Bibimbap/Mixed Rice -Com Tron kieu Dai Han

On the first trip back to Vietnam a few years ago. Me and the kids stopped by Seoul airport and this was a dish that I tasted and like it very much. It looks pretty and helps eating veggie fun. The crunchy rice brought me back the memory of old days-rice was cooked without a rice cooker.  It is required skills and patient to make the crunchy layer of rice at the bottom of the pot without burning them. It was so good sometimes we fought together over it. You can look it up and find an unlimited array of veggie and protein is used in the dish but you do not need a lot of them. It takes time to prep and cook everything separately but it is doable.
Make 4-6 servings
   Freshly cooked rice (prefer short grain rice/ Korean or Japanese rice): 1/3 to 1/2 cup uncooked rice for one serving.
   1 lb Bulgogi beef
   1 English or large cucumber
   1-2 zucchini
   1 medium carrot
   1 small bag of mung bean sprout
   1 bunch of spinach about 1 lb
   8 large dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water
   Eggs of your choice (over easy, sunny side up, etc. )one egg for a serving
   4 Tbs gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
   Soy sauce, vegetable oil, sesame oil, salt, sugar, ground black pepper, crushed garlic, toasted sesame seeds.
 
Rice:
  Cook in a rice cooker or a stainless steel pot.
Bulgogi beef, cook it right before serve:
    1 lb beef (loin or chuck)thinly sliced. I used tri-tip roast today (guess what on sale this week?)   
    3 Tbs soy sauce    
     2 Tbs sugar     
     3 medium cloves garlic, crushed or finely minced     
     3 scallions, sliced into 1 inch pieces diagonally    
     1 small onion, 1/2 finely chopped, 1/2 sliced 1/8 inch thick semi moon shape   
     1/4 tsp ground black pepper     
     1 tsp toasted sesame seeds     
     1 Tbs sesame oil      
     1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flake (optional)    
     1 Tbs rice wine (optional)    
     2 tsp grated ginger (option)
     1/2 small Asian pear, pureed (optional)

    In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together except sesame seeds,1/2 sliced scallion (green part) and semi moon shape onion.  Marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight in the fridge.    Heat a large heavy skillet over medium high heat.  Add beef slices, a few at a time, do not overlap the slices, and stir-fry (sear) them without oil for 2 or 3 mins at most. Set aside and keep warm, Repeat with the remain beef.  When finish stir-frying beef, add sliced onion to hot skillet, cook a few minute to make it looks wilt but still crunchy, then mix with the beef.  Garnish with sesame seeds, sliced scallion.
Chili sauce:

  Mix 4 Tbs gochujang with  1 Tbs sugar, 1 tsp honey, 2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp finely minced garlic, 1 Tbs toasted sesame seeds and 2 Tbs vinegar.  Mix well if too thick add some warm water.  Use immediately or cover and store in the fridge
Cucumber:
  Cut cucumber in half lengthways,  then into thinly half moon slices.  Toss with 1/2 tsp salt and put it on a coriander over the sink or a large bowl 15-30 minutes.  Rinse and squeeze dry.  Toss with 1 tsp vinegar, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, and 1/2 tsp sugar.
Zucchini:
   Cut zucchini into 2 inches logs, then julienne into 1/4 inch sticks.  Stir frying with 1 tsp oil for 1 minute, season with salt.
Carrot:
   Julienne and stir frying like zucchini for 2 minutes.
Bean sprout:
   Blanching in boiling water ( 1/2 cup water with 1 tsp sea salt) about 1 minute.  Rinse with cold water.  Then drain and squeeze all excess the water out. Mix with 1/2 tsp sesame oil and 1/2 tsp black toasted sesame seeds.
Spinach:
   Blanching spinach in a boiling water long enough just to wild the leaves.  Rinse with cold water and squeeze out all excess water.  Mix with 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sesame oil.
Shiitake mushrooms:
   Soak in cold or warm water until soft.  Cut and discard the stems, thinly slice the caps.  Stir fry with 1 tsp oil, 1 Tbs soy sauce, and 1 tsp sugar about 2-3 minutes until the liquid evaporated, then mix with 1/2 tsp toasted
Eggs
  Fry eggs separately in a non stick pan until the white is set but the yolk still running or cook eggs as your prefer: soft boil, poaching, etc.
Crispy Rice and Assembly:
1.  Rice can be served in a hot stone bowl,sold at Asian stores,which made the rice crispy.  I do not have them so I heat 1 Tbs sesame oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat and add rice in a layer.  Cook until rice crispy about 10-15 minutes without stirring   May low the heat down to medium if browning too fast.  Skip this step if you do not want crisp rice.
2.  Cook beef.
3.   Put a cup of rice in a  wide individual serving bowl or a large serving platter and serve family style. Arrange veggie and meat in  little piles of its own (artfully/playing with color contrast).  Place the fried egg and a small spoon of chili paste atop of the rice at the center, and garnish with toasted, shredded nori and sesame seeds.  Mix everything together before eating.  Serve with Kimchi on the side if you have any.
 
*Note:
   Jasmine long grain rice, Vietnamese favorite, is good too.
   If you like garlic, add a little crushed fresh garlic or garlic powder to the oil when stir frying or  to veggie.
   Use any veggie of you prefer-Just blanching, boiling, stir frying, or raw like lettuce, etc
   Gochujang is spicy and gives the unique flavor for the dish but it can be omitted or replaced with other hot sauce