Living in LA means I’m a fork’s length away from amazing food at any given time, which means I’ve eaten a lot of Korean food. Korean food is amazing because it balances spice, texture, and exceedingly generous portions all at once. They also love popping an egg on top of anything (including soup!) which I 100% cosign. Bi-Bim Bap is a fantastic gateway Korean dish if you haven’t delved into this bulgogi flavored world before. It’s essentially rice cooked in a hot stone pot, filled with a bunch of garnishes, and usually topped with a raw egg and some chili sauce. For my slightly healthified version, I used brown rice and loaded up on the veggies and kimchi (Korean fermented cabbage). The trick here is to make sure your cast iron pan (I used this instead of a stone pot) is SUPER hot. Like, smoking. This is how you get the rice crispy on the outside and ensure that the egg is fully cooked as you’re stirring the whole thing together. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups brown rice, cooked

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup julienned cucumber

1/2 cup bean sprouts

1/2 cup julienned carrot

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1/4 cup kimchee

2 sheets nori, thinly sliced

1/2 cup spinach

1 egg (optional)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

INGREDIENTS (SPICY MISO SAUCE)

1 tablespoon yellow miso paste

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon chili paste (sambal oelek is best, use less if you don’t like it very spicy)

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon white sugar

DIRECTIONS

Combine the cooked rice and garlic, set aside. Combine the cucumber, bean sprouts, and carrot with the spicy miso sauce ingredients, set aside.

Heat up a cast iron pan over medium high heat until very hot, but not smoking. Add a tablespoon of coconut oil, then add the rice, marinated vegetables, nori, and spinach. Crack a raw egg on top, drizzle with chili sauce, and stir together until the egg is cooked and everything is combined.

Enjoy while hot!