Bibimbap (Korean Mixed Rice Bowl)

Ingredients

• 14 ozcooked short-grain rice, hot
• 7 ozspinach
• 2carrots, cut into fine matchsticks
• 1courgette, cut into matchsticks
• 5 1/4 ozshiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 5 1/4 ozsoybean sprouts
• 2 tbspvegetable oil, a little at a time, for each vegetable
• 1 1/4 tbspsesame oil, a teaspoon per seasoned vegetable, the rest to serve
• 3 clovegarlic, minced
• 2 tbspsoy sauce
• 2eggs
• 3 tbspgochujang, Korean chilli paste, to serve
• 2 tsptoasted sesame seeds

Method

1. 1

   Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Blanch the spinach for 30 seconds, cool it under cold water, and squeeze it dry. Toss with a third of the garlic, a teaspoon of sesame oil and a pinch of salt. Set aside. Keep the water on the heat.

2. 2

   Cook the soybean sprouts in the same water, covered, for 6 minutes until tender but still snapping. Drain, cool, and dress with another third of the garlic, a teaspoon of sesame oil and a pinch of salt.

3. 3

   Heat a little vegetable oil in a frying pan over high heat and cook the carrots for 2 minutes, the courgette for 2 minutes, and the mushrooms for 3 minutes with the last of the garlic and the soy sauce, each on its own and each seasoned lightly. Keep the piles separate.

4. 4

   Fry the eggs in the same pan until the whites are set and the yolks are still liquid.

5. 5

   Divide the hot rice between two wide bowls. Arrange the vegetable piles around the edge in separate wedges, keeping the colours apart, and slide an egg into the centre.

6. 6

   Add a spoonful of gochujang and a drizzle of the remaining sesame oil to each bowl, scatter with sesame seeds, and take it to the table. Stir everything together hard before the first bite.