Korean Rice Bowls
These Korean Rice Bowls (Bibimbap) are loaded with fresh asparagus, marinated steak, and topped with a fried egg. An easy and oh-so-delicious recipe that will surely become a family favorite!
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Sesame Spice:
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (you can toast your own, if you prefer)
- ¾ teaspoon fleur de sel
- ½ teaspoon New Mexico chile powder or Hungarian paprika
Marinade:
- 3 pounds New York strip steak or flank steak, trimmed if using strip
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil divided
- 2 green onions finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons sugar or honey
- 1 tablespoon sake or dry Sherry
- 1 garlic clove minced
Additional:
- 1 ½ pounds asparagus spears slender, with woody ends trimmed
- 1 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups uncooked gluten free basmati rice or cauliflower rice
- Sriracha
Instructions
Sesame Spice:
- Grind sesame seeds, fleur de sel, and chile powder in a mortar with pestle or in a spice mill until about half of sesame seeds are finely ground. Return to same small bowl. (Can be made ahead.)
- Store in airtight container at room temperature. I make extra and have this on hand to pull out of the party when I make this dish. (If you do not have access to grinder use ground herbs and mix.)
Marinade:
- Cut steak crosswise into 1/8" thick slices.
- Place soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sesame oil, green onions, sugar, sake, and garlic in Ziploc bag along with the steak.
- Let marinate at room temperature 30 minutes, tossing occasionally. (You can do this in the morning or night before and place in refrigerator.)
Cooking:
- Place rice and 3 cups of water in medium saucepan. Bring rice and water to boil, then lower heat to low and cover. Cook for 20 minutes.
- While rice is cooking heat griddle or 2 heavy large skillets over medium-high heat. Toss asparagus with sesame oil.
- Saute asparagus until crisp tender, about 4 minutes.
- Set aside on rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle sesame salt over.
- Tent with foil to keep warm.
- Working in batches, grill steak until just browned, about 1 minute per side.
- Transfer to a bowl; tent with foil to keep warm.
- Cook eggs sunny side up until whites are set but yolks are still runny 2 to 3 minutes.
- Divide warm rice among bowls.
- Top with beef, asparagus, fried egg or two and a drizzle of Sriracha Sauce.
Notes
- Sesame Seeds: If you are not using previously-toasted sesame seeds, you can toast regular sesame seeds in a small skillet over medium heat until they are golden brown, stirring often. This takes about 3 minutes.
- Toppings: To add some spicy kick, we like to add sriracha sauce to our bibimbap bowls. But you could also use gochujang, which is a Korean condiment that’s both spicy and deeply savory.
- Rice Options: To make this dish gluten free, you will need to make sure that all of your ingredients are gluten free, including the rice. We have been enjoying Lundberg Farms Organic California Brown Jasmine Rice lately.
- Spice Blend: If you do not have access to a spice mill or a mortar and pestle, use already-ground spices and just mix them together. I like to make extra, and keep it in my pantry for seasoning veggies, eggs, and more.
- Storing: Leftover Korean rice bowls can be stored in your refrigerator, tightly covered, for a day or two. I don’t recommend storing the sunny-side-up eggs along with the rest of the ingredients, because they typically do not store as well and can make the dish messy and unappealing.
- Freezing: Some of the items in this recipe can be frozen: the steak, the veggies, and the rice! You can actually freeze all of these items for up to three months. Freeze them separately, in airtight containers or freezer bags, and thaw in the fridge before reheating.