Korean Bibimbap

In the spirit of putting some of my 113 cookbooks into play this year, I’ve decided to choose one cookbook every month from which to try out new recipes in a more focused way. I’ll be sharing some of these, with my own tweaks, here on the blog, and incorporating them into my weekly meal plans. This month (well, what remains of it), I’m going to be cooking from Jenny Rosenstrach’s first book, Time for Dinner, which she co-wrote back when she was an editor at Cookie magazine.

If you’re a regular reader, you already know how much I love and use Jenny’s latest book, Dinner: A Love Story, and her blog by the same name. So it was logical for me to hunt down Time for Dinner and give it a try. Sadly, it’s now out of print, but used and discount copies abound.

If you’d like to get the cookbook of the month and cook alongside me, I’d like to invite you to link up with me here by posting in the Comments section below, letting all of us know what you cooked and how it turned out.

This week, I made Bibimbap, a Korean dish that intrigued me because it looked so unusual. We love the flavors of Asian food around here, but I haven’t gotten into Asian cooking very deeply. This was my first time trying something Korean. Bibimbap is incredibly easy, customizable for picky eaters just as the book advertises, and E and I both thought it was super tasty. I love the fried egg on top. I made ours over-medium, so that the runny yolk mixed in with the rest of the bowl and flavored everything. It was delicious. Next time, I’ll probably experiment with more veggies. I was unable to find fresh mung bean sprouts at the market this week, and I would have liked to include those. I will also try adding baby corn, water chestnuts, and some steamed broccoli or snow peas.

I planned ahead and made the brown rice a few days before, and just put it in a zippered bag in the fridge. Because of that, dinner came together extra quickly. I also sometimes just make extra rice and keep it in bags in the freezer for times when I need a rice-based meal to come together quickly.

I did find that I needed less sauce than the recipe made, so I cut back on the amounts in that part of the recipe. I also used low-sodium soy sauce, and I’m glad I did because it was plenty salty!

And by the way, Bibimbap is gluten free and dairy free.

Bibimbap
Adapted from Time for Dinner by Pilar Guzman, Jenny Rosenstrach, and Alanna Stang

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
4 tablespoons toasted sesame seed oil
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 pound ground turkey, beef, or pork (I used 85% lean turkey)
4 large eggs
2 cups cooked brown rice
a variety of raw and steamed vegetables (I used steamed bok choy and fresh shredded carrot)

In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sesame seed oil, and brown sugar. It should yield about 3/4 cup. Set aside.

In a large skillet or Dutch oven, brown the meat until fully cooked. Add 1/2 cup of the sauce, and simmer on medium-high, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated. Cover and keep warm while you steam the veggies, warm the rice (if needed), and cook the eggs.

To easily steam greens and other veggies, wash and cut them, and place in a bowl with 1-2 tablespoons of water in the bottom. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave in 30-second intervals, until bright green and tender. Greens should only take about 30 seconds.

Fry the eggs to your liking.

To assemble:

Place half a cup of rice in each of four bowls.