It's called bibimbap (literally, "mixed rice"). It's something that I learned of while in Korea, and that I'm now trying to re-learn, as it were. This dish involves an array of vegetables laid around a fried (or, in some cases raw, hence the title) egg with the meat of choice or convenience placed on top. Sesame seed oil and ssamjang (hot pepper paste) are are also necessary, but don't necessarily get seen.
My recent experiment with this dish proved successful, but the lack of a good ssamjang substitute made from Western ingredients left the whole tasting a little bit bland. Though the lack of punch and pleasant umami-ness (from the usual strips of seaweed) were made up for by my use of an avocado.
But onto my other ingredients already.
I made a relatively small bowl of Dainty brand Gem long grain rice, steamed in the same way that it is when I make sushi, julienned carrot, sliced romaine lettuce, an avocado, butter fried crimini mushrooms, sardines, and of course a single fried egg (sunny-side up). These vegetables aren't generally used in bibimbap except for the carrots and usually the mushrooms, but limited ingredients forced me to improvise.
Along with the more traditional carrots and mushrooms, bibimbap found in a Korean restaurant will likely have seaweed, bracken fern stems, spinach, sprouts, cucumber, zucchini, and or daikon. Sardines are also an unusual pick since the canned fish that might be used is tuna, though chicken and beef are more common.
The construction of the dish is pretty straight forward. Steam the rice, put it in a bowl, drop your ssamjang onto the rice's middle, add your vegetables around the middle, then put down the egg, the meat, and the sesame seed oil.
However, it is important that the yolk of your egg is soft (but not broken!) so that the yolk can freely mix in with the other ingredients. This is where breaking an egg over the bibimbap and then using the rice's heat to cook it would be most practical, but this works best if you also cook all of the vegetables. Cooking mushrooms and bracken fern stems is definitely necessary, but carrots and avocados, not so much. Ditto with seaweed.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the bulk of the flavour of your bibimbap is going to come from the ssamjang and sesame seed oil.
If you use too much of either, or of both, you'll not only make the dish super nutty and super spicy, but you won't be able to taste any of the vegetables - maybe not even the meat. Rather than the symphony that bibimbap can be you'll wind up with a solo or duet played awkwardly over a dampened, full band accompaniment. My rule of thumb is one tbsp of sesame seed oil per serving of bibimbap, and 1 1/2 to two tbsp of ssamjang.
If you happen to be short on sesame seed oil you can just mash toasted sesame seeds in cooking oil. Vegetable/canola oil works best for a straight-up sesame seed taste, while olive oil adds complexity to this taste.
If you're short on ssamjang, however, the exact spice is difficult to quickly approximate. Ssamjang itself is a fermented bean paste mixed with red peppers (think chilis) and garlic. It also comes in two varieties, heavy garlic:
Or heavy spice:
As a substitute I mixed some horseradish with chili powder and paprika. The spice isn't exactly the same, but this mixture still brings the bite. As per proportions, a mix of one tbsp horseradish to 1/4 tsp chili pepper and paprika worked well. This mix didn't give quite enough spice over all, though, so the next time I make this dish, I'll definitely make a double batch.
Nonetheless, this is the edible essay created from my tasty research (before it was all mixed together):
If you've got a suggestion for homemade ssamjang, for something you want me to try to cook, or for a topic I should research for one of these entries related to Wōden, then let me know about it by leaving a comment.
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