Food of the Week- Bibimbap (비빔밥)

My first time having Bibimbap was on the plane ride over from Chicago to Seoul. I remember sitting next to Dinah and trying to prounounce it the same way the stewardess had. I had no idea that I'd be eating so much Bibimbap 5 months later!

Bibimbop literally means mixed rice or mixed meal in Korean. It's a popular meal consisting of a bowl of steamed white rice topped with vegetables, beef, a whole egg, and kochujang (Korean chili pepper paste).

Vegetables commonly used in bibimbap include julienne cucumber, zucchini, carrot, white radish, mushrooms, bellflower root, and laver (seaweed!). It may also contain spinach, soybean sprouts, and bracken fern stems. Tofu, either plain or sauteed, may also be included in the dish as well. You stir the mix together before eating, and if there is a raw egg in your bibimbap, stirring will help cook the egg.

There is a restaurant in Gwangju that serves the best bibimbap- I've only ever gotten the "cooked beef" version, however, my friend Amanda perfers the "raw beef" bibimbap.

At our orientation in August, the chef's prepared enough bibimbap for 600+ people, I could swear that is a record of some sort! Here's a picture of how much of it there was! This was before it was stirred.



After stirring: