Mushroom Bibimbap.
Bibimbap – in Korean – means mixed rice.
There no rules to Bibimbap – and no, you don’t have to make your bowl look all glamorous and Instaworthy!
The only “must-do” is to mix the rice into the sauce before you eat – hence the name!
Traditional Bibimbap involves prepping and stir-frying a handful of veggie and meats - which does get time intensive (especially if you’re marinating the meat too).
That’s why many Koreans – including myself – shy away from making traditional Bibimbap at home. We like to order it at restaurants instead.
But… what if we reduced it to only one type of ingredient - wouldn’t it be perfect for homecooking?
Today, I’ll show you how to make an amazing Mushroom Bibimbap today!
Instead of pan-frying the mushrooms, we’ll fold them in the rice – steaming them perfectly. The individual morsels turn fragrant, juicy and pleasantly chewy. Not to mention the natural juice that’s packed inside.
Simply put, it replace the need for meat!
Key Taste Variable for Mushroom Bibimbap
Of course, it’s the mushrooms! In our recipe, we used: Oyster, Button, White & Brown Beech Mushrooms.
Feel to use mushrooms local to your country – select 3-4 different kinds.
The key taste variable in the bibimbap marinade is the fish sauce.
At first, you may be off-put by the pungent smell. But as you stir-fry it into the rice, the smell will dissipate and leave behind a salty, umami flavor that balances with the other flavors in the marinade.
In Korea, we typically use Anchovy Fish Sauce (멸치액) for recipes. But I also like to use Tuna Fish Sauce (참치액) for fried rices - it has a less pungent smell with a slightly deeper flavor.
But feel free to use either one – or alternatively, any Asian fish sauce that you can get your hands on.
Now when it comes to the chili peppers, the red ones are mild. They're mostly for color - makes the bibimbap look great!
The green Cheongyang Chili Peppers are spicy - they add a slight kick (which I love!). If you can't find 2 Korean Cheongyang Chili Peppers (청약고추), use 1 Jalapeno pepper instead.
Finally, make sure to throw on that fried egg - delicious!
I hope you enjoy ya’ll!
If you make it at home, tag us on IG! We love seeing pictures of your dishes in the morning.
-Daniel out 🕺
(P.s. If you’re cooking alone, don’t get bored. Consider listening to our latest podcast episode while you cook!)
Ingredients
Mushroom Mix (2 Large Handfuls Worth, ~300 grams)
- Small handful Oyster Mushroom
- Small handful White & Brown Beech Mushrooms
- Small handful Button Mushrooms
Steamed Rice
- 1.5 Cups Short-Grain Rice
- 1.5 Cups Water
Bibimbap Marinade
- 2 Mild Red Chili Peppers (홍고추) (optional, for color)
- 2 Spicy Cheongyang Chili Peppers (청양고추) (or 1 Jalapeno Pepper)
- 2 stalks Green Onion (or Scallions)
- 2 cloves Minced Garlic
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Anchovy Fish Sauce (멸치액젓) (Or any Asian Fish Sauce)
- 1 Tablespoon Water
- 2 Tablespoons Sesame Seeds (or 1T Sesame Seeds + 1T Black Sesame Seeds)
- 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Gochugaru Powder
- 4-5 cracks Black Pepper
Fried Egg Topping
- 1 Tablespoon Chopped Green Onion
- 1 Egg
Instructions
Prep Mushrooms
- Pick out 2 large handfuls of different mushrooms. Wash them. Cut stems off. Separate the mushrooms. Cut as needed. Toss the mushrooms together.
- Now, grab 2 large handfuls of the mixed mushrooms (as much as you can pick-up) and set it aside for later. This should be roughly 300 grams.
Cook Short Grain Rice
- Rinse 1.5 cups of short-grain rice. Place the washed rice into a pot. Then fill the pot with an equal amount of water (1.5 cups).
- Initially, place the pot on a high heat and bring it up to boil (with a lid on!)
- Once it starts to boil, reduce the heat to a MEDIUM. Let it cook for 5 minutes (keep lid on).
- Then reduce the heat to a LOW. Let it cook for 10 more minutes (keep lid on).
- Then turn OFF the heat completely. Let it rest and steam for 5 more minutes (keep lid on).
- Total cooking time should be roughly 20-25 minutes.
Make Bibimbap Marinade
- Mince 2 Mild Red Chili Peppers & 2 Spicy Green Chili Peppers into small chunks. Place into a small bowl.
- Then chop 2 stalks of Green Onions - place into the same bowl.
- Now gently smash 2 cloves of garlic - and then finely mince them into small pieces. Place into the same bowl.
- Then add-in the bowl: Soy Sauce (2 Tablespoons), Anchovy Fish Sauce (1 Tablespoon), Water (1 Tablespoon), Sesame Seeds (2 Tablespoons), Sesame Oil (1 Tablespoon), Gochugaru Powder (1 Tablespoon) and Black Pepper (4-5 cracks).
- Give it a mix and set it aside.
Make Bibimbap
- Take out a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan (or skillet, or cast-iron frying pan) - that you also have a fitting lid for.
- Place 2 Tablespoons of Sesame Oil into they frying pan. Place it on a MEDIUM-heat.
- Scoop-in all of the cooked rice. Spread it evenly into the frying pan.
- Now, place all of the mushroom mix over the top of the rice (yes, it's going to be alot).
- Then place the lid on the frying pan - and let it steam for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, open the lid and carefully fold the mushrooms into the rice.
- Place the lid back on and let it steam for another 5 minutes.
- After a total of 10 minutes of cooking, open the lid again. Now, the mushrooms will have steamed beautifully. Add in the bibimbap sauce (add as much as you want - we ended up using all of it!).
- Mix the sauce evenly into the rice, then turn off the heat.
- Scoop onto individual plates.
- Served with a fried egg (dare-i-say, it's mandatory!). Bon Appetit ya'll!
Enjoying these recipes? Drop some love 🙃
Pathma says
Absolutely love this recipe! Made it completely vegetarian the second time with vegan fish sauce and it was just as good. Thanks!
Olivia says
I love mushrooms. I love bibimbap and this recipe is like a dream come true. What more can I say about this recipe.
Jin says
This was deeeelicious!
My partner instantly requested that this shall become one of our staple dishes and I completely agree. Thank you for sharing, take care and be well.
Erin says
This recipe absolutely RULES as a leftover-cleaner-upper (and yes, I'm accepting suggestions for a better phrase for that, lol). I always seem to end up with a few handfuls of extra mushrooms after I make some kind of recipe with them, and they just sit in my fridge and gradually get all dry and sad until I have to toss 'em...now I have an easy, filling, and delicious recipe to make sure nothing goes to waste. The sauce rules too—everything in it is something I always have laying around my kitchen, and it was so flavorful I could honestly have just eaten it with rice and nothing else. This one's a winner, folks.