Mushroom Bim Bim Bap

Monday, February 01, 2016
Last week I felt my FOMO going into overload, decided to do something about it and ventured into the world of trying to create video content. I could have used a few more hands but I was pretty proud of the outcome.

I chose to cook something simple and something that only required a stove top, so that I had minimal camera movement but it actually turned out to be a pretty perfect recipe for someone who would prefer to stick to their stove top and have a delicious, impressive meal with barely any work and barely any need for their hands (I know this because my hands needed to remain on my rickety camera tripod I rustled up from under my bed to avoid a Canon 70D covered in Bim Bim Bap ingredients).

So, despite this recipe just being part of an experiment, I think it's actually worth sharing because after all the hard work, I sat down and actually really enjoyed the contents of the video.

I'm very loosely claiming this is a 'Bim Bim Bap' so as not to offend any Korean food connoisseurs but I needed a name for a bowl of rice, covered with crispy mushrooms and topped with a fried egg, and I felt like the Korean's had done it best and given it a cool sounding name.

Check it out and try it out!

Here's the full recipe:

Mushroom Bim Bim Bap


Serves 4
YOU WILL NEED: 
250G SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS, SLICED
2 CUPS BASMATI RICE
1 CLOVE GARLIC, FINELY CHOPPED
1 WHITE ONION, FINELY CHOPPED
1 TBSP MIRIN
1 TSP SESAME OIL
2 TBSP VEGETABLE STOCK POWDER/CUBE
2 TBSP RICE VINEGAR
1 TBSP BUTTER
1 LIME, QUARTERED
1 SPRING ONION, FINELY CHOPPED
1 TSP SESAME SEEDS
1 TSP OLIVE OIL
CHILI FLAKES
SALT AND PEPPER
4 ORGANIC EGGS

 Rinse and soak the rice for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, sauté the garlic and onions until they're soft, translucent and starting to become slightly golden. Add just a handful of the sliced mushrooms to the garlic and onion mixture and stir for 2 minutes.

Add the rinsed rice to the garlic, onion and mushroom mixture and stir until the onions, garlic and mushrooms are thoroughly dispersed through out the uncooked rice.

Add the mirin, sesame oil and stock powder/(crumbled) stock cube and mix through the uncooked rice again.

Add two and a quarter cups of cold water, stir and bring to the boil. Once it's simmering, cover with a tight lid or cover with foil followed by the lid. Turn down the heat to as low as possible. Remove from stove after half an hour but leave covered 40 minutes).

While the rice is cooking, cook the rest of the mushrooms. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and add the sliced mushrooms. Do not stir as this will make them watery. Leave them to crisp up on one side and then turn them over to do the same on the other. Once they're all golden and crisp, add the butter and the rice vinegar, stir until the butter has melted and the vinegar/liquid has evaporated. Remove mushrooms from heat and set aside. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

To fry your eggs, heat a little olive oil in the same pan you used to cook the mushrooms, add the eggs and cook until the white is crispy. (Feel free to flip them over if you're not into a runny yolk).

Brush a fork through the rice to make sure it's cooked and then spoon a generous serving of it onto your choice of bowl. Spoon some of the crispy mushrooms on to the rice and then top with a fried egg, a sprinkle of sesame seeds, spring onion and chill flakes to spice things up a little.

Squeeze a little lime over the whole dish and enjoy!