It's been a while since I last posted a Korean recipe. Â Around Thanksgiving to be exact (that feels like a million years ago). Â As I was doing my meal planning for the week, I was overcome with this sudden craving for a spicy rice bowl with an assortment of vegetables, a.k.a bibimbap. Â "Bibim" means mixed/mixing and "bap" means rice. Â Now in the off chance you were interested, I normally do all my meal planning on Friday so I can grocery shop on Saturday morning and cook some meals that evening as well as on Sunday. Â I don't really cook during the week unless I randomly have a little extra time. Â It's mostly reheating and assembling the fruits of my weekend labor.
A traditional Korean meal normally consists of rice, various vegetable side dishes, and a soup or stew of some kind. Â And by traditional I mean for my parents' generation and the ones before them. Â In fact, to this day my dad must have all these components in his meal to feel satisfied (sorry mom...). Â The younger generation, however, is perfectly content (or am I just speaking for myself here?) with a bowl of rice, a side of kimchi, and some "gim" or roasted seaweed. Â Since a wide array of side dishes or "banchan" are typically prepared throughout the week in the Korean home, it's not uncommon for bibimbap to show up on the dinner table at some point in an effort to essentially clean up the fridge. Â That's my kind of cooking.
In that regard, there's really no recipe to making bibimbap.  Just get a large bowl, throw in all the leftover vegetables and a protein source of your choice, mix in heaping spoonfuls of  "gochujang" or red pepper paste, add some sesame oil (just when you think you've added enough, pour in some more), and just dig in!
Since I haven't made a Korean meal in a long time and didn't feel like going through the extra steps of preparing the vegetables just for this one dish, I decided to keep it simple: Marinate some ground beef. Â Pickle some cucumbers. Â 10 minutes. Â Done.
Pickling the cucumbers is super easy! Â First slice them really thinly (pictured above). Â If you don't have a mandolin...what are you doing?! Â You must get one NOW! Â Place the cucumber slices in a large bowl, and add salt and water. Â This step is really important as it will help draw out all the water from the cucumbers and make them extra crunchy. Â You'll see! Â After about 5 minutes, place them in a cloth and squeeze the heck out of them. Â Make sure to drain out as much liquid as possible.
As for the meat, I used a 93% lean ground beef, massaged it with a quick and simple bulgogi marinade, let it sit for about 10 minutes, and cooked it in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Once the meat has cooled, throw in the cucumbers, and combine with some sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds. Â You can serve it on top of some rice and kimchi if you don't want to go the bibimbap route. Â And despite the Hungryman's constant requests for rice as white as snow, I used my veto power and brown rice entered the picture. Â I won't lie. Â Using white rice would make the mixing a lot easier and would just melt in your mouth. With the brown rice you have to exercise those jaw muscles a bit more, but what can I say? Â My heart follows the whole grains. Â 
As I mentioned earlier, some spiciness was in order, so bibimbap was the logical choice for me. Â It seriously is a bulletproof recipe. Â There's no way on earth that you can mess it up...unless, of course, you don't have sesame oil. Â Can you tell I take my sesame oil very.very seriously? Â Oh, I guess you need the red pepper paste too. Â In my opinion, bibimbap MUST be served in a large metal bowl. Â If you are Korean or have hardcore bibimbap-loving Korean friends, you know what I'm talking about here. Â Whether it's the stainless steel variety of that golden-colored aluminum kind, somehow eating it from this magical bowl makes the contents 100 times tastier and conjures up all kinds of fond memories.
Once everything's mixed, grab your loved ones and some extra spoons and dig in! Â And yes, I mean from the same bowl. Â You should know that we, Koreans, are not concerned with the infamous double dip. Â Nope. Â In fact, the concept of sharing germs during mealtime is embraced. Perhaps this is why I have such a strong immune system. Â Well..we're all alive and kicking, and that's what matters ;).
Now if the personal hygiene habits of your dining companion(s) are in question or you're just trying to practice portion control, go ahead and make yourself a separate bowl. Â Sprinkle some roasted seaweed flakes to ward off the loneliness. Â Even perhaps a runny egg? Whatever you decide to do, I think you're going to enjoy this super easy recipe!
Ingredients
For the meat:
- ¾ Ib. lean ground beef I used 93%
- 1 ½ Tbs low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 Tbs minced garlic 1 clove
- 1 Tbs chopped green onion
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
For the cucumber
- 2 cucumbers sliced thinly
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- â…“ cup water
For the bibimbap
- 2 cups brown rice
- 2 Tbs gochujang red pepper paste, adjust to taste
- 1 Tbs sesame oil
- 1 Tbs toasted sesame seeds
- seaweed flakes optional
Instructions
- Marinate the meat for at least 10 minutes. Cook in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Place cucumber slices in a large bowl. Add salt and water, and let stand for about 5 minutes. Squeeze out all the water and spread slices out on a plate.
- In a large bowl, add cooked meat, cucumber slices, rice, gochujang, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Mix together and enjoy!
Des @ Life's Ambrosia says
Holy cow this looks fantastic! And the part about adding a runny egg?? Swoon. Thanks for stopping by my blog because now I've found yours! 🙂
Karen @ The Food Charlatan says
This looks wonderful Min! My friend Erika over at the Pancake Princess just posted about Bibimbap, and I take your post as a clear sign that I need to have this in my life, stat. Also, I am loving the One Family Bowl thing. Keep those doctors away through saliva sharing, I say.
PS That first picture of you holding the sliced cucumber is lovely. I have pretty much the exact same shot on a Cucumber salad post of mine--except I STILL months later get dirty comments about my ugly chipped nails. It is my most popular post of all time, and those hideous nails are sadly all over pinterest. So good job having some hygiene. I should take hand-care lessons from you.
Julie @ This Gal Cooks says
This looks SO good, Min! I have a hard time figuring out which type of food I like more - Mexican dishes or Asian dishes.
Great recipe. Thanks for sharing at Marvelous Mondays. Pinned!
Min says
That's always my dilemma too! Tex-Mex…it doesn't help that it's everywhere.
Joanne says
Most of my cooking gets done on the weekend also! It's so much more leisurely and happy that way. This spicy bowl looks awesome! I'm salivating just thinking about shoving a spoonful in my mouth.
Min says
Yup! Most of the time that is…Not if I have papers due on Monday then it ceases to be my escape. Enter survival mode ;). I would love to spoon feed you, Joanne!!
melissa @ my whole food life says
My step mom is Korean and this reminds me of her cooking. I think I will share your recipe with her. I am sure she will love it!
Min says
Oh, so I'm sure you've had your fair share of homemade korean food, yes? If so, do you have a favorite? I'm sure your mom already knows about this recipe. She may look at the picture and say, "where is the fried egg on top?" hehe
Reginia Cordell says
My husband would love this recipe. He loves rice and pickled cucumbers. I may substitute ground chicken or half/half. Looks very tastey.
Min says
I've never tried it with ground chicken, but I think that's a wonderful idea!
Ashley | Spoonful of Flavor says
I love your Korean recipes, Min! I think the best part is the sliced cucumber. I love fresh cucumber straight from the garden this time of the year. Can't wait to try this, and I'll definitely make sure to serve it in a large metal bowl 🙂
Min says
Yes, the cucumber is the star of this dish! And if you follow the method and "pickle" it before, you will see how crunchy it gets! Yay for large metal bowl!! 😉
Katie | Healthy Seasonal Recipes says
Min, This made my mouth water. I love that the cukes are mixed right in with the meat. It sounds so yummy! I agree everyone should own a mandolin. I do need to get one like yours though.
Min says
Oh yes, you must! I purchased mine at an Asian grocery store (this one is a Japanese brand, the same one my mom has in her kitchen), and it is one the most used kitchen tools.
Lynna says
Oh my, this looks delicious and pretty simple to make. 😀
Min says
It is super easy! Hope you give this recipe a try 😉
Kari @ bite-sized thoughts says
I always love it when you give us a peak into traditional Korean cooking and eating 🙂 This rice bowl sounds fantastic!
Min says
Thanks, Kari! On another note, I started reading "The Hundred-Year-Old Man who Climbed Out of the Window…" It's a mouthful haha. I just absolutely LOVE your goodreads list.
Julie @ Lovely Little Kitchen says
This post is so interesting to me. I love learning about different cultures and their traditions surrounding food and gathering together. Love how you write Min. Can't wait to read more!
Min says
Thank you, Julie, for your kind words! I'm so glad we finally connected, and I look forward to following you as well ;).
ellie @ fit for the soul says
Uhhhh this looks extremely delicious right now....0_0 I've been liking Korean food a lot more than I ever thought I would! I used to be like, Mehhhh Krn is boring...blah blah, but now I really love the flavors and appreciate it so much. I think it also helps that it doesn't give me as many digestive issues like say, Italian or something like that.
I really can't wait for the day you and I get to meet and eat and drink and play together. 😀 Daydreaming now...*creepy?*
Min says
I know! I'd love to meet you in person one of these days!! ;). Not creepy at all.