What day is it? Do you ever have that feeling? I think it is a feeling I have often on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. And today would be Tuesday. I think.

I suggested making bibimbap to Dave while we were both still at work, and he thought it sounded like a good plan. I don’t think either of us thought about the fact that it does have quite a few steps involved, so it took us a while to make and get photographed, and I was also working on another recipe at the same time. It was quite the production, and it reminded me yet again how great it is to have Dave’s buyin on this project.

As I have often mentioned, this blog is not my “real job.” It is something I do because I love, and the little bit that comes in from the ads is nice. But I would be way less good of a blogger if Dave wasn’t helping me out and encouraging me. He is always in 100% when I want to try something crazy or labor intensive.

So with the two of us working as a team, we made this amazing dinner and then enjoyed it while watching some House of Cards – which, WHOA, by the way… We are 3 episodes in on Season 2 and trying to watch at a reasonable rate. So NO SPOILERS, please But I will say, re: the big surprise that came in episode 1 – I think it was a brilliant move. Totally unexpected and it allowed them to really broaden the scope of the show. And how often are you truly surprised in TV or movies anymore? Not that often. Good for them. More please.

Here’s what you need:
Olive oil or neutral oil
2-3 carrots, cut into matchsticks
1/2 lb. mushrooms
2 cups chopped spinach
1/4 lb. ground beef
1 Tbsp. seasame oil
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. sugar
2 cups cooked white rice
2 eggs
Fresh cilantro

Sauce for topping:
2 Tbsp. thai red chili paste
1 Tbsp. seasame oil
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

Heat 1-2 Tbsp. vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok. Traditionally, the components are fried separately and arranged in a pretty fashion. If you are short on time, I won’t tell anyone if you fry them all together

Saute the carrots first, stopping when they still have some bite to them. Remove to a plate or bowl and cook the mushrooms next. Once again, remove the cooked mushrooms and cook the spinach next.

When the spinach is done, remove and set aside as well. Stir together the 1 Tbsp. sesame oil, 1 Tbsp. soy sauce, garlic and 1 tsp. sugar. Crumble the ground beef into the pan and add the sesame/soy mixture. Cook until the meat is browned, then – you guessed it! Remove from the pan.

Finally, cook the eggs sunny-side-up or just fried and runny in the pan. You may wish to add a teensy bit more oil before doing so.

Arrange all the ingredients on top of the white rice in a bowl. Stir together all six sauce ingredients and spoon on top of mixture.

Traditionally, the entire bowl is stirred to mix together before eating.

Lightly adapted from mykoreankitchen.com