‘Bibimbap’ for your Viu-wing pleasure

Bibimbap recipe
“Bibimbap,” Korean rice dish that’s heavy in flavor and sustenance. PHOTOS BY ELOISA LOPEZ

The Hallyu wave has not only made us swoon for K-pop stars and go gaga for K-drama, it also made us crave Korean cuisine and all the other good eats we see onscreen.

K-dramas, in particular, have brought vivid images of dining (and drinking!) in Korea, from restos, cafés and roadside joints to street food and homemade meals. Our eyes feasted on food-centric shows like “Coffee Prince,” “Golden Pocket,” “Pasta” and “King of Baking: Kim Tak Goo.”

But it doesn’t end there, because nearly all genres— which you can binge-watch through the Viu streaming app—would have at least one food porn scene, or, at the very least, people eating with gusto, as in the titular character in the recent hit “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo.”

A huge fan of K-dramas, Janina Raella “Ninay” Zamora, who owns Arc & Vine Café  in Makati (Facebook Arc & Vine Cafe, Instagram @arcandvine) and is a Center for Culinary Arts alumna, shares her modified recipe for bibimbap. It’s a Korean dish of rice, egg, sautéed veggies and meat—comfort food that’s heavy in sustenance and flavor, a perfect match for your Viu-wing experience.

Single-Serve Baconized Bibimbap

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 c steamed rice
  • 2 strips bacon (or more), precooked in toaster for 5 minutes and chopped into big chunks
  • Cooking oil as needed
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ½ pc small carrot, julienned
  • A handful of spinach
  • ¼ c bean sprouts
  • 2 pc leeks, julienned (cut 2 inches from root)
  • 1 large egg
  • Vinegared red chilli sauce (gochujang), pictured in red flip-cap bottle that’s available in Korean marts
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • Seaweed for garnish (available in resealable foil packs)
  • Sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
Julienned leeks
Seaweed in resealable foil pack and flip-cap bottled gochujang

Step 1

Sauté ½ tsp garlic in cooking oil, then add in the spinach. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Set aside. The same pan can be used for succeeding sautés.

Step 2

Sauté remaining garlic in cooking oil. Blanche bean sprouts. Afterward transfer it to the pan with garlic and quickly sauté. Set aside.

Step 3

Sauté carrots in oil. These don’t need to be cooked through. Set aside.

Step 4

Heat bacon in sauté pan. Warm the rice in the microwave. Set aside.

Step 5

Fry the egg sunny side up, keeping the yolk runny. Set aside.

Step 6

Gather all cooked and no-cook ingredients. Put rice in a bowl. Lay on the bacon, sautéed veggies in a way that similar colors interchange (easily done with culinary tweezers or mini tongs). Choose a gap to squeeze in gochujang. Sprinkle sesame oil. Use a spatula to place fried egg on top of the dish. Garnish with leeks, seaweed.

Watch K-dramas for free on the Viu app and website www.viu.com.

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