Mexican Bibimbap

So, after over two years of posting my versions of other people’s recipes, I believe I’ve come up with an original recipe of my very own. In other words, I’ve invented something. No big deal, right? I mean: people do this all the time. Scientists constantly invent and reinvent stuff. Take Pluto for example. One day it’s a planet and then 76 years later, it’s actually a dwarf planet. And then there are elite gymnasts. I think we all remember The Khorkina.

Honestly, I’m not exactly sure what I’ve created here, but I find it to be delicious. I’m calling it the Mexican Bibimbap as it was very much inspired by my favorite Korean dish, but like the name implies, I’ve given it a Mexican twist. Instead of kimchi, I offer up a slaw (a dish that one of our favorite guest bloggers first served to me as an accompaniment to pork tacos), but with a little added heat from Sriracha. Instead of Korean vegetables, I give you pico de gallo. Get the gist?

And while it may seem like a lot of components, this bowl of goodness needs no side dishes. Plus, much of it can be done ahead of time, like the rice, pico de gallo, and marinade. In fact, the slaw gets better with time, so go ahead and prepare it the day ahead. Then, all you really need to do before dinner is sauté the mushrooms, cook the skirt steak, and fry the eggs.

Mexican Bibimbap 
Ingredients for entire meal 
serves 6

2 lbs. skirt steak
6 large eggs
6 cups (or more for leftovers!) freshly cooked medium-grain white rice
5 garlic cloves minced (separated)
1 ½ tablespoons minced ginger
¼ cup soy sauce + more to serve with meal
3 tablespoons sesame oil (separated)
juice of 5-6 medium limes (separated)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sake (optional, though I like the excuse to buy some sake to eat with my ‘bap.)
1 ½ cups seeded, diced tomatoes
1/2 cup diced red onion (separated)
1 tablespoon diced jalapeno
¼ minced fresh cilantro + 2 tablespoons
1 head of green cabbage
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Sriracha + more to serve with meal
2 ½ cups sliced shiitake mushrooms (about ½ pound)
salt
pepper

How I make it:
1. Make slaw. (Up to 2 days but at least 3 hours ahead.)

I find this slaw to be very therapeutic. Why? Because it’s not finicky. You don’t have to spin the cabbage leaves with your salad spinner. (I usually just throw away the top layer.) I also find it to be delicious all by itself.

Shred the head of cabbage by hand into a large bowl. Sprinkle it with 2 to 2½ teaspoons salt (depending on size of cabbage head) and massage it in with your hands for a few minutes to tenderize the cabbage. Let it sit and hang out at room temperature while you chop the red onion and cilantro. Dice ½ cup of the onion, but only use half. Reserve the other half for the pico de gallo. Same thing with cilantro. Slice ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons of cilantro, reserving the 2 tablespoons for your pico de gallo. Toss the onion and cilantro on top of the cabbage.

Then, in a separate bowl, mix the juice of 1 lime, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, and 1 teaspoon Sriracha. Pour onto cabbage, onion, and cilantro and mix well. Let this sit in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, but as previously mentioned, it’s even better if it sits overnight.

NOTE: If you are making these meal for less than 6 people, you’ll probably have a lot of extra slaw, which is really fortunate because along with the extra rice and another egg, you can have a great simple dinner the following night too.

2. Up to one day ahead: Make pico de gallo.

Put reserved ¼ cup minced red onion and reserved 2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro in small bowl. Add 1 ½ cups seeded, diced tomatoes, 1 tablespoon diced jalapeno, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, juice of 2 limes and mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper. It’s done. Set aside.

3. Up to 4 hours ahead: Marinate your steak.

In a small bowl, combine 3 minced garlic cloves, 1 ½ tablespoons minced ginger, ¼ cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sesame oil, juice of 2 limes, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon sake, a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper. Put steak into a Ziploc bag and pour this mixture over it. Now, Matt swears by sealing the bag and really massaging the marinade into the steak. I laughed at him for this because he was taking it so seriously and really working it in there, but I must say that we’ve made this recipe a few times now in order to perfect it, and the meat has been so much more tender after Matt has done this. So, I guess what I’m saying is: Seal bag and massage meat with marinade. Refrigerate for 1-4 hours.

4. Up to a few hours before: Cook rice according to packaging. (I don’t think it matters if the rice is at room temperature, but if you’d prefer it to be hot, time it so that it will be done just before serving.)

5. Sauté mushrooms. Tip for less dishwashing: I like to use the same pan for sautéing the mushrooms as I am going to use for cooking the steak and frying the egg. For me, this means a large nonstick sauté pan.

Heat the sesame oil in the pan and cook the mushrooms with a bit of salt until hot and fragrant. Set aside.

6. Cook steak.

Heat same sauté pan over medium-high heat. Pull the skirt steak from the marinade and place in pan. Between the leftover oil on the pan from the mushrooms and the liquid from the marinade, this pan may now have a lot of liquid in it. Go ahead and pour some off so that just a nice inch layer remains. Cook steak about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place it on a cutting board. Let it rest about 5 minutes before cutting into slices. The last time we made this, a few of the slices weren’t completely cooked through, so we placed those ones back on the pan for another minute or two, which resulted in some seriously delicious pieces that were nice and crusty on the outside and still super tender on the inside.

7. Before you start frying the eggs, prepare each bowl. Divide the rice among the bowls and then top with portions of the slaw, pico de gallo, steak, and mushrooms in as pretty of a way as possible.

8. Fry the eggs.

Pour out any remaining liquid from your sauté pan. Add a bit more of the sesame oil. Heat pan and crack eggs onto it. Cook eggs in batches until whites are set but yolks are still runny, about 2 to 3 minutes. Place one egg on top of everything else in each bowl.

9. Serve with soy sauce and Sriracha. Enjoy!! (I hope. After two years of critiquing and sometimes having a laugh at the difficulty in other people’s recipes, I hope this one finds you well and happy and not frustrated with my directions or your results!) (Why do I feel as though I'm already apologizing?) (I'm sorry.)

p.s. We also tried a vegetarian option, which was fairly delicious as well, though at this point in the recipe testing, the slaw hadn't been incorporated, and I just can't say enough good things about this slaw. It's my everything. It's limey and spicy and creamy and tangy. And all of its sauce intermingle with the rice. Oh, it's so good. But back to what I was saying: Vegetarians, just substitute the steak for beans. Heat up a can of refried beans on the stovetop. Add some lime juice and diced onion or whatever you would like to make the can o' beans your own. NOTE: we may have added chorizo to the beans pictured below, but you guys know what I'm driving at...