Time for another recipe, and this time it’s a craving for one of my favourite Korean dishes, Bibimbap that had me reminiscing about my time in South Korea. Even though I left South Korea over 10 years ago, I still get cravings for some of my favourite dishes! I can’t make Sam-gyap-Sal (BBQ pork belly) very easily at home, but I frequently make both Bibimbap and Dok-boggi (another comfort food favourite of mine!) at home. A trip to your local Chinese supermarket will help you to find the hot pepper paste required, and many other delicious things as well no doubt!

Bibimbap literally means “mixed-up rice” and is very easy to make, very delicious and super filling. One of my favourite things about Bibimbap is that it is always presented looking beautifully arranged, but in order to eat it, you have to immediately mix it all up into a tasty and delicious mess!

There’s a good recipe here on the Guardian website, and it’s a great way to use up leftovers. I tend to make mine with hot rice and a hot cooked egg, but cold/raw vegetables, almost like a salad with hot rice, however you can mix it up any way you like, and can make the whole thing hot or cold depending on your mood. I’ve listed my standard version that I tend to make at home below, but I do encourage you to try it lots of different ways, with different veg, hot and cold, and play around with it until you find something you love!

You’ll need:

• 1/4 shredded/grated Cucumber
• 1/4 shredded/grated Courgette
• 1/4 cup shredded lettuce
• 1/4 cup shredded cabbage
• 1/4 cup shredded/grated carrot
• 1/2 cup rice
• 1 tbsp Go-chu-jang (Korean Hot Pepper Paste)
• 1 large egg
• Optional – spicy beef, pork or chicken – can be leftovers or cooked mince etc.

Steps:

1. Boil the rice until cooked, and set aside (for tips on rice cooking, try this post)
2. Shred/grate the vegetables – I usually use a cheese grater for the cucumber, courgette and carrot.
3. Usually the egg is fried, but I much prefer a poached egg personally. Or if you’re using hot vegetables and a hot pot, you can put the egg on raw and it will cook through as you mix it all up.
4. Arrange the bibimbap – first in a large bowl, put the cooked rice at the bottom, and then arrange the veg (and pork or beef as well if you have some leftovers and want to add meat). As this article suggests, the vegetables should be artfully arranged around the bowl in a colourful pattern, with a decent dollop of spicy Go-chu-jang paste in the middle, and then pop your fried/poached/raw egg on top.
5. Once ready, grab your spoon, and mix it all up into a reddish-orange mess and tuck in! Make sure you’ve used a really nice big bowl to allow space for rigorous mixing!

Here’s mine all beautifully presented before I mixed it all up!