Easy bibimbap recipe, customizable and kid-friendly.

Today I am sharing a recipe for a bibimbap, a Korean dish that consists of rice, beef, and vegetables. This is a simplified version so I cannot vouch for the authenticity. It was not hard to prepare once I had all the ingredients lined up. It does not require a lot of unusual ingredients, you can find everything you need for this easy bibimbap in the Asian and produce sections of your grocery store.

I used this recipe and simplified the process slightly. Next time I will cut out a couple more steps (see my suggestions after the recipe).

I like recipes that are customizable like this one. This way I don’t have to cook separate dishes for the kids and everyone can pick and choose what they like. When I cook something that is new to them or looks unusual, we generally require that the kids at least try a bite. After that, they can choose what they prefer.

Phoebe mostly went for spinach and carrots but she liked the bean sprouts too. I don’t eat a lot of carbs so my portion of rice was mostly symbolic. Brian loaded up on the kimchi. Like I said– customizable!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of white rice
• 1 ½ cups mung bean sprouts
• 5 oz spinach
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• Salt
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup kimchi
• 2 Tbsp gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
• Toasted sesame seeds

Instructions:

1. Prepare rice according to the package directions.
2. Boil a pot of water and add bean sprouts. Cook for 5 minutes, drain in a colander.
3. While the sprouts are boiling, microwave the spinach in a large bowl and squeeze out the excess moisture*.
4. Transfer the sprouts to a small bowl, add half the garlic, salt to taste, and 1 tsp sesame oil. Toss to combine. Do the same with the spinach.
5. Heat a skillet to medium-high, add 1 Tbsp oil and cook the carrots for about a minute. They will start to soften but will be still a little crunchy. Remove to a bowl.
6. Add the ground beef to the skillet and cook until no longer brown. Add the soy sauce.
7. In a separate skillet cook the eggs sunny side up.
8. To serve, put the rice in the center of the bowl. Arrange the sprouts, spinach, kimchi, and carrots around the rice. Put the egg on top. Add a dollop of gochujang and sprinkle some sesame seeds.

When I made it last time, I ran out of gochujang. So I used some hoisin sauce that I mixed with a splash of red wine vinegar and a bit of water. I was going for the sweet and sour flavor of the gochujang and it worked quite well. This is the brand of hoisin that I buy at the grocery store:

*To simplify even further, next time, I will sauté the spinach with the garlic in the skillet before cooking the carrots.

I hope you give it a try. Let me know how it turns out!