We had a bibimbap party this weekend! I don’t know whether it’s a function of living in frenetic New York, or having a lot of lawyer friends who are forever sucked back into the office on weekends or late nights, or even just being supposedly “grown-up,” but sometimes it’s startling how easy it is to blink and find that it’s been months since we’ve caught up with some of our friends. So, because the answer to everything is always food, B2 and I made it our goal every couple of months to shove all our random crap into closets, actually Swiffer the floors for once, and have people over for a low-key potluck. Earlier this summer we had a taco party where I made my first pico de gallo ever (I know, how) and Jessica‘s amazing Chipotle-style corn salsa, and overestimated the amount of meat people would eat by about 200% (I still have taco meat in the freezer). And this weekend we had a bibim-bar!
Bibimbap has always been my favorite thing to make for a bunch of reasons — it’s pretty much fail-proof, the gochujang sauce would make an old shoe taste delicious, all the components are mindlessly easy to put together. But this weekend I realized there are even more reasons that it’s fun and great for a crowd: it’s naturally gluten-free, vegetarian guests can leave out the bulgogi or you can panfry some tofu to provide a protein-rich alternative, and health-conscious friends can opt for quinoa or other heftier grains as an alternative to the rice. We didn’t have individual stone bowls for dolsot bibimbap, so to mimic the crackly sesame rice, I crisped up some rice in a cast-iron skillet, then we laid out beef bulgogi, dubu jorim, a truckload of veggies for everyone to choose from, and took a show of hands for how many sunny-side up and over-easy eggs to fry up right before people chowed down. A friend brought a nifty Korean-style quinoa salad with broccoli and kimchi to go with it; for dessert we devoured another friend’s maple pear upside-down cake that I’m still dreaming about. And I wore stretchy pants the whole time.
There’s actually a recipe on the blog already for bibimbap (the first one I ever posted!) but it’s just for two — this one is scaled up for 8-10 instead, with a few more options for mix-ins and a couple of notes on how we tweaked it to serve a crowd. Hope you’re having wonderful Wednesdays!
How to Put Together a Bibim-Bar!
Bibimbap is one of my favorite things to make, both at home and for friends, because it’s nearly fail-proof and tends to please almost everyone, as long as you like spicy food. It’s naturally gluten-free, vegetarian guests can skip the meat and still have a hearty meal (plus you can serve some tofu as a replacement — we did my favorite, dubu jorim), and you can opt to serve quinoa or another higher-protein grain for those folks looking for an alternative to rice. Its only downside (other than the fact that non-spicy friends might be out of luck) is that the ingredients take a little while to put together, but you can always ask friends to pitch in and bring one of the mix-ins.
- Yield: serves 8-10. 1x
Ingredients
- for the bulgogi:
- 1/2 cup diced pear or apple (about half of one fruit)
- 1/4 cup diced onion (about a quarter of an onion)
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 3 tbsp sugar (honey or agave syrup also work well)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 scallions, finely sliced
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 pinches of black pepper
- 1 lb thinly sliced sirloin or ribeye beef (ground beef, pork, chicken, or turkey all work well, too)
- for the bibimbap sauce:
- 1/2 cup gochujang
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce (or to taste)
- 1 1/2 tbsp sugar (or honey or agave syrup)
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tsp minced garlic (optional)
- 1–2 tsp water, to thin (optional)
- for the vegetables:
- 4 cups julienned carrots (about 4 medium carrots)
- 3 cups julienned zucchini
- 2 cups thinly sliced onion
- 2 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms (about 4–5 mushrooms)
- 2 cups pre-soaked fernbrake (gosari)
- 3 cups soybean sprouts
- 1 lb (about 10 cups, packed) fresh spinach
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tbsp minced garlic, divided
- about 1/4 cup sesame seeds, divided
- 2 tbsp sesame oil, divided
- 1–2 tsp soy sauce, divided
- for the rice:
- 8–10 cups cooked rice
- 1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)
- to serve:
- 8–10 eggs
- oil to fry
- seasoned, shredded seaweed
- kimchi, if desired
Instructions
- The night before or at least one hour ahead: Marinate the meat of your choice. You can choose higher-quality cuts of beef traditionally used for bulgogi, like sirloin or ribeye, or you can simply go with ground beef for a crowd — I like ground beef just as much a lot of the times, especially since it mixes nicely. Ground chicken, pork, or turkey will work well, too. For the marinade, combine pear (or apple), onion, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and garlic in a food processor and blend until smooth. Combine with scallions, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes, and black pepper in a large, sealable container and adjust seasonings to taste. Add the meat and massage the marinade thoroughly throughout. Seal the container and chill in the refrigerator overnight, or at least one hour.
- Make ahead or the day of: The bibimbap sauce is easy and can be made well-ahead, up to a few days in advance. Simply mix all the sauce ingredients together until well-combined, taste to adjust, and if you like, thin it with a bit of water to make it easier to mix.
- You can also cook the vegetables in advance, though I like to do it the day of — chopping and preparing them ahead of time may also save some time. For the carrots, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, and fernbrake, simply heat up a bit of oil in a skillet, then sauté the vegetables (separately, one type at a time) with salt and pepper until tender. Carrots will take about 3-4 minutes, zucchini 1-2 minutes, onions 5-7 minutes, mushrooms 5-7 minutes, and fernbrake 1-2 minutes (or you can buy it pre-cooked at your local Korean market). You can add a touch of soy sauce to the mushrooms and fernbrake, if you like. Sprinkle each cooked vegetable with 1-2 tsp sesame seeds.
- For the soybean sprouts and spinach, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the sprouts and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until softened. Remove the sprouts and rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking. Toss the sprouts with 2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp soy sauce, salt, pepper, and 2 tsp sesame seeds. Bring the water back to a boil and add the spinach. Cook the spinach briefly, just 30 seconds or less, until soft. Again, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking, then toss the spinach with 1 tbsp minced garlic, 2 tsp sesame seeds, 1 tsp soy sauce, salt, and pepper.
- The day of: To cook the bulgogi, simply heat a skillet over medium-high heat, add just a bit of oil (if you’re using non-stick, no oil is needed), and cook the meat in batches, taking care not to over-crowd the pan, until meat is cooked through. For me, this takes about 3-4 minutes per batch at most.
- Finally, just before the guests arrive, heat 1 tbsp sesame oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Add the rice to the skillet in an even layer. Let cook, without stirring, for 15 minutes, or until the bottom layer of rice forms a golden, crisp crust.
- The very last thing I like to do is fry the eggs, generally as people are arriving or are getting ready to eat. I find that people are pretty evenly divided between sunny-side up and over easy eggs for bibimbap, though almost everyone likes them a little bit runny inside. For sunny-side up, heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Crack the eggs gently into the skillet and let cook, without moving them, for about 1-2 minutes, or until whites are opaque. For over easy, gently flip the eggs after 1 minute of cooking (the whites can still be slightly translucent) and let cook for another 30 seconds to a minute.
- Serve the bar with rice first, followed by the proteins, vegetables, eggs, seasoned seaweed to top, and the gochujang sauce. I think wide, relatively shallow bowls with at least a gentle rim are best — deep, small bowls and flat plates tend to make things messy, at least for clumsy me. (These Verterra 8-inch plates and these Leafware ones worked great.) And enjoy!
Notes
The proportions for the vegetables above are a rough estimate — I found that carrots, bean sprouts, and spinach were more popular add-ins than zucchini, mushrooms, fernbrake, or onion, so I adjusted accordingly, but you might want to prepare extra just in case. We found that one pound of bulgogi meat and 12 ounces of tofu were almost exactly enough for ten of us.
If you find you have generous amounts of leftovers, the good news is that it all freezes well, so you can always pre-assemble any leftover bowls (minus the eggs) and freeze them for to-go lunches later on.
Finally, I don’t have one, but I imagine that a spiralizer would be really great for the carrots and zucchini, so that you don’t have to julienne them by hand!
Maureen Sutherland Weiser
OMG, this looks so amazing and so fun! We are having friends over this weekend and I had been trying to decide what to make and this deliciousness arrived in my inbox this morning! Fate!!
One question on the veggies–if they are sautéed up before guests arrive, how do you keep them warm? or is it ok to serve at room temp?
Thanks so much for your help, Cynthia!
Cheers,
Maureen
tworedbowls
Hi Maureen! I was kind of stuck on how to keep the vegetables warm, too! The way we got around it was serving up the rice while still hot, since the cast-iron skillet retains heat pretty well (and we also had extra rice kept warm in the rice cooker), and serving the eggs as soon as they were done, so that those two could warm up the room-temp vegetables and beef when mixed in. But we also used microwave-safe plates in case anyone wanted to pop theirs in the microwave. Another thing you could do is arrange the vegetables in oven-safe glass dishes (I think a 9×13 dish would be large enough for most of the vegetables here) and cover with foil, then place in the oven at 200 degrees until ready to serve.
Hope that helps and so excited you might try it this weekend!!! I’d love to hear how it goes if you do!
Warm Vanilla Sugar
Ohhhh man, bibimbap at home?!?! WOO HOO! It’s only something I’ve had out but this sounds incredible!! I wish I was in attendance! 🙂
Amanda | What's Cooking
Beautiful. That had to be an amazing party. Lol re hiding things on the closet and swiffing. We just did that last night. My bro is coming and we can’t have him reporting back to the family that we are as gross as we actually are. What a great idea for a party. Im sure everyone ate well. I love making shall the components of bibimbap. That pear cake looks so good too. Mark bitman doesn’t mess around. Enjoy your week.
Kristin | Tasty Joy
Stretchy pants…so funny 🙂 This looks so delightful and delicious. I love to see how the site has evolved from the first post. Just goes to show that however much one might change, the fundamental motivations never really do!
Erica
YES YES YES!!!! Oh my god this would make my mom excited, I LOVE all the bibimbap!! And you’ve got all the right things going on in that bowl, makes me swoon.
I haven’t had gochujang in such a long time, I need to go home and take some from my mom again, along with her kimchi and have her feed me bibimbap and kimbap while I’m there… seriously though Cynthia words cannot properly describe how much I love this post <3
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan
Well this is a brilliant idea! What a great concept for having people over and serving dinner to a crowd 🙂
Erika
Yes! The answer to everything IS food. This is such a great idea. I’m forever putting together a dinner party as that is probably the only time I would see my friends. It’s such wonderful feeling to watch people get together around food. It’s common ground no matter what your background is. I got off track. This looks amazing my dear, so delicious.
Erin@WellPlated
This is the coooooolest idea. So fun and creative!
Anonymous
Hi! My nam is Anh Landrot Just subribed to your blog today. You got such a great idea to make bibimbap party. One can pick veggie or meat as he/she likes. Your blog is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
Lily | Kale & Caramel
Pan fried crispy rice FTW! Was just waxing poetic about the best bibimbap in LA, but who knew you’d go and make my dreams come true at home?! Love this, Cynthia!
Tessa | Salted Plains
I know what you mean about time passing so quickly between gatherings with friends. Part of the grown-up thing I don’t like as much! 😉 This is such a fun idea. Beautiful, Cynthia!
Sydney | Modern Granola
This is so exciting! I’ve been meaning to make a pilgrimage to my favorite restaurant for bibimbap, but haven’t been able to get over there. It’s all about that crispy rice! And the sauces, the extra add-ins, the egg and seaweed…. okay all of it! I’m so pumped, because I’m totally making this!
xx Sydney
Sydney | Modern Granola
And I made it! Oh my goodness it was delicious! And my friends went wild for it, too! The rice got perfectly crispy and amazing, the bulgogi (I used chicken) was insane, everything from the veg to to gochujang sauce was incredible. Yum! Thanks for sharing this with the world!
Michelle @ Hummingbird High
Wow, you certainly know how to throw a party! I love it.
Sara @ Cake Over Steak
I’ve never had bibimbap, but this looks amazing! I like the idea of doing it for a party as a bibim-bar so people can do a “choose your own adventure” thing. Sounds like a lovely way to enjoy an evening with friends. 🙂
stephanie
ahh!!! BEST idea ever 🙂 i love diy bars and a bibim-bar? genius 🙂
i love the lil wooden plates too and how easy everything is to serve at room temp. that’s always my thing, how do you keep things hot? but bibimbap is excellent cause at room temp it’s just as good!
xoxo
Melli Gentsch
Hi Cynthia! I simply love your bibimbap! It was one of the first things I tried cooking when I found your blog recipe. And you know what is funny? Three weeks ago I invited a couple over (both also kind of expats) and made a Korean evening with bimbimbap and kimchi and…. Your lovely panna cotta with safran cardamom. All turned out amazing and we had a very fun night. Especially when you consider how nice it is to get something different for your palate as we live in Montevideo (I know… Where the f* is that? I neither had heard of it before we moved here for my fiancées job. Well it is the capital of the smallest country in Southamerica, next to Argentina- only 4 million residents).
Out of boredom I actually started a food blog as well some months ago, which makes me struggle sometimes but mostly is fun. Maybe you someday can find the time to have a look at it. It would mean the world to me if you could give me some recommendations, advises how to improve and what you think about it:
http://www.lenaymar.com
I know my first photos aren’t that great but I think I am already improving…
Love to hear from you!
Best
Melli
Ursula @ LilVienna.com
This looks amazing!! How long did the preparation take ;-)?
Erin @ Her Heartland Soul
I love the veggie version of bibimbap!
Her Heartland Soul
http://herheartlandsoul.com
Kathryn @ The Scratch Artist
Everything about this is so incredibly great!!!!!
Chelsea (@TheWholeBite)
This is amazing! I want to go to a bibimbap party! I also love the idea of making crispy rice in a cast iron skillet. That always looks so good but I never really thought how to make it at home. Genius! You’re friends are very lucky they have you organizing the parties 🙂
katie @ butterlust
That crisped-up rice!! WANT.
Courtney | fork to belly
Bi bim bap is one of my favorite food words to say. It’s so much fun!! And it tastes amazing too hehe. I was just thinking about throwing a little get together with friends soon, and this is totally inspiring me with some ideas 😀
Caitlin {doughing it right}
Killing me softly with this bibimbap…. This reminds me so much of home!! We actually have a bibimbap bar in Charlottesville, basically a Korean version of Chipotle (but called Zzaam)! Alas, it doesn’t compare to the home-made stuff.
Lindsey
this looks like such an awesome day! sunny eggs made to order!! you guys are too amazing and thoughtful! i’m quite sure your guests went home with happy bellies, big grins, and lots of gratitude! here’s to less frenetic energy and more parties! xo’s
Ellie@fitforthesoul
Hehehe bibimbar…sooo cute, Cynthia!!!! It’s truly a clever way of making “non-gourmet” Korean food all fancy and fun–although bibimbap is ALWAYS fun and delicious, though not exactly fancy like foie gras. I agree that cho-gochujang can make anything taste good, and one of my favorite ways of dipping in it is with saashimi and wasabi. This sounds like a great idea for one of our upcoming women’s group events at church so I’ll definitely suggest it to the other ladies. <3 Ps: lately I realize how much I've been lacking in pretty much–friendship–because I have selah, friends working crazy demanding ft jobs, and some of them just gave birth, lol. 😛
Beau Ciolino
Bibimbap is one of my favorite things to eat and to say. It’s such a fun word. Bimbimbap Bibimbap Bibimbap. I love it. Ah, and the crisped rice looks so damn good. I’m hardly awake as I type this and now I’m just really craving bibimbap for breakfast. Love this.
Franziska Glauser
Love these pictures, everything looks so tasty, colourful and delicious… What a treat!
Sending you my best regards from Switzerland, Franzi
Nicol
mmm it looks great 🙂
Gabriella
I love this idea so much! This potluck plan is a great way to bring everyone together. I’m definitely a hostess at heart and am actually looking forward to finally moving in with my long distance fella. In fact, we’re planning our first get together as homemade southern brunch! I can’t wait for an excuse to eat *all* the biscuits.
ps. everything on this table looks amazingly delicious.
Sini
Yay! This looks totally amazing – both for the guests and the host. What a great way to catch up with friends.
yossy
Ah! This looks so fun and tasty. Such a great idea for a party.
Rachel Heffington @ Lipstick & Gelato
This post is so exciting because I just went for the first time to a restaurant that serves what I blithely called “Bim-Bim-Bap” in the manner of Fred Flinstone. XD I would love to host a party like this. Thanks for the inspiration!
Tasting Everything
I absolutely need to remember to make this next time I have guests! I like that you separated the instructions out into when they need to be done. That will help a lot! Thanks for posting this!
Christina
After saving this idea for a long time, we finally had a bibim-bar party this weekend. Everything was SO good, even the plates you recommended were a hit. We used a vintage plug-in warming plate that we picked up from Goodwill to keep the veggies warm and it worked perfectly.
Thank you so much for the awesome party plan!
Linda Olle
Lovely introduction to the ultimate beautiful salad, Korean bibimbap.
★★★★★
sara
Hi! I found this post because I was specifically looking for a bibimbap bar. We are doing a fairly large family reunion (about 100 people) and I was thinking this would be a fund, easy do-ahead lunch. I always marinate my meats, so flavor is easy and cooking is usually fast and most veggies can be done ahead of time. What are your thoughts on this and what do you think would be required for such a large group?
Sorry for the specifics, any help is VERY appreciated.
Jenette Clay
Thanks for the recipe and all of the tips! I’m planning to make this at my family reunion! We each pick a night to cook and I’ve been looking for something fun and delicious to make for a crowd!
★★★★★