happy memories

When I was a kid, there was a restaurant up the street from our house that I always looked forward to going to. From what I remember it was a steak house, and I love steak so that's all I ever ordered there. But my mom always got the amazing Korean dish, bi bim bop. And every time she got it and would give me a taste, I felt defeated in knowing that yet again she won the best dish of the night award. Well, in the last few years I've gone to several different Korean restaurants and never had bi bim bop that was quite as good as what I remember. And last week my sister made it for her family and said it was fairly easy, so I decided it was time that I create it for myself. It was going to be my new "I need to perfect this recipe" project. I went from website to website, looking up different recipes, and what I realized was that everyone has their own way of making it. So I kind of just did things my own way, just made sure it was very Korean.

And oh my gosh I am so glad I did! It was perfect. I'm sure I can still improve on it, but I was sure satisfied. It was as good as I remember, and it was actually really easy. So please try to this at home. You won't be disappointed.

Bi Bim Bop
serves 2
Just a note: usually this dish is served with a fried egg on top, which I LOVE, but if you aren't a hug fan or runny fried eggs, you can scramble and egg or make a simple scrambled egg pancake and slice it really thin, like I did for Blake's (below).2 eggs
1/2 lb steak, sliced very thin
1/2 lb bean sprouts
1 carrot, grated lengthwise
1/2 english cucumber, grated lengthwise
4 oz baby spinach
1 scallion
soy sauce
sesame oil
1 tsp granulated sugar
Korean barbecue sauce*
toasted sesame seeds

2 servings of white rice

1. Marinate the steak in the Korean barbecue sauce for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, blanch the bean sprouts, drain, and place in a bowl. Add 1 t soy sauce, 2 t sesame oil, 1 t granulated sugar, and 2 t sesame seeds (those are very flexible measurement. Feel free to do it to taste). Toss to combine, and set aside.
3. Boil the spinach until barely wilted, drain, and place in a bowl. Add 1 t soy sauce, 1 t sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Toss to combine, and set aside.
4. In a large frying pan heated to medium-high, place the beef after shaking off excess sauce. Cook though, about 4~5 minutes. Don't over cook or it'll be tough. Place in a bowl and toss with sesame seeds.
5. Fry the eggs, over-easy or to desired doneness.
6. In each bowl, place the rice. Place each vegetable on top of the rice, side by side, in a wedge pattern in a circle. Place the beef in one section also. Top with the egg. (if you're serving the egg scrambled, I think it looks better with the beef on top, but that's just preference)

* If you can't get Korean Barbecue sauce, here's the recipe:

4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp rice wine,
1 tbsp chopped green onion
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame seed
black pepper to taste