Yukhoe-bibimbap (Raw Beef Bibimbap)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Very sharp chef's knife
• •Cutting board reserved for raw meat
• •Wide mixing bowls for separate namul
• •Large skillet
• •Wide bibimbap bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the beef

   Put the trimmed beef on a tray, cover it, and freeze for 20 to 25 minutes until firm at the edges but not frozen solid. This is not for storage; it is for knife work. Cold beef cuts into clean matchsticks, and clean cuts keep the yukhoe glossy instead of wet. Use beef bought the same day from a butcher you trust, keep it refrigerated below 4 degrees C, and do not serve raw beef to pregnant people, young children, older adults, or anyone with a weakened immune system.

   Tell the butcher it will be eaten raw as yukhoe. If the answer is uncertain, cook a different bibimbap tonight. Technique cannot repair unsafe meat.
2. 2

   Make the sauce

   Stir together the gochujang, rice vinegar, maesil-cheong or honey, and water until smooth. This gives you about 6 tablespoons. Use 1 tablespoon per bowl at first, then add more at the table. Yukhoe-bibimbap should not be buried under chili paste; the sauce is there to bind the rice, not erase the beef.

3. 3

   Season the sprouts

   Put the soybean sprouts in a pot with 1/2 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover, bring to a boil, and cook 7 minutes without lifting the lid. Drain, then season in its own bowl with 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds. Taste one sprout. It should be nutty, clean, and still crisp.

4. 4

   Blanch the spinach

   Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the spinach for 20 to 30 seconds, just until it collapses, then rinse cold and squeeze firmly. Season it alone with 1/2 teaspoon soup soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds. Spinach wants a light hand. If you season it like bracken, it disappears.

5. 5

   Cook carrot and zucchini

   Heat 1 tablespoon neutral oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the carrot with 1/8 teaspoon salt for 1 to 2 minutes, until flexible but still bright. Move it to a bowl. In the same pan, cook the zucchini with 1/8 teaspoon salt for 1 to 2 minutes, just until softened. Keep them separate. Bibimbap is mixed at the end, not cooked as a crowd.

6. 6

   Season bracken and mushrooms

   Add the remaining 1 tablespoon neutral oil to the skillet. Cook the gosari with 1 teaspoon soup soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil for 3 to 4 minutes, until seasoned through and no longer watery. Move it out, then cook the shiitake with 1/4 teaspoon salt for 2 minutes until tender. Gosari needs deeper seasoning than the greens; that is why it gets soy sauce and time.

7. 7

   Cut and season beef

   Slice the chilled beef against the grain into 1/8-inch slices, then cut into matchsticks about 1/8 inch wide. Toss gently with soy sauce, sesame oil, honey or sugar, grated garlic, crushed sesame seeds, and black pepper. Add half the julienned pear and toss once more. Season the beef no more than 10 minutes before serving, because salt pulls moisture from raw meat.

8. 8

   Build the bowls

   Divide the warm rice among 4 wide bowls, 1 cup per bowl. Arrange the soybean sprouts, spinach, carrot, zucchini, gosari, and shiitake in separate small mounds over the rice, then place the seasoned beef in the center. Add the remaining pear beside it. Spoon 1 tablespoon sauce near the side of each bowl, not over the beef.

9. 9

   Finish and mix

   Set one egg yolk on each mound of beef. Scatter a little crushed gim if using and add a few drops of sesame oil. Carry the bowls to the table at once and mix immediately, breaking the yolk through the rice, beef, namul, and sauce. The bowl should be eaten right away, while the rice is warm and the beef is still cool.

Chef Tips

• •For raw beef, tenderloin is soft and clean, while eye of round gives a firmer chew closer to many market bowls. Whichever cut you buy, remove every strip of sinew. Raw beef does not forgive lazy trimming.
• •Pasteurized egg yolks are the practical home choice. 시대가 바뀌면 음식도 바뀌어야 해요. When times change, food must change too, and this is a safe corner to modernize.
• •Do not make the yukhoe ahead. You may cut the beef 1 hour ahead and keep it covered over ice in the refrigerator, but season it only at the end. Salted raw beef sitting around is how a good bowl turns tired.
• •Each namul is seasoned alone because each one asks for a different hand. Soybean sprouts want salt and crunch, spinach wants almost nothing, and gosari wants soy sauce and oil. One bowl at the end, many bowls before it.
• •If Korean pear is out of season, use a crisp Asian pear or a small firm apple. Do not use soft, grainy fruit. The pear is there for cold crunch and clean sweetness, not perfume.

Advance Preparation

• •Cook and season the soybean sprouts, spinach, carrot, zucchini, gosari, and shiitake up to 1 day ahead. Keep each one in its own covered container and bring them to cool room temperature before assembling.
• •Mix the gochujang sauce up to 1 week ahead and refrigerate it. Stir before using, because it thickens as it sits.
• •Cook the rice fresh if you can. If using reheated rice, warm it gently until soft and moist, then let it stand 3 minutes so it is warm rather than hot when the beef goes on top.
• •Cut and season the raw beef only at serving time. Leftover assembled yukhoe-bibimbap should not be stored; eat it immediately or discard what remains.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 570g)