Dolsot-bibimbap (Stone Pot Bibimbap)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4 dolsot stone bowls, about 6 to 7 inches wide, or small cast-iron skillets
• •Rice cooker or heavy pot with lid
• •Wide skillet
• •Tongs or chopsticks for namul
• •Wooden trivets for serving hot stone bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the rice

   Rinse the rice until the water runs mostly clear, then cook it with 2 cups water in a rice cooker or heavy pot. When it is done, rest it covered for 10 minutes, then fold in 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil. The rice should be warm, separate, and slightly glossy, not wet, because wet rice will not crisp properly against the stone.

2. 2

   Season the beef

   Mix the beef with 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Let it sit while you prepare the vegetables, about 20 minutes. This is enough for thin beef; longer is not better here, because the soy begins to dominate.

3. 3

   Boil soybean sprouts

   Put the soybean sprouts in a pot with 1/2 cup water. Cover, bring to a boil, and cook 6 minutes without lifting the lid. Drain, then toss in a bowl with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon sesame seeds. Taste one sprout. It should be nutty and clean, with crunch left in it.

   With soybean sprouts, cook lid on the whole time or lid off the whole time. Half-cooked sprouts exposed to cold air turn unpleasantly strong.
4. 4

   Blanch spinach

   Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the spinach for 30 seconds, just until it collapses. Rinse under cold water, squeeze hard, and cut into 2-inch lengths. Season in its own bowl with 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon sesame seeds. Spinach needs a light hand. If it tastes mostly of garlic, you have lost the spinach.

5. 5

   Cook carrot

   Heat 1 teaspoon neutral oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the julienned carrot and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes, only until the carrot bends but still keeps its color and bite. Put it in its own bowl. Carrot brings sweetness and color, so do not cook it into softness.

6. 6

   Cook zucchini

   In the same skillet, heat 1 teaspoon neutral oil. Add the zucchini and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then stir-fry 2 minutes until just tender. Move it to its own bowl and leave any liquid behind in the pan. Zucchini releases water quickly, and that water will soften the rice if you carry it into the dolsot.

7. 7

   Cook mushrooms

   Add 1 teaspoon neutral oil to the skillet and cook the mushrooms over medium-high heat until their moisture cooks off and the edges darken, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with 2 teaspoons soy sauce and 1 teaspoon sesame oil, then remove to a bowl. Mushrooms can take more seasoning than spinach or carrot, because they give back earthiness and chew.

8. 8

   Sear the beef

   Raise the heat to high and sear the marinated beef in a single layer, 1 to 2 minutes, just until browned and cooked through. Work in batches if needed. Crowded beef boils in its own juices, and boiled beef has no place in this bowl.

9. 9

   Mix the sauce

   Stir together the gochujang, rice syrup or honey, sesame oil, water, rice vinegar, and sesame seeds. Start each bowl with 1 tablespoon sauce and let people add more at the table. Bibimbap should taste like rice, namul, beef, egg, and jang together, not like a bowl of red paste.

10. 10

    Heat the dolsot

    For each stone bowl, rub the inside with 1 teaspoon neutral oil and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Set the dolsot over medium heat for 5 minutes, then add about 1 1/4 cups cooked rice and gently press it across the bottom and up the sides. Let it cook 4 to 6 minutes, until the rice at the edge crackles and smells toasted. This is the reason the bowl exists.

11. 11

    Arrange the toppings

    Arrange soybean sprouts, spinach, carrot, zucchini, mushrooms, and beef in separate sections over the rice, keeping the colors distinct. Add 1 tablespoon gochujang sauce near the center. Leave the bowl on low heat another 2 minutes so the toppings warm without collapsing. The display is not vanity; it keeps each namul clear until the moment of mixing.

12. 12

    Add egg and mix

    Top each bowl with a fried egg or raw egg yolk if your eggs are fresh and safe to eat raw where you live. Scatter gim if using. Carry the dolsot to the table on a trivet, warn everyone about the stone, then mix hard with a spoon, scraping the crisp rice from the bottom into the vegetables. Eat at once, before the nurungji softens.

Chef Tips

• •A real dolsot or granite bowl gives the best nurungji, but a small cast-iron skillet works for a weeknight. 시대가 바뀌면 음식도 바뀌어야 해요. When times change, food must change too. The safe corner to cut is the vessel, not the separate seasoning of each namul.
• •Use vegetables by the month you are standing in. Spring can take gosari (bracken fern) and young greens. Summer likes zucchini and cucumber. Autumn mushrooms belong here. The structure stays steady even when the market changes.
• •Do not over-sweeten the gochujang sauce. A little rice syrup loosens and rounds it, but the sauce should not turn sticky-sweet. The toppings have their own sweetness if you cooked them correctly.
• •If you want Jeonju-style richness, cook the rice with a light beef broth instead of water and add a spoonful of mung bean jelly or a few strips of hwangpomuk if you can find it. Nice, not required.

Advance Preparation

• •The rice can be cooked a few hours ahead and kept warm. Do not refrigerate it for this dish unless you plan to reheat it thoroughly, because cold rice takes too long to crisp and warms unevenly.
• •All namul can be prepared up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated in separate containers. Bring them close to room temperature before assembling, or they will cool the rice before the stone bowl can do its work.
• •The gochujang sauce keeps for 1 week refrigerated. Stir before using, because sesame oil rises to the top.
• •The beef can be sliced 1 day ahead and refrigerated, but season it only 20 to 30 minutes before cooking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 560g)