Bibimbap

For the Beef

1 lb beef, thinly sliced — ribeye or sirloin, bulgogi-style

2 T soy sauce

1 T sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp sugar

For the Vegetables

2 cups spinach

1 cup bean sprouts

1 zucchini, julienned

2 carrots, julienned

4 shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, and salt for seasoning

Vegetable oil for sautéing

For the Bowl

4 cups cooked short-grain rice, warm

4 eggs

Gochujang for serving

Sesame seeds

Preparation

Bibimbap is a project. Each component is cooked separately, which takes time, but none of it is difficult. You can prep the vegetables a day ahead and pull this together quickly on a weeknight.

Marinate the beef in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and sugar for at least 30 minutes. Longer is better.

Work through the vegetables one at a time. Blanch spinach briefly in boiling salted water, then transfer to cold water, squeeze out every drop of moisture, and season with sesame oil, a little garlic, and salt. Do the same with bean sprouts — blanch, drain, season. Sauté zucchini, carrots, and mushrooms each separately in a hot pan with a little vegetable oil. Season each one simply: a pinch of salt, a drizzle of sesame oil. Keep them in separate piles. The visual is part of the dish.

Cook the beef in a very hot skillet until browned and cooked through. It should sizzle hard when it hits the pan.

Fry the eggs sunny-side up in a little oil. You want the whites fully set and the yolk still runny — that yolk is part of the sauce when you mix the bowl.

Divide warm rice among four bowls. Arrange the vegetables and beef in neat sections around the bowl, each in its own little territory. Place the fried egg in the center. Add a spoonful of gochujang and a scatter of sesame seeds.

Then wreck it. Mix everything together thoroughly before eating — rice, vegetables, beef, yolk, gochujang, all of it. That's the whole point.