Bibimbap

I've posted about bibimbap before, a couple years ago. Back then I was still trying to make it in a fiery hot stone bowl (which I didn't have, so I used my Le Creuset saucier), and just couldn't ever get it quite right. Since then, I've taken to making the non-stone bowl version, which has much better results.

Once again, I apologize for the lack of pictures, but the kids snatched these up and started gobbling them down the second I slid the lightly fried egg on top, and -- in typical mom fashion -- they got all the good stuff and I got the dregs, so my bowl wasn't pretty enough to warrant photographing. And just maybe I was as eager to eat as they were, and didn't want to waste timing getting the camera. Just saying.

Tonight's bibimbap used jasmine rice as the base, topped with a rainbow array of lightly sauteed carrots, spinach, zucchini, bean sprouts, mushrooms, bean sprouts and ground chicken. The crowning glory was a lightly fried egg with runny yolk.

This dinner rocked! Meg begs me to make bibimbap all the time. Whenever I ask for their input in planning a weekly menu, it's the first thing she shouts out, every time without fail. I usually refuse, simply because there's a lot of prep work with this, sauteeing the meat and each vegetable individually, not to mention the time cutting everything into matchsticks. But whenever I do make it for her, I always wonder why I don't do it more often. It's worth the prep work a zillion times over. As Meg said this evening, who'd have thought that meat and veggies with a fried egg would taste so good? But there's something so intensely satisfying about bibimbap, and it never lets me down. If you've never had it before, give it a try!

Bibimbap

freshly cooked jasmine rice
1 lb ground chicken or pork
1/2 tsp sesame oil (a little goes a long way)
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sugar
2 medium carrots, cut into 2" matchsticks
1 medium zucchini, cut into 2" matchsticks
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, cut into matchsticks (do the best you can...totally chopped is fine)
1 1/2 cups fresh bean sprouts
1 bunch spinach, stems removed
eggs, 1 per serving

Start rice cooking. Meanwhile, brown ground meat over medium-high heat. When fully cooked, drain grease and discard, then add sesame oil, soy sauce and sugar. Stir and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove chicken to a serving plate, leaving room for the rest of the toppings as you cook them.

Sautee carrots over medium-high heat until crisp tender; remove to serving plate.

Sautee zucchini over medium-high heat until it begins to brown and soften; remove to serving plate.

Sautee mushrooms over medium-high heat for a few minutes. You don't want them totally soft, but still with a bite to them. Remove to serving plate.

Sautee bean sprouts until crisp tender; remove to serving plate.

Sautee spinach until wilted but still bright green; remove to serving plate.

Scoop rice into individual wide, shallow bowls. Arrange toppings attractively on top of rice. You can arrange them in wedge shapes around the bowl, or in stripes. Alternatively, let each person put the toppings of their choice on their own serving.

Meanwhile, wipe out skillet with a paper towl, return to heat, grease pan with a little oil, and crack eggs into it. Fry just until whites are set, flipping once. You want the yolks runny. As soon as eggs are done, put one egg in the center of each bowl. Add Korean red chili paste, if desired. Serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Vegetables and Tofu with Jasmine Rice

Brad and I are taking a History class together for fun this semester -- The World Since 1960. It's an absolutely fascinating class, and our professor is a phenomenal lecturer. I swear, each class session is as entertaining and interesting as going to movies, and we look forward to Tuesday and Thursday mornings with happy anticipation. So far we've covered the history of intelligence gathering, the arms race, Vietnam, Israel and the Middle East, China, and today we started on Western Europe. I love this class! In discussing China, we've been reading Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Chen, the story of her arrest and imprisonment during the Cultural Revolution. I highly recommend it if you have a chance to read it. The subject matter is sobering, but in reading it last weekend, she mentioned a bowl of rice with steaming vegetables piled on top, and something about that stuck with me, and inspired tonight's dinner: Stir-fried Vegetables and Tofu with Jasmine Rice.

This is one of those recipes that's hardly worth typing out. Cook a pot of jasmine rice. Toast some sesame seeds in a hot, dry skillet, and set aside. Stir-fry green beans, onion, red bell pepper, mushrooms and tofu with ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar. Fill a bowl with rice. Pile veggies and tofu on top. Sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds. Devour.

Yum!