Bibimbap

Name: Bibimbap
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 2 bowls
Cuisine: korean
Ingredients: 300 g Rice, uncooked short-grain, then cooked; 150 g Spinach, washed; 150 g Bean sprouts; 1 medium Carrot, julienned; 150 g Beef, thin strips; 2 large Egg; 2 tbsp Gochujang; 2 tbsp Toasted sesame oil; 1 tbsp Soy sauce; 2 clove Garlic, minced; 1 tsp Sesame seeds; 2 piece Spring onion, thinly sliced; 1 pinch Salt

비빔밥

A Korean rice bowl of seasoned vegetables, chilli paste and a runny yolk — mixed at the table until everything is the same red-gold colour.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: 비빔밥.

1 person cooked this in the public kitchen. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.

Start cooking

Prep: 35 min
Cook: 25 min
Total: 1 hr
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: Medium heat
Cost: Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

Source photograph of Bibimbap. Not official I Want Some Food pixel artwork. — Photo: Andy Li via Wikimedia Commons. CC0. Source

About

Bibimbap looks composed until the moment you ruin it on purpose. The dish is a landscape: rice, namul vegetables, a little meat if you want it, gochujang, sesame, and an egg. The mixing is the recipe. This is a home version you can cook on a weeknight without a stone bowl, though a hot pan at the end for a crispy rice base is worth the extra minute.

Ingredients

Servings

Rice

Rice, uncooked short-grain, then cooked300 g

Namul

Spinach, washed150 g
Bean sprouts150 g
Carrot, julienned1 medium

Meat

Beef, thin strips (optional)150 g

Egg

Egg2 large

Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.

Steps

Step 1
Cook the rice so it is ready and steaming. Short-grain rice should be sticky enough to clump on a spoon, not porridge.
20 min
Step 2
Blanch the spinach in salted water until just collapsed, 30–45 seconds. Shock in cold water, squeeze hard, then season with a pinch of salt, a little minced garlic and a few drops of sesame oil.
5 min
Tip: Squeeze like you mean it. Watery namul makes sad rice.
Step 3
Blanch the bean sprouts 1–2 minutes until they lose their raw edge but stay crunchy. Drain, season the same way as the spinach.
4 min
Step 4
Sauté the carrot in a lightly oiled pan with a pinch of salt until just tender, 2 minutes. You want colour, not mush.
3 min
Step 5
If using beef, season with soy sauce, garlic and a drop of sesame oil. Sear quickly over high heat until just cooked.
4 min
Step 6
Fry the eggs sunny-side up so the whites set and the yolks stay runny. A lid for 30 seconds helps the tops set without flipping.
4 min
Step 7
Divide rice into two bowls. Arrange vegetables and beef in sections. Add gochujang, a drizzle of sesame oil, sesame seeds and spring onion. Crown with the egg.
3 min
Tip: Leave it pretty for five seconds. Then mix thoroughly so every grain is seasoned.

Adapt this recipe

The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.

Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 24 August.

Substitutions

Beef → Shiitake or oyster mushrooms
Sauté with soy and garlic. The bowl becomes vegetarian if you also skip fish sauce in any kimchi on the side.
Gochujang → A mix of miso and chilli flakes
You will lose fermented sweetness. Add a pinch of sugar.

Tips

Make the namul in the morning. Bibimbap is a leftover-vegetable sport.
If you have a heavy pan, heat it until nearly smoking, add a film of oil, press rice in, and you get a crispy base without a dolsot.
Gochujang brands vary in sweetness. Taste before you dump.

History & culture

The name simply means mixed rice. It is eaten at home, in mountain temples (sometimes without meat), and in restaurants that still serve it unmixed so you can see the work. Jeonju is famous for a luxurious version; this one is closer to a Seoul weeknight bowl. Banchan logic applies: the vegetables can be made ahead and eaten separately tomorrow.

Mixed rice with leftovers is older than any restaurant brand. Some historians connect it to rural offerings and to using namul from the season. The gochujang-red bowl many people picture now is modern home cooking, not a frozen royal ritual. We are not claiming a single authentic plate — only a carefully seasoned one.

Regional variation — A stone dolsot is traditional for crispy rice. This version uses a hot skillet. Beef is common but not mandatory; a mushroom sauté is a fair vegetarian swap.

Provenance: Editorial adaptation. Original editorial adaptation for I Want Some Food. Not copied from another recipe site. Photograph: Andy Li via Wikimedia Commons (CC0). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beef%20Bibimbap%20-%20SAERO%202025-11-06.jpg

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