KOREAN STYLE MIXED RICE BOWL with BEEF

There's quite a few of the Torello Farm team who are fans of the Korean dish, bibimbap. So we asked Fiona whether she could create a local version of the classic and we just love what she has come up with. A new family staple for sure!

serves 4

½ cup soy or tamari sauce

½ cup mirin

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

5 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, crushed with a mortar and pestle

450g beef mince 

4 cups hot steamed rice, to serve

vegetable oil, for frying

100g fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed

3 heirloom carrots, finely sliced into rounds using a mandolin

8 spring onions, roots trimmed, white stem cut into 12cm lengths (reserve green tops for another use)

1 bunch spinach, root and stems trimmed, leaves washed well 

4 eggs, fried

½ cup kimchi, to serve

Pickled daikon: 

½ daikon, washed, finely sliced into rounds using a mandolin.

½ teaspoon sea salt, 

⅓ cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons mirin

To pickle daikon, place daikon slices in a glass or ceramic bowl.  Sprinkle with salt and toss to coat.  Set aside for 15 minutes.  Pat dry with paper towel to remove any excess moisture.  Place the rice vinegar, mirin and daikon slices in a bowl and stir to combine.  Set aside in refrigerator while cooking vegetables and meat.

In a small bowl combine the soy, mirin, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and half of the sesame seeds.  

Place meat in a medium sized bowl and pour over third of the soy mixture. Using a fork stir to mix through the meat.  Set aside.

Divide hot rice between wide individual serving bowls and flatten the surface.  Each topping will be placed on top to resemble six cut wedges of a cake.

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan or wok over a high heat.  Add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute then add 2 tablespoon of soy mixture and cook for 45 seconds, stirring occasionally until tender.  Leave the frying pan over the heat.  Transfer and arrange a quarter of mushrooms over the rice in each bowl.

Add about 2 teaspoons of oil in the frying pan.  Add the carrots and 2 tablespoons of soy mixture, tossing for about 1 minute until just cooked. Leave the frying pan over the heat.  Transfer and arrange a quarter of the carrots in each bowl.

Add about a teaspoon of oil in the frying pan.  Add the spring onions and 2 tablespoons of soy mixture and toss for about 1 to 2 minutes until onions have softened. Leave the frying pan over the heat.  Transfer and arrange two spring onions in each bowl.

Add about a teaspoon of oil in the frying pan.  Add the spinach leaves and 2 tablespoons of soy mixture and toss for about 1 to 2 minutes until leaves have wilted. Leave the frying pan over the heat.  Transfer and arrange a quarter of the spinach in each bowl.

Add a tablespoon of oil and add half of the meat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring to break up any lumps forming, until meat is cooked through.  Leave the frying pan over the heat.  Transfer and arrange a quarter of the meat in each bowl.  Repeat cooking process with remaining meat and transfer to bowls.

Add 2 tablespoons of water to the pan and scrape up brown bits on base of pan.  Spoon the pan juices over the meat.

Drain the pickled daikon.  Arrange pickled daikon in each bowl.

Top each bowl with a fried egg and sprinkle over remaining crushed sesame seeds.  Serve immediately accompanied with kimchi to pass round.

Fiona Hammond © August 2018