The Korean staple bibimbap is often a quick lunch special at barbecue restaurants here in Japan, but it can take many forms. The name literally means “mixed rice” — the equivalent of Japanese maze-gohan and need not contain meat (though leaving the egg on top out of the equation is a sacrilege).
Like the humble onigiri (rice ball), there are common bibimbap toppings but no hard and fast rules, with much coming down to seasonality and personal preference. That goes for the rice, too — here, I use basmati making it even easier to mix.
Nearly three years ago, I shared a bibim mandu recipe. Meaning “mixed dumplings,” these are unfilled, fried wrappers used to make mixed salad rolls. For a substantial lunch, packing in some rice is perfect — and it need not be short grain Japonica. Long-grain basmati rice takes more water in the rice cooker, but its lack of stickiness can make for easier mixing.
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