Korean Rice Bowl with Tempeh (Dolsot Bibimbap) (Recipe #138)

The recipe for Korean rice bowl with tempeh was a great recipe. There were a variety of layers and flavors throughout the rice bowl. I liked how there were a few different vegetables used and pickles on top.

This bowl had 4 parts--the pickles, the rice, vegetables/tempeh, and the bibimbap. The pickles called for vinegar, sugar, salt, cucumber, and bean sprouts. I decided to omit the bean sprouts for this recipe because I noticed that Jacob and I do not love them. I did follow the directions for the cucumbers. The rice was just rice, water, and salt. I cooked the rice per my package directions. It took a bit of time to prepare the vegetables, but I do suggest setting up your mise en place before you start cooking because everything goes quickly once you start cooking. I prepared the tempeh, carrots, mushrooms, and spinach. I also prepared a sauce which goes over all of the vegetables when they cook. The sauce consisted of soy sauce, salt, pepper, water, scallions, garlic, and sugar.

Lastly, I prepared the bibimbap portion of the bowl. This part instructed that you heat up oil and sesame oil in a dutch oven. Once the oil was warm, I put the rice in the pan and flattened it to an even layer. The point of this process is to create a crust that forms on the bottom of the rice. I layered the vegetables on top and let it finish cooking. I pulled the dutch oven off the heat and stirred it all together. I brought it to the table with the pickles and chile sauce on the side.

This bowl was a lot of work, but it was also delicious. I loved the flavor from the pickles and the chile sauce. The cool pickles contrasted with the warm dish and that made them a welcome addition. I also love the perfect amount of heat with the chile sauce. I think this was a great dish and I would make it again!

Taste: 9/10

Level of difficulty: 1/5--a bit time consuming

Notes for next time: This was great! I would love to try with different vegetables.