Saturday, February 19, 2011

"Bi-bim-bob; Would you recommend vegetarian dol-sot bi-bim-bop?"

Thank you for the question!
Yes! Yes! Yes! & Yes! By all means, the original farmers rice versions of Bi-bim-bob were almost always vegetarian, using such toppings as farmed vegetables & wild vegetables in season, wild & cultivated mushrooms, seaweed, various dried vegetables (re-hydrated, cooked & seasoned). These delectable & flavorful vegetables were then mixed in a big Yang-poon with Go-choo Jang sauce (cayenne pepper paste) & spoonfuls of rustic home made Doenjang Tsi-gae(soybean paste soup) for added flavor & ease of mixing. Traditionally in farming families, male members were generally served first & separately in individual serving dishes, in descending chronological order(Grandfather, then, father, eldest son, other sons). Then, female members would sit around the big Yang-poon & eat together directly out of the Yang-poon.
In early spring, the vegetarian version farmers rice would include newly sprouting wild vegetables such as wild ferns, various wild aster plants, angelica tree shoots, green brier shoots, burning bush shoots, and wild gooseberry shoots, day lily shoots, just to name a few. This used to supply much needed vitamins after long winter months & sustain people until new cultivated produce comes in season in warmer months.
Dried wild vegetables were also  recurrent ingredients in Bi-bim-bob. Wild vegetables are harvested early spring in the ubiquitous mountains of Korea. They were, then, cleaned, steamed, and sun & wind dried out in the open. They are bunched up in small buns & tightly bound in large fistfuls. They store these dried vegetable balls in a cool well-aerated place. They can keep in this form for many months even for years. This type of dried vegetables are also main ingredients in more specialized austere vegetarian cookery of Buddhist temples. Buddhist cooking prohibits all meats or fish. It also avoids strong spices such as garlic & cayenne pepper. Their vegetarian Bi-bim-bobs are milder, delicate, but still full of flavors. Seasonings are usually restricted to salt, soy sauce, miso, toasted sesame seeds or oil, toasted parilla seeds or oil, other vegetable oils, pine nuts, other nuts, and honey when sweetness is necessary.

1 comment:

  1. I just had bi bim bap in Beijing. It was definitely different. The rice was very dry compared to the rice that I have had in bi bim bap in South Korea and the United States. This makes me wonder: do South Koreans in general prefer rice that has more moisture than Chinese in general? I did have congree for breakfast here in Beijing. Obviously it was very moist rice. But the rice that I had for the bi bim bap was very dry. Do people in South Korea like rice with less moisture? Do you recommend a pressure cooker for making rice? I have a "Cuckoo" rice pressure cook and like it very much. I'm also curious about whether South Koreans prefer white rice or brown rice.

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