Foodie Friday #1

It took me a trip to China before I realized how much I love Korean food.

During my time there the food was yummy but oily. After a couple days my stomach was ready to go back to the fresh bold spiciness that normally involved kimchi (and a happy digestive system).

I hope that it won't take you a trip to China (not that traveling to China is a bad thing) before you discover the yumminess that is Korean food.

Even before I had fully embraced Korean food, I liked dulsot bimbimbap(pictured), a mixture of rice, red chili paste, an egg, bean sprouts, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini or any number of vegetables or meat--served in a very hot stone pot.

So, I figure it is the first dish I'll share with you.

Warning: I am not a cook, so I'm sharing someone elses recipe.

Ingredients:

Rice – 1 cup
Chinese Broccoli (Spinach) – 1 small bunch, chopped
Zucchini – 2 medium, peeled and chopped
Broccoli – 1 small bunch, chopped into florets
Bean sprouts – 1 cup, washed
Carrot – 1 small, thinly sliced
Eggs - 4
Soy sauce – to taste
Sesame oil – to taste
Salt & pepper – to taste

For the Spicy sauce:
Gochu jang – 2 tbsp Can be bought at any Korean market
Sugar – 2 tsp
Sesame oil – 1tsp

Instructions
Mix all the sauce ingredients with little water to get a pourable sauce.
Cook rice and keep aside.
In a large sauté pan, add 1tsp peanut oil and sauté Chinese broccoli until just wilted. Season with soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper (S+S+S+P). Remove onto a plate.

In the same pan, sauté zucchini till tender; season with S+S+S+P. Remove onto a plate.

Boil 5-6 cups water in a sauce pan; add the sprouts and boil for 2 minutes. Completely drain water; season with S+S+S+P, keep aside. Steam broccoli and season with S… (you get the idea, just steam/saute/boil any veggie and season with S+S+S+P and keep aside).

In the meantime, make an omelet and keep aside.
When ready to serve, place some rice in the bottom of the serving bowl, add all the toppings so they cascade down from the center. Also make sure that same colored toppings are not put next to each other. Then put a dollop of spicy sauce and your omelet. To eat, mix everything together and enjoy the burst of flavors.

Special thanks to Pavani for this recipe

My first bimbimbap after coming back to the states. I was at a shop in Silver Spring, Md.