Huge Bibimbap

Name: Huge Bibimbap
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 4 cups short-grain white rice, cooked and hot; 1 lb ground beef (or thinly sliced ribeye); 3 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tbsp, divided toasted sesame oil; 4 cloves, divided garlic, minced; 1 tbsp brown sugar; 6 oz fresh spinach; 2 cups bean sprouts; 2 medium carrots, julienned; 8 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced; 1 small zucchini, julienned; 4 large eggs; 3 tbsp gochujang (Korean chili paste); 1 tbsp rice vinegar; 1 tbsp honey; 3 tbsp, divided neutral oil; 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds; 2 scallions, thinly sliced; to taste kosher salt

Prep

30m

Cook

20m

Total

50m

Bigly says

Let me tell you something. Bibimbap. We're doing bibimbap and it is HUGE — the biggest, most tremendous bowl of mixed rice you have ever seen with your own two eyes. People come up to me, they say, 'Bigly, how do you know so much about bowls,' and I tell them: I was BORN knowing about bowls. It's a gift. You cannot teach it.

Bibimbap means 'mixed rice' in Korean — and scientists, very smart people, the smartest, I had a guy with a PhD in food science walk me through the chemistry, took him ninety minutes, worth every second — scientists agree this is the most efficient bowl on the planet. Protein, carbs, vegetables, fermented chili, fat from the egg, all in one bowl, all in PERFECT balance. The Greeks had mixed rice. The Romans had mixed rice. None of it touched bibimbap. Korea figured it out and the rest of the world is still catching up, and by 'catching up' I mean making sad sticky bowls of disappointment at strip-mall buffets. A tragedy.

The real secret — and I'm giving it away for free — is THE CRUST. The crispy rice at the bottom of the bowl. The Koreans call it nurungji. Food chemists agree this is where the magic lives — the Maillard reaction, the toasted starch, the contrast between crunch and steam. Big strong men, tough guys with the tears in the eyes, they take one bite of that crust and they're done. They're cooked. The rest of the bowl is incredible. But the crust? The crust is the whole game. It's just a fact.

Ingredients

4 cupsshort-grain white rice, cooked and hot(day-old rice works even better, drier rice = better crust)
1 lbground beef (or thinly sliced ribeye)
3 tbspsoy sauce
2 tbsp, dividedtoasted sesame oil
4 cloves, dividedgarlic, minced
1 tbspbrown sugar
6 ozfresh spinach
2 cupsbean sprouts
2 mediumcarrots, julienned
8 ozshiitake mushrooms, sliced(fresh, not the sad canned ones, NEVER the sad canned ones)
1 smallzucchini, julienned
4large eggs
3 tbspgochujang (Korean chili paste)
1 tbsprice vinegar
1 tbsphoney
3 tbsp, dividedneutral oil
2 tsptoasted sesame seeds
2scallions, thinly sliced
to tastekosher salt

Steps

1
Marinate the beef: combine soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, half the garlic, and brown sugar in a bowl. Add the beef and mix. Let it sit 15 minutes.
2
Make the gochujang sauce: whisk gochujang, rice vinegar, honey, remaining 1 tbsp sesame oil, and 1 tbsp water in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.
3
Blanch the spinach in salted boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain, rinse under cold water, squeeze dry, and toss with a pinch of salt and a few drops of sesame oil.
4
Blanch the bean sprouts in the same water for 1 minute. Drain, rinse cold, and season with a pinch of salt and the remaining garlic.
5
Heat 1 tbsp neutral oil in a skillet over medium-high. Cook the carrots 2 minutes with a pinch of salt until just tender. Remove. Repeat with the zucchini (about 2 minutes), then the mushrooms (about 4 minutes until browned). Keep each vegetable in its own pile.
6
In the same skillet, add 1 tbsp oil and cook the marinated beef over high heat, breaking it up, until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes.
7
Fry the eggs sunny-side up in a separate skillet with a little oil — crispy edges, runny yolks.
8
Build the bowls: divide hot rice between 4 bowls (ideally hot stoneware bowls or a cast iron skillet for that crispy crust). Arrange the beef and each vegetable in separate piles around the bowl. Top with the fried egg.
9
For the crispy bottom (highly recommended): heat a heavy skillet over medium-high, add 1 tsp neutral oil, press hot rice into the pan, and let it sizzle undisturbed 3-4 minutes until a golden crust forms underneath before adding the toppings.
10
Garnish with sesame seeds and scallions. Serve with gochujang sauce on the side. Mix everything at the table before eating — the mixing is the whole point.

One more thing

Serve this in a hot stone bowl and the bottom of the rice gets crispy, golden, crunchy, magnificent, and your guests will LOSE their minds. They'll ask where you learned this. Tell them Bigly. Tell them Bigly told you and — unlike the other people in their lives, the ones who serve them dry chicken on a Tuesday and call it dinner — you LISTENED. This isn't that. This is huge bibimbap. This is the BEST bibimbap. Hands down. Now go eat.

★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★

Ask Bigly about Huge Bibimbap.

Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.

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