Going Korean Part 2: Korean Rice Bowl / The Bibimbap

Lately I've found myself taking on way too many things. This usually leads to feelings of regret, specifically because I'm not doing any of them as well as I could if I'd only been more singularly focused. Because of this, and a few other reasons, namely Matt's and my two-year anniversary, we are skipping town, going off the grid, and heading to Desert Hot Springs. We cannot wait. No TV, no emails, and no phone. Just desert, hot springs, books, food and one movie we are probably the last people in the world not to have seen yet and are undoubtedly committing multiple cinema crimes given that we'll have to watch it on a laptop.

Bon Appetit's version:

photograph by Jose Picayo

our version:

Do you know how many of these Vivenne/ingredient photos Matt takes that don't make the blog? So many. I don't know why Mugi Miso made the cut except for the fact that Matt and I've been asking each other all week where I / he put the Mugi Miso as we need it stat. (It's never not in the refrigerator.)

Do you guys remember the Mugi Miso? Well, the recipe didn't call for it. What it did call for was Korean hot pepper paste (kochujang). I couldn't find this at the grocery store, but according to the recipe, this paste is just a mixture of miso and hot chilies. I knew we had Sambal Oelek, which is essentially just straight chilies. SO, I thought if I mixed the two, I'd basically get Korean hot pepper paste. (On the left below is the Mugi Miso and on the right is the Sambal Oelek.)

I think it worked. Not having recently tried the real thing, it's pretty hard to say, but our makeshift mixture tasted umami-ish with heat.

Luckily with food, when you take on too many things, it's still usually edible. So yes, I slightly overcooked the steak and the kimchee was excruciatingly hot. However, the egg was perfectly runny and the asparagus nice and al dente, and all in all, I loved this meal. Even more so, I loved the eggs and rice I made the following day with the leftover rice and sesame salt.

As for Matt and me and the desert? We leave tomorrow morning. Now let's see if I can finish some of the things I've started--like maybe all of these half-read books I loved the beginning of so much?

For bibimbap recipe, click HERE.