Serves 2 / Difficulty – Medium / Prep 30 – 45 mins plus marinading
This healthy, tasty, Korean dish is a wonderful mix of marinated beef, seasoned vegetables Namul (seasoned veg), rice, and then topped with a fried egg.
Traditionally this dish would get served to you in a piping hot stone bowl so you can mix all the ingredients together and cook them at your table. At home we are going to cook everything in a wok. This is one of the rare occasions I buy extra thinly sliced beef or minute steak – as you need it as thin as possible for this recipe (the thinner the better).
If you want this dish to blow your mind, you have to do the marinade early in the morning and cook the Bibimbap in the evening.
Ingredients
For the beef marinade
Light soy sauce – 2 tbsp
White sugar – 2 tsp
Sesame oil – 2 tsp
Rice wine (or white wine will do) – 2 tsp
Shallots, peeled & chopped – 2
Garlic cloves, crushed – 2
Sesame Seeds – 1 tsp
Beef fillet, thinly sliced and cut into squares – 300g
For the gochujang sauce
Gochujang (chilli paste) – 4 tbsp
Light brown sugar – 4 tbsp
Sesame oil – 4 tsp
Water – 80ml
For the rest of the recipe
Eggs – 4
Ground nut oil – 2 tbsp
Short grain or sushi rice, cooked – 700g (portions for 4 people)
Carrots – 2
Cucumber – 1
Sesame seeds, toasted, to garnish
Method
- Combine all the beef marinade ingredients, mix with the beef making sure its all well coated. Leave in the fridge for 1 hour minimum, preferably all day.
- For the Namul vegetables peel the carrots and thinly slice into juliennes, place into a bowl and season with salt. Peel the cucumber, quarter lengthways, remove and discard the soft seeds and then julienne, place into another bowl and season with salt. Put to one side.
- Boil the rice as per the instructions.
- Meanwhile take a small jug and combine all the ingredients for the gochujang sauce, leave to one side for later.
- Heat the ground nut oil in a wok on a medium heat and cook the seasoned carrot for around 5 minutes until it starts to soften, then take the cucumber leaving any liquid the cucumber has sweated, and add to the wok and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Then turn up the wok to a high heat and add the beef and stir fry for about 5 minutes until it turns nice and brown. What you want to do is caramelise the beef, but don’t overcook and dry it out.
- Take a frying pan, fry the eggs to your liking.
- Divide the rice into the four bowls, then add the cooked beef and vegatbles, top with an egg and sprinkle of sesame seeds.
- Serve with the gochujang sauce.
