Spankin' Good Food: Bi Bim Bap

Lately, I've been craving certain dishes. So we eat out for those things that seems like too much work for me to cook...and almost always I am never satisfied with the food that restaurants serve. I don't know why this is? But it makes me sad and folorn when I eat bad food.

Taco Bell is not what it used to be and that is one of my greatest disappointments in life.

So I have resorted to cooking more at home. I have been wanting to eat Bi Bim Bap since yesterday and decided that I would make it at home EXACTLY the way I want it. You can buy all the ingredients pre-made, and for a second I was tempted to buy the premade bi bim bap packs, but it seems a little ridiculous to spend $20 on vegetables that I can prepare for a quarter of the cost.So I went to the Korean Market and bought all the ingredients and came home and started prepping.

And it took forever.

There was the spinach (which you have to pick clean, wash thoroughly, blanch and then season).
The beansprouts (which again requires picking the stems, washing thoroughly, blanch and season).
The carrots (which you have to wash, peel, and shred, then saute and season).
The radish (which you have to wash, peel, shred and season).
The chi na mul - english name unknown (which requires thorough cleaning, seasoning and long saute process).
The do ra jee - again english name unknown (which requires soaking, draining, splitting into bite size pieces, seasoning and sauteing).
The cucumbers (which you have to wash, slice and season).
The mushrooms (which you have to wash, slice, saute and season).
The meat (which you have to cut, marinade 'which requires work itself' and then cook).
And of course...the fried egg to top it all.

Don't forget the ko chu jang sauce, that needs to be made as well. And then, you always have to have soup with bi bim bap. So I made mi yuk guk as well, which isn't so much work, but, still...I do have a full time job, you know. AND I'm pregnant, so my fat belly keeps getting in the way making life that much more difficult.

It took me almost an hour and half to prep (some of the stuff I did ahead of time like marinating the meat and do ra jee). Korean food is always such a pain to cook. SUCH A PAIN. But it's sooo good...one of life's cruel ironies. It wouldn't be so bad if we ate Korean more regularly throughout the week, because then I could make all the ban chans in larger quantities. But, alas, I'm not a big fan of leftovers and neither is David and eating the same food two days in a row just does not whet the appetite.

Oh but it was SPANKIN' DELICIOUS.