The dolsots cooking. The stone dolsot is on the back burner with a heat diffuser. The metal dolsot is on the front burner without a diffuser.
Based on a recipe we found on www.india2japan.com. It's no longer there, but the same recipe is on www.sugawara.com: Ishiyaki Bibimba Recipe. Have a look; it's funny! The pictures are great too.
This is a great winter dish. It's easy to make and not as spicy as most Korean food. You'll need dolsots. A dolsot is a stone bowl, although modern ones are often metal. Look for dolsots in Korean grocery stores. Dolsot bibimbap is a variant of bibimbap, a very popular Korean dish. The dolsot makes the rice crispy and chewy.
The quantity shown serves 3. If your dolsots are large, you can pack more into each dolsot and share them, but use one dolsot per person if you can.
Start the rice cooking in a rice cooker or pot. While the rice is cooking make the namurus (side dishes). Then make the beef soboro. Finally, assemble the ingredients in the dolsots and cook them. Grate the garlic and grind the sesame seeds for all the namurus as once. We use a coffee grinder that's reserved for grinding nuts. Sesame seeds expand when ground; 2 or 3 tablespoons of sesame seeds will make ¼ cup of ground sesame seeds.
Cut the carrots into matchsticks. Boil in salted water for a few minutes, covered. Drain. Put the cooked carrots in a bowl. Add the sesame oil, ground sesame seeds, grated garlic, and salt. Mix with your fingers.
Put the spinach in a large covered pot with an inch or two of water. Bring to a boil and cook as usual. Stir occasionally to keep the spinach from sticking to the pot. The spinach is done when it's dark green and reduced to a small fraction of its original volume. Drain the cooked spinach. Cool by adding cold water to the pot and drain again. Squeeze the spinach in your hands to remove the water. Slice the cooked spinach into 1 inch pieces. Put the cooked spinach in a bowl with the sesame oil, ground sesame seeds, and grated garlic. Mix with your fingers.
Put the bean sprouts in a pot and fill with water to cover the sprouts. Add a pinch of salt. Cover and bring to a boil on high heat. If the sprouts don't have beans, stop cooking them when the water boils. If the sprouts do have beans, continue cooking until the beans are soft. Drain and put the cooked sprouts in a bowl. Dress with sesame oil, ground sesame seeds, grated garlic, and salt.
Slice the steak thinly, but not paper-thin. Heat the oil in a large frying pan on high. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the beef. Stir fry. While the beef is cooking, add the sesame oil, ground sesame seeds, and grated garlic. Cook until the meat is well browned. Add the soy sauce. Continue cooking until the liquid has boiled off.
Do no preheat the dolsots as this can cause spalling. Rub the inside of the dolsots with sesame oil. Spread the cooked rice evenly over the bottom of the dolsots and part way up the sides. Place the namurus and the beef soboro on top of the rice, each in its own area. Cover the dolsots and cook over medium-high heat. We use burners with metal heat diffusers for the stone dolsots. These take 10 to 15 minutes. Metal dolsots without a diffuser take about 5 minutes. Watch carefully near the end to avoid burning the rice on the bottom. To test, use a spoon to scrape the rice from the side. Remember that the bottom cooks more than the sides and that the rice keeps cooking after you remove it from the heat. Just before you remove the dolsots from the eat, crack an egg into each one.
When the rice is crispy, carefully carry the dolsots to the dining table. Place them on small pieces of wood to keep the heat from damaging the table. Serve with kimchi. To eat, start by scraping the rice from the bottom and stirring the ingredients together with a metal spoon. The egg will cook as it breaks up. Be careful not to burn yourself on the dolsot! You can add kochu change (Korean chili bean paste) or sriracha (vietnamese chili sauce) if you want to add a little spice.
The dolsots cooking. The stone dolsot is on the back burner with a heat diffuser. The metal dolsot is on the front burner without a diffuser.
Ready to eat. We used salmon instead of beef and we sliced the carrots differently.
The metal dolsot browns the rice nicely without sticking. Anne-Lise likes it lightly browned.
Peter and I like the rice almost burnt. The stone dolsot stays hot longer, so more of the rice gets browned.
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