Koreans mix bibimbap quite seriously
Nice to meet you.
I'm Kim, and I've been living in Japan for four years and working for less than a year, but I recently ranked first in an internal company survey for "the Korean person you'd most like to eat with."
Did you know that Koreans often talk about food both when they meet and when they part?
When meeting:
"Have you eaten?"
When parting:
"Let's go get something to eat sometime."
Like this, "eating together" is deeply rooted as a culture in Korea.
Perhaps because I am Korean, even after becoming a company employee in Japan, I often tell my colleagues, "Let's go eat together."
I actually go quite often, so before I knew it, I started being treated like someone with great communication skills.
When I'm eating, there's a question I'm often asked.
"How close is this Korean restaurant to the authentic taste?"
So, rather than explaining it, I thought I would introduce some Korean dishes that can be easily made with ingredients available in Japan.
This time, I'll introduce "soybean sprout namul" and the "bibimbap" that uses it.
Bibimbap is one of the representative dishes of Korean home cooking, and stone-pot bibimbap is quite popular in Japan as well, isn't it?
Personally, I feel that the "Korean taste" lies in these ordinary side dishes rather than in flashy spiciness.
Among them, one of the very important elements in bibimbap is this soybean sprout namul.
In Japan, it's often made with regular bean sprouts, but the classic Korean way is definitely with soybean sprouts.
So, today I will introduce a recipe for soybean sprout namul that is quite easy to make.
Ingredients
* 400g soybean sprouts
* Minced garlic
* Salt seasoning
* Sesame oil
* Sugar
* Chopped green onions (optional)
How to make
First, bring about 1L of water to a good boil and add the well-washed soybean sprouts.
Once it boils again, boil for about 3 minutes.
Once boiled, cool in cold water and drain well.
Here is a little tip.
Don't throw away the boiling water; leave a few soybean sprouts in it and season with minced garlic, pepper, and salt seasoning (or fish sauce) to make a simple soybean sprout soup.
(It's quite good for a hangover day.)
From here, we will make the namul properly.
Add the following ingredients to the drained soybean sprouts and mix well.
* Minced garlic: 1/2 tablespoon (15ml)
* Salt seasoning: 1/2 tablespoon
* Sugar: 1/4 tablespoon
* Sesame oil: 1 tablespoon
Adding chopped green onions makes the aroma much better.
With this, for about 200 yen, you have both a side dish and soup finished.
And now, bibimbap.
I think the best part of bibimbap is that you can freely add whatever ingredients you have at home.
On this day, I added salad vegetables I had left over, canned tuna, and also stir-fried onions, mushrooms, and carrots.
And this is the most important part.
* Gochujang (to taste. By Korean standards, about 1 spoonful per person)
* Sesame oil (also to taste. Personally, I recommend about 0.5 to 1 spoonful)
Mix thoroughly until the color is uniform throughout, and it's done.
Looking around, there are surprisingly many people who just mix it lightly and finish, but in Korea, that would get you treated as "someone who doesn't know how to eat bibimbap."
It might look a bit rough, but personally, I think this kind of style is more like authentic Korean home cooking.
Why not enjoy some Korean home cooking with soybean sprout namul for dinner tonight?