Dolsot bibimpap – Stone pot mixed rice dish

bibampap

My yobo’s hometown Jeonju is famous for bibimpap.  When Koreans can’t understand my pronunciation of the city (for I fear I have a terrible accent when I speak Korean), I always mention this dish.

Jeonju, not to be mistaken with Jeongju, Jinju, or Jeju is the home of this fabulous mixture of rice, vegetables, hot sauce and an egg.  There is a cold version of this that is served in the summer but I really like the rendition cooked up in a hot pot.

There are lots of really complicated bibimpap recipes out there, some taking up to 3 hours to prepare.  I am about easy Korean food, and who has that much time to whip up dinner anyways?  I don’t know if this recipe would be Jeonju recommended, but my yobo from Jeonju approves!

The recipe:

The time you need: prep time: 25 minutes (includes cooking rice)    cooking time: 10 minutes

The things you need: (for 6 servings)

  • 5 cups cooked rice
  • cucumbers (sliced thinly)
  • carrots (sliced thinly)
  • 2 cups spinach
  • lettuce (shredded)
  • 1/2 lb ground beef
  • egg
  • (optional) mushrooms or peppers sliced thinly
  • garlic
  • soy sauce
  • ginger
  • sugar
  • pepper
  • 3 tbsp gojujang sauce (Korean red pepper sauce)
  • vinegar
  • sesame seeds

The how to:

  • heat the stone bowls in the oven at 400 F
  • blanch and squeeze the spinach then season with 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon garlic
  • brown the ground beef with 1 tbsp garlic, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and pepper
  • mix together gojujang with 1 teaspoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar
  • arrange all the vegetables on a large plate for easy assembly
  • set the table with individual pot holders to prevent burning your table or table cloth

The big moment:

  • heat an element on high
  • with oven mitts (important!) take a bowl out of the oven and place on the element
  • pour in 1 tbsp sesame oil on the bottom of the pot and allow to heat for a few seconds
  • scoop in 3/4c – 1c of cooked rice, top with 2 tbsp (ish) of each vegetable and 1/4c of the beef mixture
  • scoop as much of the spicy gojujang as desired
  • crack an egg on top of it all
  • sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve!
  • now the dish is called mixed vegetables so mix it all up and as you do so the hot dish will cook the egg.

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The kids love ‘cooking’ their dinner when they mix it all up!

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(Note: since gojujang is really spicy, I mix ketchup with it in the kids dishes)


6 thoughts on “Dolsot bibimpap – Stone pot mixed rice dish

  1. Yum! We used to eat at a Chinese restaurant in Halifax and our favourite dish was a hot pot. Where can you buy the stone pots? And can you sub a chinese hot sauce for the Korean hot sauce (not sure if all hot sauces are created equal:)

    • I bought them at the local Asian supermarket. I don’t know if you can use Chinese hot sauce. I have never tried. The Korean one is a really thick paste.

  2. Looks delicious! I must confess that I don’t really get the hot pot thing – so you heat the bowls in the oven, place the food in them, and then put them on the table…in holders? So the table (and the kids) don’t get burned? See, told you I didn’t get it! I have never seen these…I need to come over, clearly.

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