Vegan Korean Bibimbap is basically a bowl of steamed rice, served with sautéed vegetables, and served with an addictive Gochujang chili sauce and roasted sesame seeds. The word “bibim” refers to a variety of ingredients and “bap” refers to rice.
I tried Kimchi to do Bibimbap. But after referring from many sites and books, Kimchi is not a vital ingredient in Bibimbap. Since we add a lot of vegetables to Bibimbap. The Bibimbap ingredients may look long but they are not hard to make it. It consists of several cooked veggies with smoked rice and addictive gochujang sauce.
Do not use the gochujang sauce as such. Add some spice, flavor, and sweetness to it. I added some brown sugar, tamari or (soy sauce) and sesame oil. I have used 7 toppings for my Bibimbap you can add or reduce according to your time.
Benefits of the ingredients (source)
Tofu: Tofu is rich in calcium and vitamin D. It provides a good source of protein.
Vegetables contain minerals, vitamins, and nutrients.
How to cook bean sprouts?
Cook beans sprouts in salted water covered. Cook for few minutes drain the water and fry it in oil. Do not stir-fry directly. The beans sprout is odorless. If they smell bad because we get in packages. Rinse well and even if it smells bad then it would have spoiled. After cooking and fried they are crunchy and nutty.
Video for Vegan Korean Bibimbap Bowl
How to infuse sesame flavored oil?
Sesame oil enhances the flavor of Korean cuisine. You can find it in any Asian store. If you cannot find sesame oil, you can infuse sesame flavor into any neutral oil.
Roast sesame seeds on high heat till they pop up. Keep stirring in between alternatively you can roast in the oven at 350 deg F for 10-12 minutes. Switch it off. Pour any neutral oil and bring to heat on a low flame till you get smoke. Switch it off. Let it sit for overnight or 4 hours. Filter it and you can use the oil for cooking. For one cup of sesame seeds, you can use 1 cup of oil.
Variations
Rice You can use brown rice or long-grained rice. If you get short-grained sticky rice that is apt for Korean cooking.
vegetables Mostly seasonal vegetables are added in Bibimbap. You can use a wide range between kale, turnips, Swiss chard, broccoli, cabbages, color peppers,… Do not skip the bean sprout.
Why cannot we use gochujang sauce directly?
Yes. You can directly use store-bought gochujang sauce but adding some more kick to it enhances the taste of the sauce. Gochujang sauce is very important in Korean Bibimbap. My gochujang sauce consists of gochujang, tamari(or soy sauce), sesame oil (I used with seeds), brown sugar, and salt. You can change according to your preference like adding more heat to it by adding pepper flakes, rice vinegar to it.
Preparing Bibimbap
Cook rice separately. You can either use the stock pot or rice cooker or Instant pot to cook rice. Gochujang sauce is just a combination of a few ingredients listed below. Marinate tofu with gochujang till you stir fry vegetables. Chop all the vegetables. If this process is done then stir-fry and enjoy your bowl. Will list the process.
- Cook Rice.
- Prepare Gochujang sauce
- Marinate tofu
- Boil beansprouts and drain the water
- Sesame oil + Garlic + vegetables(stir-fried individually) + roasted sesame seeds
- Sesame oil + marinated tofu
Serving Bibimbap
Bibimbap served in a sizzling hot stone bowl called Dolsot. Once dolsot is heated add the cooked rice and fry for a few minutes and serve with vegetables on top.
The hot stone bowl gives the bottom layer of rice a nice golden crust, and the rest of the food sizzles while being mixed.
Don’t have Dolsot, still, you can fry the rice. Fry the cooked rice in the pan and immediately transfer to the bowl and arrange the vegetables and top with gochujang sauce.
Other Bowl recipes
Buddha bowl in almond dressing
Mexican Tomato Rice Bowl
Mexican vegetarian bowl | Chipotle burrito bowl
Tofu chili bowl
Vegan Korean Bibimbap
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked rice
For tofu
- 14 oz firm tofu
- 1 tsp tamari or soy sauce
- 1 tbsp gochujang sauce
Vegetables
- 1 cup bean sprout
- 3/4 cup(each) carrot, radish cut julienned
- 1 each cucumber, Zucchini sliced round
- 3/4 cup fresh or frozen spinach
- 6 tbsp garlic chopped, split
- 6 tbsp sesame oil split
- salt to taste
Infusing sesame oil
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup oil any neutral
Gochujang sauce
- 1/4 cup gochujang
- 1 tsp tamari
- 2 tbsp sesame oil with seeds
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- salt to taste
Instructions
Infusing sesame oil (omit if you have sesame oil)
- Roast sesame seeds on high heat till it starts popping. Switch it off. Save some for garnishing.
- Pour any neutral oil and bring it to heat. Once you get smoke switch it off. Let it get infused for an hour. Save some for gochujang sauce and filter the rest and use for stir-frying vegetables.
Gochujang sauce
- To prepare gochujang sauce mix gochujang, sesame oil with seeds, tamari, sugar, and salt. Stir well and keep aside.
Marinating and frying tofu
- Using tofu press or any cloth pat dry the tofu. Cut into cubes. Add some soy sauce, gochujang sauce and let it sit for an hour.
- After you fry all the vegetables, stir fry the tofu in the pan.
For stir-fried vegetables
- On a heated pan add of a tbsp sesame oil(infused oil), one tbsp of chopped garlic, sprout beans, salt to taste. Stir-fry on high heat till it is cooked. Garnish with some roasted sesame seeds. Keep aside.
- Repeat for all other vegetables (radish, cucumber, zucchini, carrot, spinach). Make sure you wash the pan or rub clean with a paper towel. Keep all the vegetables separately.
Serving Bibimap
- If using dolsot, spread some sesame oil at the bottom layer and add the cooked rice. Bring to heat. Switch it off, immediately add all the vegetables on the top and pour some gochujang sauce on top. Serve hot with sizzling rice.
- If you don't have dolsot fry the cooked rice in sesame oil on the pan. Transfer to the bowl add all the vegetables and spread some sauce on top before serving.
1 thought on “Vegan Korean Bibimbap Bowl”