chopped
4 tablespoons soy sauce (adjust to taste)
3 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
3 1/2 tablespoon sugar (adjust to taste)
Black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
5 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil for cooking the vegetables

Directions:

1. Boil the noodles per package instruction till tender, drain and place it in a large bowl. Cut it up several times using scissors and season it with 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of sesame oil. Mix well and keep aside.
2. Place spinach in a pot of boiling water and cook just until wilted, for about half a minute. Drain and rinse under cold water few times, removing any grit or dead leaves along the way. (You can use the same water for boiling noodles to cook the spinach). Squeeze out excess water and cut into about 2 inch pieces. Season it with 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, mix and place it in the noodle bowl.
3. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Once hot, add a splash (about 1 tsp) of olive/vegetable oil and stir fry the carrots for about half a minute and transfer them to the noodle bowl.
4. Heat the same skillet with a splash more of oil and stir fry the onions until translucent and transfer to the noodle bowl.
5. Do the same with white mushrooms, stir frying them until lightly golden and transfer to the noodle bowl.
6. Repeat again with green onions and cook for about a minute and transfer to the noodle bowl.
7. Heat the same skillet again with a splash more oil and add beef, shitake mushrooms and stir fry for few minutes until the meat is cooked through. Add garlic, 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sugar, stir well and cook for about half a minute more and transfer to the noodle bowl.
8. Add 2 tbsp soy sauce, 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp sesame oil, black pepper to the noodle bowl. Mix everything up very well and adjust according to taste. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve.

Note:

• Precut all the vegetables before stir frying so that you can cook continuously while stir frying.
• Keep the heat to maximum and make sure the skillet is well heated while stir frying the vegetables.

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