Bibimbap made with Kimchi – Korea’s fermented staple

V and I have a fascination with Korea – he makes me watch the movies and I make him eat the food. During my visits to Seoul, I was determined to try the local cuisine instead of resorting to the generic international restaurants.  My favorite experiences were in Insadong, a oasis for vegetarians, where I could sample anything I wanted in the Buddhist all-vegetarian restaurants.

At other restaurants, most often I ordered bibimbap.  Probably one of the best known Korean dishes, it has a variety of sauteed vegetables and rice mixed together with gochujang (a spicy condiment) and topped with a fried egg.

Kimchi Bibimbap

This week for the fermentation series on this blog, I made kimchi bibimbap, inspired by a recipe in The Healthy Probiotic Power Diet by R.J. Ruppenthal.  Kimchi is a staple in Korea and is prepared by the lacto-fermentation of vegetables, primarily Napa cabbage.  It is similar to sauerkraut, but different in the addition of hot pepper, ginger, and garlic.  Vegetarians beware, kimchi sometimes has shrimp sauce, so check the ingredient list before buying.  The wonderful thing about this dish is that both kimchi and gochujang are fermented.  
Kimchi Bibimbap
For today’s dish, I used a store-bought kimchi and store-bought gochujang.  The number of ethnic grocery stores and restaurants makes the Bay Area one of the most attractive places to live and it was not difficult for me to get hold of these ingredients.   

Gochujang from a Korean grocery store

Recipe for Kimchi Bibimbap adapted from The Healthy Probiotic Power Diet by R.J. Ruppenthal

Serves two
Ingredients:

  • About 4 Tbsp of sesame oil or vegetable oil for cooking
  • For the marinated tofu (my own recipe): 
    • 1 14oz tub tofu, cut into cubes after squeezing out the water
    • 2 Tbsp soy sauce
    • 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
    • 1 Tbsp mirin or sweet rice wine
    • 1/2 tsp brown sugar
    • 2 cloves garlic chopped fine
    • 1/2 inch piece of ginger, grated
    • 1/2 tsp chili sauce (alternately soak 2 long red chilies in warm water for 10 mins and chop)
    • 2 Tbsp sesame oil
  • Vegetables:
    • 1 medium onion, sliced long
    • 8 oz mushrooms (shiitake or button), sliced
    • 2 cups greens (spinach or kale or any other), chopped
    • 2 medium carrots, cut in to thin strips
  • 1 cup cooked rice
  • 1/2 cup kimchi (any kind)
  • 2 eggs (plus water and 1 Tbsp of white vinegar if you plan to poach)
  • 1 Tbsp white sesame seeds, for garnish
  • 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, for drizzling
Method:
  • Marinated tofu: Whisk all the ingredients for the marinade.  Add the tofu and shake to coat evenly and refrigerate overnight or atleast for a few hours
Marinade for tofu
  • Add 1 Tbsp of oil and pan fry the marinated tofu and set aside
  • Add more oil as needed and one at a time, saute the onion, mushrooms, carrots and greens and set aside separately
  • Next heat up the cooked rice a bit and add the kimchi and mix.  Set aside
  • Poach the 2 eggs or fry them in a little bit of oil.  I prefer to poach.  To poach the egg:  Bring a cup of water to boil in a pan and add a tablespoon of white vinegar optionally.  Break one egg in to a small cup and slowly slide it in to the boiling water without breaking the yolk.  Do the same with the other egg.   Lower the heat and close the pan with a lid for 5 mins.  Check if the yolk has set unless you like it runny and if not, cook for an extra minute or two.  Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon.
  • Assemble the kimchi bibimbap:
    • Divide the rice-kimchi mixture into 2 bowls
    • Divide all the vegetables in to two and place on top of the rice and drizzle with about a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil
    • Top with the poached (or fried) egg
    • Sprinkle with sesame seeds
    • Top with gochujang as per individual preference, mix it all up with a spoon and eat

Kimchi Bibimbap

Bibimbap can be served with fresh julienned vegetables like cucumber during summer.  Alternately during winters, it can be served in a very hot stone bowl (dolsot) that makes kind of a rice crust at the bottom of the pot which is delicious.
Any way you like it, enjoy your bibimbap with a side of kimchi for the probiotic power!

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