Bibimbap – Trust the Koreans to transform the humble rice bowl into a recipe that’s revered all around the world! With a kaleidoscope of seasoned sautéed vegetables, Korean marinated beef, and the signature fried egg, the thing that really seals the deal is the bright red, spicy Bibimbap Sauce that I can’t get enough of.
Mix it all up into one big delicious mess, then dig in!
Bibimbap
I am a little obsessed with Bibimbap. I’d go as far as to say that it’s my favourite Korean food – but it always concerns me when I make grand statements like that because I’m worried I’ve said that about another Korean recipe I’ve previously shared.
No one’s ever accused me of being unenthusiastic, that’s for sure! 😂
What’s bibimbap?
Bibimbap is one of the most well known Korean dishes. A rice bowl topped with all sorts of seasoned sautéed vegetables, marinated meat (usually beef), a fried egg sunny side up, finished with a sprinkle of sesame and generous dollop of a sweet-spicy-savoury Bibimbap sauce. <- Heads up, this sauce is so awesome, you can basically use any vegetables and any meat and your Bibimbap is going to be delish!
Lengthy – but repetitive!
There’s no denying it – this recipe has more components to it than my quick ‘n easy one pot meals because all the toppings are seasoned and cooked separately.
But the simple seasonings are largely repetitive and it is a very straightforward, leisurely recipe you can start and stop as you please because it’s MEANT to be served at room temp!
I’m going to walk through each of the components here, but if you’re feeling impatient, just skip ahead to the recipe!
Bibimbap Sauce
It’s probably not “normal” to start with the Bibimbap Sauce, but I am because I think it makes this dish. You can use any vegetables and any protein (even tofu) and your bibimbap will still be SO GOOD once it’s all mixed up with the rice and this sauce!
The essential ingredient in Bibimbap Sauce is Gochujang, an intense flavoured spicy miso paste that’s key to Korean cooking. Find it at Asian grocery stores (it’s cheap, ~$2.50, and lasts for ages), at some Woolworths stores (Australia), and here it is on Amazon Australia, US, Canada and UK.
Marinated Beef
Nowadays, you’ll find Bibimbap with all sorts of meat toppings but the traditional version is made with thinly sliced beef. The beef seasoning is usually a slightly toned down version of Bulgogi (Korean Marinated Beef). We don’t need big flavour on the beef because the Bibimbap Sauce adds tons of flavour. Some recipes even use just basic soy-garlic-sesame oil combination.
But I like each component on my Bibimbap to be tasty enough to eat on its own so I use a scaled back Bulgogi marinade.
The unique ingredient in Bulgogi is grated apple – this is a signature technique used in Korean marinades to add flavour, sweetness and tenderise! Nashi pear is also commonly used.
Other meats?
Totally! Chicken, turkey or pork finally sliced or cut into thin strips, small prawns/shrimp or even fish fillets (cook whole then flake).
Bibimbap Vegetables
This is the part that some people find tedious but I don’t find to be a big deal at all – cooking each of the vegetables individually.
Here’s how it goes down:
Shiitake mushrooms – soak in boiling water, then slice and sauté with garlic, soy and sugar. Fresh also ok, but dried has more intense flavour.
Zucchini and carrot – cut into batons, optional to sprinkle with salt then leave for 20 minutes (I often skip this), then sauté until soft.
Spinach – chop then sauté, super quick!
Beansprouts – steam or boil until wilted, squeeze out excess liquid then season with garlic, sesame and fish sauce OR soy sauce.
Simple, right?? Get two pans going if you’re impatient!
Other vegetables?
So. Many. Options! Here are some suggestions to replace the vegetables I use:
Dried shiitake – sub with any fresh mushrooms
Carrot and zucchini – sub with asparagus, green beans, broccolini (halve lenthgwise), snow peas (slice, peppers/capsicum
Spinach and bean sprouts – kale, silverbeet, cabbage (sliced), leafy Asian greens
Assembling Bibimbap
My favourite part! (Aside from eating it of course… and breaking the yolk… and mixing it all up… OK fine. It’s my 4th favourite part!)
There are no rules about the order in which the vegetables and meat get placed on the rice, but try to use alternating colours just to make it look as good as it tastes. 😇
How to eat Bibimbap
Part of the whole Bibimbap experience is how the bowl comes to you looking as pretty as a picture, then you get to dollop on as much Bibimbap Sauce as you want (I use about 2 tbsp), then after all that hard work preparing the bowls, you mix it all up and turn it into a delicious mess.
That first mouthful… I try to get a bit of everything, including a bit of runny yolk.
Then after that, I don’t care – I just get stuck into it. 😂
I was going to sign off there, but I better leave you with a slightly neater photo of Bimbimbap. 😂
– Nagi x
PS If the photos haven’t convince you, the video surely will!↓↓↓
Watch how to make it
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Bibimbap
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked white rice , preferably short grain (Note 1)
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
Korean Beef & Marinade:
- 250 g/8oz beef tenderloin or thick steak , very finely sliced (subs, Note 2)
- 1/4 green apple , grated using box grater (Note 3)
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 tbsp soy sauce , light or all purpose (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp honey (or brown sugar)
- 2 tsp sesame oil , toasted (Note 9)
Vegetables:
- 2 carrots , large, cut into 5 x 0.5cm/2 x 1/5" batons
- 2 zucchini , large, cut into 5 x 0.5cm/2 x 1/5" batons
- 1 bunch of spinach , cut into 5cm/2" lengths
- 8 dried shiitake mushrooms , large (Note 5)
- 4 cups bean sprouts
- 2 tsp garlic , minced (3 cloves)
- 8 tsp vegetable oil , separated
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1.5 tsp soy sauce , light or all purpose (Note 4)
- 1/4 tsp fish sauce (sub soy)
- 1/4 tsp white sugar
- Sesame oil , toasted (Note 9)
Bibimbap Sauce:
- 4 tbsp gochujang paste (Note 6)
- 2 tbsp mirin (Note 7)
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar (Note 8)
- 1.5 tsp soy sauce (Note 4)
- 3 tsp white sugar
- 1 garlic clove , finely grated
- 2.5 tsp sesame oil , toasted (Note 9)
Instructions
Bibimbap Sauce:
- Mix ingredients until sugar is dissolved.
Marinated Beef:
- Mix the marinade in a bowl, then add beef. Marinate for 30 minutes to overnight.
- Heat 2 tsp oil in a large skillet over high heat. Let excess marinade drip off then add beef. Cook for 3 - 4 minutes until cooked and there's some caramelised bits, then remove from skillet.
- Keep warm until required or reheat to warm.
Prepare Vegetables:
- Shiitake: Soak mushrooms in a large bowl of boiling water for 30 minutes, or until rehydrated. Drain, squeeze out excess water, then slice.
- Carrot and Zucchini salting (optional, Note 10): Place carrot and zucchini in separate bowls, sprinkle each with 1/4 tsp salt, toss, leave for 20 minutes then drain excess liquid.
Cook Vegetables:
- Get 2 skillets going if you can!
- Shiitake: Heat 2 tsp oil oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook mushrooms for 2 minutes. Add 1.5 tsp soy, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp of garlic. Stir for 1 minute, then remove.
- Carrot: Add 2 tsp oil into the skillet, cook carrot until just tender (5 to 8 minutes), then remove.
- Zucchini: Cook as with carrot for 4 minutes.
- Spinach: Heat 2 tsp veg with a splash of sesame oil. Saute until starting to wilt. Add 1/2 tsp garlic, and salt to taste, stir, then remove. When cool, squeeze to drain out excess liquid.
- Beansprouts: Simmer in water for 5 min or steam in microwave for 3 min until floppy. Drain under cold water, then cool. Squeeze out excess liquid with hands, place in bowl. Mix with 2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp garlic, 1/4 tsp fish sauce.
- Vegetables can cool, they are meant to be at room temp or slightly warm.
Assemble:
- Fry eggs in a skillet to your taste (I like mine with runny yolks).
- Place warm rice in bowls.
- Top with vegetables and beef, as pictured in post, then lastly, the egg.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds, drizzled with sesame oil. Serve with Bibimbap Sauce!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
The spicy side of life: Korean recipes
Life of Dozer
Yes Dozer. I am absolutely going to play tug of war with you, with that furry toy that’s soaked with your slobber.
(Not! 😂)
Gabriel D says
Oh my, Nagi! This was off the charts good. I don’t usually post comments on recipes but how could I not!? Seemingly complex but the room temperature serving made everything super low stress. And the sauce! I’ll be making this one again and again, thank you so much for sharing. 😊
Here’s mine – https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/whats-cooking-making-something-fine-and-fancy-just-plain-good-show-us.298/post-887366
Rietta says
I made this tonight and other than not starting early enough 😄, this was fabulous. Thank you for another great recipe Nagi. I don’t tell Panda that Dozer gets samples – sshhh.
Claudia Laphos says
It was amazing thank you 😊
Marie says
Better than the Korean restaurant we go to! Thank you so much Nagi!
Alison says
My 13 year old daughter started cooking a lot during 2021 and most suppers were from Recipetineats.. This was a favourite for our family and we are celebrating the new year with it! Thank you Nagi!
Nagi says
Happy New Year and you have an amazing daughter! N x
mouna says
It was super good!
Reggie says
Hi Nagi, thanks for the recipe but I have a question. What can you substitute Gochujang with as I can’t have spicy food? Thank you very much.
Nagi says
Hi Reggie – you could try a regular red miso. It’s not traditional and I haven’t tested it but I think it would add a similar level of umami to this dish. N x
Mike says
Great, my son requested this so I made it with a bit of modifying by stir frying the veggies together, The Bibimbap sauce was a bit scary for some in our family, so I made a second version by adding some ketchup, but actually when you mix it with the rice and other ingredients it’s toned down a lot and gives a great warm spicy heat in the mouth. Everyone cleaned their plates! I’ve saved the recipe, thanks, Mike.
Nagi says
I love a chilli hit! N x
Lauren Booth says
Nagi you’ve taken over my kitchen!
I made this one with a few tweaks:
Quick-pickled the zucchini and carrot
Used quick-pickled cabbage from your fish taco recipe
Used chicken thighs (that marinade – wow!)
Otherwisw pretty much followed the recipe! I love how adaptable this one is!
Nagi says
It works with what’s in the fridge! So good! N x
Debbie says
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! By watching the video I finally learnt how to julienne carrots! It was so tasty with all the different flavours 🤤
Yvette says
Delicious –
Judun says
It’s excellent, but it took me FOR.EV.ER. Maybe if you have very good knife skills and don’t prep your sprouts it could take 40 mins.
Judun says
Actually I see she said 40 min prep plus 30 to cook! That’s right. My bad.
Munazzah says
Amazing! my 15 year old loves bibimbap. He loved making this recipe and then eating it as well.
Jerry says
Love This Dish and It’s On The Menu Tonight, Thx Nagi
Quick Note, The Recipe Is Missing The Amount Of Ginger For The Beef Mermaid….I used The Same Amount As The Garlic 🙂
Jerry says
Opsss, Marinade
Dave Foster says
Sensational. So many textures and flavour bursts. A keeper in our recipe book
Nagi says
WOOT! Thanks so much Dave! N x
Ben says
Bibimbap is one of my favourites and this recipe makes it so easy. A great tasty yet healthy dinner!
I’ve made lots of your recipes lately, Nagi. You’ve reconnected me with my love of cooking. Thankyou so much for sharing them!
Sharon says
Wow loved loved loved this. Lots of flavour and textrue.
Rita says
Wow! We were only missing the hot stone bowls for an authentic experience! Thanks for taking us to Korea while we’re in lockdown. A warm bowl of deliciousness for a cold night.
Etsuko says
Kon’nichiwa! I have tried other recipes of yours, and they are all very yummy! I gave this Bibimbap a try this evening, and it was great! I’m so happy that I came across this recipe.
Lena says
Wow its fantastic. I love it