Dolsot Bibimbap

Dolsot Bibimbap

     Years and years ago, Scott and I accidentally discovered the Korean dish dolsot bibimbap (dolsot means stone pot and bibimbap means mixed rice) while looking for a pho place before (or after?) a concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA.  We saw a place called "Sunny Bowl" and mistakenly thought that they serve pho there.  We went inside and found out that, instead of serving pho, this family owned place was Korean, not Vietnamese, and specialized in a delicious dish called bibimbap.  Never having heard of bibimbap before, let alone eaten it, we didn't quite know what to do.  Fortunately, we were helped out by our very nice waitress (the daughter of the owners, if I recollect correctly) and figured out how to order bibimbap and enjoyed it at once.  Scott's favorite part was how the meal was served in a super hot bowl and how he could use that bowl to sear the raw tuna he got in his dish.  I fell in love with the delicious flavors of the dish and the homemade kimchi.  After seeing how much Scott enjoyed it then (and continued to enjoy it every time we went over the years), I thought that it might be nice to try to create this dish home for him.  After discovering that there is a Korean grocery store relatively close to where I live and visiting it on an impulse yesterday, I knew that today was finally the day to make Scott's bibimbap dreams come true.

Dolsot Bibimbap (inspired from a recipe in Cook Korean! by Robin Ha)

Ingredients:

8 oz spinach

8 oz sprouts

4 oz dried fern*

1 medium zucchini

8 oz shiitake mushrooms

1 carrot

salt

1 teaspoon soy sauce

5 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

2 cups cooked sushi rice

4 eggs

bulgogi**

toasted sesame seeds

toasted seaweed, crushed

For the sauce:

1/3 cup gochujang

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Procedure:

1) Soak the dried ferns the night before.

2) Cook the sushi rice.

3) Set a large pot of water to a boil.

4) While water is boiling, start cutting up your vegetables.  Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and then cut into 1/4 inch pieces.  Remove the stem from the mushrooms and cut them into 1/4 inch pieces.  Cut the carrot into small matchstick pieces.

5) Once the water is boiling, add some salt and separately blanch the spinach, sprouts, and carrot.  When they are done, season them separately with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon of the toasted sesame oil.

6) Boil the reconstituted ferns.  Drain and cut them into 2 inch long pieces.

7) Saute the ferns with 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and 1 teaspoon of soy sauce.

8) Separately saute the zucchini and mushrooms with salt and a dash of sesame oil.

9) Cook the bulgogi.

10) Cook the eggs sunny side up.

11) Mix the ingredients for the sauce together.

12) Heat up to 4 of the pots over high heat with 1/2 tablespoon water and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil.  Wait until you see the oil shimmering and then add in the rice and vegetables/meat.  When you hear the rice start to pop, lower the heat to medium and cook for 4 more minutes.

13) Add the egg on top and garnish with crumbled seaweed and sesame seeds.  Serve with the sauce.

Katie's notes:

*I wasn't the biggest fan of the dried ferns, and ended up using about half of what I reconstituted by soaking.  The original recipe calls for gosari, the stems of young ferns which are found in the refrigerated grocery store of Korean grocery markets.  However, at the time I went shopping, I didn't find them so bought the dried ones instead.  I think it might have been better with the already prepared ones.

**Bulgogi can be purchased from Korean grocery stores.

Assembling the ingredients

Boiling the reconstituted ferns

Heating up the bowls and getting ready to assemble the bibimbap

Almost ready

Everything is all put together

My not quite as beautiful bowl

Scott's beautiful bowl

Mixing everything together and enjoying!

  This dish did come out delicious.  It was easier to make than I had expected, but it was a pain in the butt with all of the parts of the meal cooking separately and then having to be stored separately.  I didn't get my rice quite as crispy as I would have liked, but I also played it a bit cautious and heated the bowl for two minutes, instead of the recommended four.  I loved the sauce and I loved having this meal with some kimchi on the side.  Thankfully, after all that work, I have enough leftovers to easily have this dish for dinner tomorrow.  Best of all, Scott absolutely loved it and loved me for making it!  Yum!