Never heard of bibimbap? It's an amazing Korean dish made with lots of vegetables and a spicy condiment called gojuchang. The gojuchang paste is thicker than a dressing or a sauce, and coats the whole bowl in warm spicy sesame-flavored awesomeness.
You can find gojuchang at most Asian grocery stores, and I recommend reading labels to find a brand without MSG (monosodium glutamate). MSG actually occurs naturally in foods and the FDA lists it as a safe ingredient, but some people don't react well to the processed version that is added to foods. Personally I find that it numbs my tongue and just leaves me feeling kind of off. Food businesses lobby the FDA with billions of dollars to keep their crappy cheap flavor-enhancing ingredients on the shelves, but you can vote with your dollars to keep them out of your pantry.
Bibimbap is usually made with rice, but I prefer using cauliflower rice to fit in our ketogenic (low carb, high fat, medium protein) lifestyle. Eating keto helps me not be hangry because my body runs well on the good fats I eat. Bimbimbap can be made with many different kinds of vegetables, but I used the ones below. It's a great option for using up whatever is in your vegetable crisper, so don't worry if you don't have exactly the veggies listed below. It's full of antioxidants, vitamins, and healthy polyphenols (plant-based nutrients) to help you stay strong and well.
INGREDIENTS
- Cooked cauliflower rice (enough for each serving) - many grocery stores now sell it in the frozen food section which makes life super easy
- Mushroom sautéed in sesame oil (or butter, olive oil, whatever you have, but sesame is a super Korean flavor for this dish)
- Spinach sautéed in sesame oil (or, see above)
- Bean sprouts
- Chopped cucumber
- Kimchi (fermented spicy Korean cabbage) - look for a vegetarian option if you prefer to avoid all fish products
- Chopped green onion
- Fried egg
- Roasted Korean nori (seaweed) sheets (optional but very delicious to use to wrap up each forkful!)
PREPARATION
Once you have all the elements you'll add to your bibimbap, it's super simple to make. Place the cauliflower rice in the bottom of your bowl. Place each vegetable ingredient on top, adding them in sections. Once you have everything in place, put your egg on top, and then add a dollop of gojuchang. It's a fiery condiment, so you can start with less and add more. To make it more keto, you could add avocado, or be more generous about the amount of oil you use to cook the veggies you want to sauté and eat warm. Serve the dish all lovely and pretty in its nicely arranged sections, then mix everything up really well before you take your first bite.
I love eating mine with roasted nori - it's like sushi nori but also has a roasted sesame flavor, and is so good! In Korea you would use the nori with your chopsticks to scoop up more food. The nori ends up working like an envelope for the rice and veggies. To use your fork instead, just put some of the bibimbap on the middle of a roasted nori sheet, fold the ends, and eat up!