Halal Bibimbap
안녕하세요!!
We are super excited to bring you our very first recipe post. Both of us founders love cooking, and recreating halal Korean dishes with our halal-certified sauces has been such fun (and worry-free!). For this post, we may not have that many photos, but rest assured the up-coming posts in the future will have more images of individual steps to guide you along. If in doubt, just drop us a quick message either in the comments section below or via email, and we'll help you along!
So whats on the menu today? The very, very popular Bibimbap of course! As it's our first post, we will also be throwing in a bonus kombu seaweed recipe!
With our halal gochujang sauce and kalbi marinade both launched on site, we decided to make something that allowed us to use both these items. For the Korean newbies out there who's not quite sure what goes into a Bibimbap, let us introduce you to this all-time Korean national dish.
What is Bibimbap?
Bibimbap translates to mixed rice as bibim means mixed and bap, cooked rice. It consists of a bowl of rice with seasoned and sauteed vegetables, a side of meat, a dash of traditional chilli paste called gochujang and finished off with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and/or sesame oil. Sometimes served in a heated stone bowl called a dolsot, this dish is very versatile.
Although it is a mixture of sides with rice, its not quite nasi padang or cai png but there's just as many variations of this dish - you can add most types of vegetables and meat that tickles your fancy - so you can always jazz it up for guests or make a really simple one just for yourself with whatever you can find at home.
The one we have for you today is our own little rendition of this dish but you can add and remove ingredients to your taste. In fact, we encourage you to play around with different textures and flavours that can be introduced to this dish with different types of vegetable and meats. At the end of the recipe we will also give you some alternatives to use for the ingredients listed.
Before you start stuffing your face with this amazingly delicious dish, do remember to mix it well. We usually take ours with dollops of gochujang!
Okay! Enough talking... Lets get started! The recipe below serves two, because what's the fun in eating alone?
BIBIMBAP RECIPE
Ingredients
Serves 2
2 cups cooked short-grained white rice
1 medium sized carrot
1 small cucumber (japanese cucumber works best for the crunch!)
2 handfuls beansprouts
1 spring onion
2 large handfuls of baby spinach
200g stirfry sliced beef
4 tbsp Nature's Nature Korean Kalbi BBQ Marinade
2 tbsp Onggojib Traditional Chilli Paste Gold
Kombu seaweed (recipe below)
2 eggs
3.5 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp roasted white sesame for garnish
Salt
Cooking oil
Preparation
Mix the beef with the Korean Kalbi BBQ Marinade in a bowl. Make sure the meat is dry before you mix it to prevent dilution of flavour. Cover and set aside in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 mins while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Rinse, peel and julienne the carrot, blot out excess liquid and set aside
Rinse, deseed and julienne the cucumber, lightly toss with salt and set aside
Rinse and chop spring onions finely and set aside
Rinse beansprouts and set aside
Rinse baby spinach and depending if you prefer them raw or cooked, you can choose to blanch them in hot water for 30 seconds. Then blot out excess liquid and set aside
Prepare Kombu seaweed (optional - see directions in recipe below)
Directions
Start with adding 1 tbsp cooking oil to a wok/frying pan on medium high heat.
Once the oil is heated, add the carrots and a pinch of salt to cook for 2 to 3 mins.
Remove and set aside cooked carrots on paper napkins to blot excess oil. If you prefer a healthier version, you can choose to blanch the carrots in boiling water instead of frying.
Grease the wok/frying pan with more cooking oil if needed and fry the eggs sunny side up. You can also fry the eggs how you normally would if you don't quite like sunny side up.
Remove and set aside eggs.
Heat up the wok/frying pan on a medium high heat with 2 tbsp cooking oil.
Once the oil is heated, take out the marinated meat and cook for 4-5 mins with a pinch of salt. Finish off with 1 tbsp of sesame oil for added aroma.
Remove and set aside cooked meat.
Boil a pot of water with 1 tsp salt and blanch the beansprouts for 1-2 mins.
Remove the beansprouts and run them under cold water for a minute and blot out the excess liquid.
Toss the beansprouts in a bowl together with the finely chopped spring onions, 1/2 tsp sesame oil and salt to taste. Set aside.
Assemble the ingredients and serve.
Assembling
Assembling this dish is really easy
Scoop up 1 cup of cooked rice into your serving bowl.
Place half of each topping - carrots, beansprouts, spinach, meat - on the rice, lining the rim of the bowl (as shown in the image above)
Place 1 sunny side egg in the center of the bowl
Add 1 tbsp dollop of our halal gochujang sauce in the center
Drizzle 2 tsp of sesame oil on the top
Sprinkle the roasted white sesame seeds on the top
Serve
Final Steps (the most crucial step!)
Take a photo, upload it on Facebook / Instagram and tag @halalhanjib!!
We would love to see your creations!
Bibimbap ingredient alternatives
Rice : We used short grained white rice, but you can use any rice you have on hand. Or if you're cooking for one, you can use any of the instant rice available.
Beansprouts : We used mung beansprouts but you may use soy beansprouts for more crunch.
Meat : We used kalbi (Korean bbq beef) but you may use spicy marinated chicken, beef bulgogi, tuna, sliced hotdogs or even fishcakes! Or if you're on a meatless diet, skip the meat altogether!
Spinach : We used uncooked baby spinach, but you may use adult spinach. If so, make sure to blanch your spinach in hot water for at least a minute, blot the excess liquid and toss it with some salt and a tsp of sesame oil
Seaweed : If you're short for time, you can replace Kombu seaweed with the usual shredded nori seaweed
KOMBU SEAWEED RECIPE
Ingredients
60g dried kombu seaweed
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
3 tsp artificial white vinegar OR 2 tsp lemon juice with 1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp sesame seeds
Directions
Place kombu seaweed in a saucepan filled with water and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 5 mins until kombu has softened.
Drain and cool for about 5-10 mins until kombu seaweed can be easily handled.
Slice the kombu seaweed into thin strips.
Whisk honey, soy sauce, ginger, and vinegar together in a large bowl.
Add kombu and sesame seeds to the sauce and toss to combine.
Let sit in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 mins for the flavours to come together.
That's it folks! Hope you guys enjoyed this post!
If you have any requests or inquiries, do send them over in the comments section below. If you are trying out the recipe above, do take a photo and send them to us or tag us on Facebook / Instagram, we really want to know our readers ;)
