08.22.12

My kids recently gagged---yes, physically gagged---on homemade macaroni and cheese. Come on! Mac & Cheese? It's an American kid's staple food, right? Tonight I made a Korean dish called Bi Bim Bap. They licked their plates. Go figure.

Bi Bim Bap literally means "mixed rice". It's usually warm rice topped with some sort of meat (usually beef) and various vegetables and then topped with a fried egg and mixed together with some hot sauce. Tonight my husband and I had traditional Bi Bim Bap.

Looks good, huh? Rice, seasoned ground beef, wilted spinach, shredded carrots, julienned cucumbers and red bell peppers and sautéed shitake mushrooms.

My daughter doesn't like eggs, nor does she care for anything slimy (she'll eat raw spinach, but refuses cooked spinach.)

Hers consists of rice, seasoned ground beef, julienned cucumbers, shredded carrots and edamame.

My 4 1/2 year old son isn't quite as adventurous yet.

He had plain burger, rice, peppers and cucumbers.

No matter which version of Bi Bim Bap each family member had, this is what the plates looked like at the end of the meal.

Bi Bim Bap (serves 4)

3/4 cup soy sauce

6 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

4 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 pound ground turkey, beef, or pork

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 large eggs

2 cups cooked rice (Chinese takeout works well)

Assorted vegetables (shredded carrot, canned baby corn, spinach, bean sprouts, julienned cucumber…), steamed or raw

Hot sauce such as Srircha

Prepare your vegetables and set aside.

Mix together the first three ingredients; set aside.

In a pan, brown the meat in half the vegetable oil, about 5 minutes. Add half the soy-sauce mixture and continue cooking until the liquid is absorbed, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and cover.

In another pan, fry the eggs in the remaining vegetable oil, 4 to 5 minutes.

Divide the rice among 4 bowls. Arrange some vegetables and meat on top. Top each bowl with a fried egg. Drizzle hot sauce on top and mix together right before eating.