Nostalgic Bibimbap

Image courtesy of Aileen Kwun.

“I’m often riffing on taste memories of my mom’s jipbap (‘home cooking’),” says Aileen Kwun, and her mother’s bibimbap recipe is never far from her mind. Innately simple, relatively cheap to make, and extremely delicious, the New York-based writer’s rice dish is topped  with an egg, gochujang, and vegetables such as green beans and zucchini. Kwun’s mom’s advice? Go for whatever produce is in season.

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Ingredients

• Short-grain rice
• Assorted vegetables, chopped to bite-size and sauteed with minced garlic, salt, pepper, and neutral oil. (Shown are radicchio, green beans, and zucchini. Items like julienned carrots and daikon, spinach, bean sprouts, and shitake mushrooms are common, but feel free to get creative.)
• One egg (prepared as you like, but runny yolk recommended)
• Gochujang (a sweet and spicy Korean fermented red pepper paste, now easily found in most grocery stores. Can use as-is in a pinch, or make a quick sauce with a little water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and honey)
• Sesame oil to taste

Instructions

1. Lightly coat a stone bowl or clay pot with sesame oil and add cooked rice.
2. Top with garlic-sauteed veggies and nestle an egg in the center of the mound.
3. Cover and cook on medium low until the white of the egg has just set and the rice starts to toast and crackle, then remove from heat and mix it all up with gochujang. Comfort in a scorching hot bowl.