Purple Rice Bulgogi Bibimbap
This purple rice bulgogi bibimbap is a simplified bibimbap with 1 meat (supermarket marinated bulgogi beef), 3 vegetables, kimchi and a sunny side-up egg. It certainly satisfied my craving for bibimbap without spending too much time in the kitchen. Despite its limited toppings, it is colourful as a bibimbap should be with an additional purple accent thanks to the Korean purple rice :) I’m very addicted to my purple rice, K dramas and Korean food these days.
Related Recipes:
- Korean Purple Rice
- Purple Rice Bulgogi Bowl
- Bibimbap (Korean Mixed Rice)
- Korean Spinach Salad (Sigeumchi Namul)
Purple Rice Substitutes:
See Also:
STEP-BY-STEP (Purple Rice Bulgogi Bibimbap)
Here are the main steps for making the various components of my bibimbap bowl.
- (1) and (2): I bought supermarket bulgogi beef from Don Don Donki as a convenient and tasty short-cut. Just stir-fry the marinated beef in the pan with some oil.
- (3) Cook purple rice using this recipe.
- (4) Make spinach namul banchan using this recipe. You can prepare this the night before and keep it chilled in the fridge.
- (5) Make 2 simple banchan with cucumber and carrot. Cut cucumber to half circles and carrot to matchsticks. Place them in separate plates and coat the contents of each plate evenly with salt (pictured above). After half an hour, squeeze out the excess liquids and fry them separately in the pan. Also make 3 sunny-side up eggs.
- (6) Make bibimbap sauce using this recipe.
The last step is the fun part where you assemble everything together. I added kimchi, lettuce and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. To eat, pour the bibimbap sauce over the contents, mix well and enjoy this simplified but flavourful bibimbap.
Purple Rice Bulgogi Bibimbap Recipe
You can make this recipe with any type of cooked rice, though serving it with purple rice gives it a beautifully luxurious presentation. Besides purple rice, you can also try Korean or Japanese multigrain rice.
As a short-cut, this recipe uses supermarket marinated bulgogi beef (from Don Don Donki). If you wish to make the bulgogi beef from scratch, check out this recipe.
Check out the ingredients and step-by-step photos on the previous page.
Ingredients:
Purple Rice
- 3/4 cup (150g) short-grain white rice
- 1/2 level tsp glutinous short-grain black rice
- 1 1/2 cup water
Bulgogi Beef
- 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
- 200g supermarket marinated bulgogi beef (chicken or pork)
Spinach Namul Banchan
- 250 grams spinach washed
- 1 tbsp chopped spring onions (or a sprinkle of onion powder)
- 1/8 tsp garlic salt to taste ( or 1 clove minced garlic and a pinch of salt, to taste)
- 1/2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
Cucumber and Carrot Banchan
- one small peeled carrot cut to matchsticks
- one small Japanese cucumber cut to half circle
- 1/2 tsp + 1 tsp salt divided
- 1 tsp + 1 tsp cooking oil divided
Bibimbap Sauce
- 2 level tbsp gochujang (chilli pepper paste)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp apple cider or clear vinegar
- 1 garlic clove grated (may substitute with 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
More Sides
- 3 sunny side-up eggs see note
- 3 small portions of kimchi
Directions:
- Make purple rice in the rice cooker. Add washed white and black rice in the rice cooker inner pot with 1 1/2 cup water. Set rice cooker to ‘COOK’. When done, fluff up the purple rice with a rice paddle. Check out the detailed recipe with step-by-step photos here.
- Cook bulgogi beef. Add 1/2 tbsp oil to the same pan. Cook bulgogi beef and stir fry briskly until the beef is cooked.
- Make spinach namul banchan. Add spinach to a pot of boiling water and cook for 30-45 seconds. Rinse blanched spinach under running water and trim the ends. Squeeze out the excess liquids from the spinach and cut it into 4 to 6 parts. Season the cut spinach with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Check out the detailed recipe with step-by-step photos here.
- Make cucumber and carrot banchan. Place cut carrot and cucumber in separate plates with 1/2 tsp salt each, coating the contents evenly in the salt. Let them sit for half hour and then squeeze out the excess water. Pan fry the cucumber and carrot separately in 1 tsp oil each until they are just softened.
- Make bibimbap sauce. Whisk the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Divide into 3 portions and set aside.
- Assemble the rice bowl. In each serving plate, add purple rice, bulgogi beef, seasoned spinach, cucumber, carrots, kimchi and bibimbap sauce. Garnish with sesame seeds and a sunny side-up egg on the side.
Cooking Note
- How to make sunny side-up eggs: Grease a large pan with sesame oil. Gently crack the eggs into the pan. Cook on low heat until the egg white is set and the yolk is still a little runny. Set aside the fried eggs on a plate.
- I’m using less bibimbap sauce as I would the usual full-course bibimbap as the marinated bulgogi beef is very savoury on its own.