Korean Dolsot Bibimbap: Tastier than the Sum of its Parts

If you’ve never tried dolsot bibimbap, you’ve been missing out on one of the tastiest dishes in Korean cuisine.  Heck… in any cuisine.  While it sounds pretty simple on paper (as you’ll see as you read on), in reality the combination of ingredients used to make this dish makes for something surprising, wonderful… and remarkably healthy.

So, what sets dolsot bibimbap apart from plain old Korean bibimbap?  Simply put, it’s the temperature. Regular bibimbap consists of warm or cold rice served up in a bowl and covered with assorted seasoned veggies (called namul), meat, a fried egg, and a wonderful chili sauce (called gochujang).  Dolsot bibimbap is just… well… hotter. Doesn’t sound like it would make a big difference, right?

But it does. Simply serving a bibimbap in a hot bowl (this is called a dolsot –hence the name) takes an already-wonderful Korean dish to a mind-boggling level of deliciousness.  The dolsot is heated approximately to the level of the molten lava, and the inside is covered with sesame or olive oil before the warmed rice is added.  The rice touching the bowl gets crisp and fried and, well… indescribably delicious.  This almost-burnt rice is called nurungi, and is so wonderful that they actually sell it on its own as a snack in Korean grocery stores.

Eating a Korean Dolsot Bibimbap

When you make a dolsot bibimbap (or order one at your favorite Korean restaurant), it comes out sizzling, smelling wonderful, and very pretty.  But it won’t stay pretty for long– because you’ve got to add plenty of gochujang chili sauce and mix it all up into a tasty homogenized mess before eating.  A raw egg is generally floating up on top of the rest of the ingredients, bright and gooey and a little strange-looking.  But don’t worry– the bazillion degree heat of the dolsot will cook the egg as you mix, making it creamy and delicious.

What’s in Your Dolsot Bibimbap?

While all dolsot bibimbaps are similar in concept, the ingredients can vary widely.  Like regular Korean bibimbap, this dish was originally considered a good way to use up leftover rice and vegetables.  So while you’re probably not using leftovers at home (or eating them in a Korean restaurant), almost any ingredient can be tossed into your dolsot bibimbap.  And it’ll all taste good– that much I can promise you.

Though you can toss just about anything into your bibimbap, some of the most popular Korean ingredients you’ll find in them are:

* Rice or a multi-grain rice mixture.
* Sesame or olive oil.
* Assorted raw, blanched, or cooked and seasoned veggies.  These include carrots, squash, soybean sprouts, red cabbage, mushrooms (generally shitaki), burdock root, fern stems (called gosari), and others.
* Fried ginkgo nuts.
* Meat (generally beef), or Korean bulgogi, a meat mix made with wine, garlic, onion, and pineapple, among other things — so delicious!
* Egg (generally raw, though it can be fried first).
* Toasted sesame seeds.
* Gochujang sauce (sometimes spelled Kochujang).  This sauce is both sweet and spicy, but generally not too spicy.  Use it generously.

You’ll find a wide combination of these and more ingredients in a dolsot bibimbap.  And even if the idea of eating that many vegetables doesn’t excite your inner glutton… don’t listen to him.  All veggies or no, dolsot bibimbap is a Korean delicacy you won’t want to miss out on.