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Dolsot Bibimbap - Vegetarian Korean Rice & Vegetables
Rice and an assortment of individually prepared vegetable toppings are served in a hot sizzling bowl with tofu, seitan or fried egg and topped with hot gochujang sauce for a dish bursting with flavour, colour and nutrition
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
rice cooking time 45 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Korean
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
  
  • 2 cups short-grain brown rice
  • 1 handful black rice (optional)
  • 1 handful aduki (red) beans (optional)
  • 4 freshest organic free-range eggs
  • vegetable oil for sutéeing & frying
Vegetables
  • 2 carrots peeled and julienned
  • 2 courgettes julienned or sliced
  • 2 bell peppers de-seeded and finely sliced
  • 2-3 large handfuls of shitake or other mushrooms thickly sliced
  • 4 large green onions sliced
  • 2 bunches of fernbrake bracken (Kosari (고사리) - optional soaked for 3h and preferably overnight
  • or enough soy-bean sprouts for 4 people
Assorted Condiments
  • 2-3 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 inch piece ginger root very finely julienned
  • spring onions chopped
  • sesame oil
  • sugar, honey, fruit nectar or stevia or try Japanese sweet rice or mirakawa mirin
  • whole sesame seeds raw or toasted
  • rice or other light vinegar
Bibimbap Sauce
  • 4 tbsp Korean gochujang
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1-2 tbsp sugar or other sweetener or stevia to taste
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil preferably Korean
  • 2-3 tsp rice or other light vinegar
  • 2 tsp water
Instructions
 
Prepare The Vegetables
  • wash, peel, julienne, slice and mince the vegetables
Cook the rice, beans & fernbrake
  • cook the rice and beans in plenty of water for 40 minutes or until the beans are soft
  • strain off the water. This helps remove much of the arsenic naturally found in rice
  • return to the pan and leave, covered, over a very low flame for the excess water to be absorbed and the rice to be sticky
  • Simmer the pre-soaked fernbrake in water for 15 minutes or until no longer stringy but still firm. Drain, squeezing out any excess water and cut in half
Make The Gochujang Sauce
  • mix gochujang with sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar or other sweetener (Japanese mirin is fantastic!), plus a little water to loosen the sauce
Cook The Individual Vegetables
  • saute the carrots in a little vegetable - sesame oil mix until soft but firm. Add soy sauce to taste, a scant splash of vinegar and 1.2 tsp of sugar, honey, etc. Swish it round and sprinkle on a tsp of sesame seeds
  • sautée the courgettes in vegetable oil with a minced garlic clove and a large pinch of ginger matchsticks until translucent. Add black pepper and a splash of soy sauce
  • sautée the peppers over a fairly high flame to scorch them. Add salt and a a dash of vinegar. Allow the vinegar to fully evaporate then sprinkle on sesame seeds
  • sautée the mushrooms with green onions and a clove of garlic. Cook at high heat untill any liquid given off has evaporated. Add a dash of say sauce and black pepper
  • sautée the green onions with ginger and garlic. Season with salt and plenty of black pepper
  • sautée the fernbrake (if using) with a little sesame oil, finishing off with soy sauce to taste
  • OR cook the sprouts in water for for 3-5 minutes until tender but still crunchy. Drain and add a dash of vinegar, some soy sauce and raw finely chopped green onions
Assemble The Bibimbap
  • heat the bowls in a hot oven, or fill with boiling water, emptying the bowls when they're warm and repeating a second time
  • alternatively place stone, metal or flame-resistant clay bowls directly on the cooker-top
  • brush the inside of the bowls with sesame oil
  • divide the rice / bean mixture between the four bowls
  • arrange the vegetables radially like the spokes of a wheel over the rice
  • if using ceramic bowls: first warm the vegetables briefly in a very hot oven or arrange them on a large griddle and heat them briefly over a high flame
  • Otherwise place the flame-resistant rice filled bowls on the gas or electric hob at medium heat, add the cold vegetables and cover until the dish is sizzlling hot
  • fry four eggs and place one in the centre of each bowl over the vegetables
  • top with a dollop of gochujang sauce
  • serve sizzling hot with extra gochujang sauce on the side

Notes

Vegan Alternative

For a vegan bibimbap just leave out the egg
You can saute some tofu or seitan with onions and dark soy sauce
Tempeh is great here. This fermented and aged soy-bean product is really flavoursome and great simply browned in  some good oil with best soy sauce such as tamari
Or if you're not vegan keep the egg and add one of the above anyway!
Keyword chilli, fermented, korean, rice, vegan, vegetarian