Cooking for Beginners recipes, structured

Bibimbap

Rice under a wheel of separately seasoned vegetables, a fried egg, and gochujang sauce stirred through at the table.

Prep
35m
Cook
25m
Total
1h
Serves
4
Effort
Involved
Scale
4
Units

Method

Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.

2 cups Cook the rice and press it into warm bowls 25m A hot stone or cast-iron bowl gives you the crisp bottom layer. Arrange the namul in wedges over the rice, egg in the centre, sauce alongside 5m The point of the arrangement is that you taste each vegetable before mixing.
480 ml
2 tsp
300 g Blanch and squeeze the spinach, then dress 5m Squeeze harder than feels reasonable. Wet spinach waters down the bowl. Season each vegetable separately as namul 25m Cook them one at a time in the same pan. Mixed together they turn into a single flavour.
1 clove
1 tsp
a pinch
200 g Fry the mushrooms, courgette and carrot in turn 15m Salt each one as it goes in and take it out while still firm.
1
2
3 tbsp
1 tsp
200 g
1 cup
3 tbsp Whisk the sauce until glossy 2m
1 tbsp
2 tsp
2 tsp
2 tbsp
4 Fry the eggs hard-edged, yolks loose 4m
2 tbsp
1 tbsp
1 sheet
Read left to right: ingredients merge into steps, and the rightmost cell is the last thing you do. Steps account for 1h 21m of hands-on and cooking time.

  1. Cook the rice and press it into warm bowls

    25m
    • short-grain rice 2 cups
    • water 480 ml
    • toasted sesame oil 2 tsp

    A hot stone or cast-iron bowl gives you the crisp bottom layer.

  2. Blanch and squeeze the spinach, then dress

    5m
    • spinach 300 g
    • garlic 1 clove
    • toasted sesame oil 1 tsp
    • salt a pinch

    Squeeze harder than feels reasonable. Wet spinach waters down the bowl.

  3. Fry the mushrooms, courgette and carrot in turn

    15m
    • shiitake mushrooms 200 g
    • courgette 1
    • carrots 2
    • neutral oil 3 tbsp
    • salt 1 tsp

    Salt each one as it goes in and take it out while still firm.

  4. Season each vegetable separately as namul

    25m
    • from 2 Blanch and squeeze the spinach, then dress
    • from 3 Fry the mushrooms, courgette and carrot in turn
    • beansprouts 200 g
    • kimchi 1 cup

    Cook them one at a time in the same pan. Mixed together they turn into a single flavour.

  5. Whisk the sauce until glossy

    2m
    • gochujang 3 tbsp
    • toasted sesame oil 1 tbsp
    • rice vinegar 2 tsp
    • sugar 2 tsp
    • water 2 tbsp

  6. Fry the eggs hard-edged, yolks loose

    4m
    • eggs 4
    • neutral oil 2 tbsp

  7. Arrange the namul in wedges over the rice, egg in the centre, sauce alongside

    5m
    • from 1 Cook the rice and press it into warm bowls
    • from 4 Season each vegetable separately as namul
    • from 5 Whisk the sauce until glossy
    • from 6 Fry the eggs hard-edged, yolks loose
    • toasted sesame seeds 1 tbsp
    • nori (optional) 1 sheet

    The point of the arrangement is that you taste each vegetable before mixing.

Why each vegetable is cooked alone

Namul is the whole idea: every vegetable is cooked and seasoned to suit itself, then kept apart until the bowl is built. Spinach wants thirty seconds and a hard squeeze; carrot wants oil and a few minutes to sweeten; mushrooms want enough heat to drive off water and brown. Cook them together and the water from one steams the next, so everything arrives at the same soft, indistinct texture. Separating them costs twenty minutes and buys you five flavours in one bowl.

Notes

  • All the namul can be made a day ahead and served at room temperature. Only the rice and eggs need to be hot.
  • For the crisp bottom, press the rice into a dry, oiled cast-iron pan over medium heat for four minutes before adding anything.
  • Gochujang brands vary hugely in heat and sweetness. Taste the sauce and adjust the vinegar before it hits the table.

Try butter, 30 minutes, braise, or an ingredient you need to use up.