#bipimbap

Bipimbap preparation (perfect ingredients)

I know most of you know me, but for those that don’t let me welcome you here to my home on the internet, I’m a crazy and I have a doctors note! (I’m not a danger to myself or others so don’t worry, unless you are a snowflake or a vegan, then you should probably avoid me, and my site).

Anyway… If you’ve never heard of bibimbap, it’s a Korean rice bowl…

Another weekend and another instance where I don’t know what I want to eat. Cue Reel Kitchen. Trying to mix things up a bit, I went for the mushroom bipimbap at the korean stall this time. It comes with meat but I substituted for more veggies in my current attempt to eat healthier (attempt being the key word…).

I’ve become a bit of a bipimbap connoisseur these days. I don’t know what it is about rice in a stone pot, but I never get sick of it, at least yet. Let’s be serious though, my favorite part of bipimbap: the burnt rice on the bottom. YUM. I specifically ask them to leave my stone pot on the fire for longer so the rice gets extra crispy and delicious. I don’t think I ever met a bipimbap that I didn’t like. People really need to eat more korean food because it is straight up delicious! If only they could figure out a way to deliver bipimbap to me…

Fast, easy and affordable Korean food, yes please. This place is on the top floor of Plaza 66 on Nanjing Xi Lu and extremely popular with the lunch crowd. We arrived on a Sunday evening to a pretty full restaurant (especially when compared to the completely empty competitors on the same floor).

Menu is limited but full of solid choices. Pictured above is zhajiang mian. This noodle dish is extremely popular in Beijing and comes with a pork sauce and shredded vegetables such as cucumber and carrots. Not sure if it’s Korean or Chinese, but it’s tasty so who cares.

Standout of the meal were the steamed tofu dumplings. No idea if this is even Korean either but boy were they yummy. The skin was incredibly soft and the tofu fillings were delicious! I’m so glad we decided to order these despite their very “non-Korean” description.

They have traditional Korean soups with kimchi and tofu. Comes out steaming hot!

Last but not least, I ordered the bulgogi bipimbap. If you weren’t aware already, I love bipimbap. Like LOVE bimimbap. I can never say no to bipimbap. Fact. Anyways, this one sadly came without any veggies, which I love in my bipimbaps but the flavor was there and the meat was extremely tender (I always ask them to keep my bipimbap on the fire for longer so I get extra delicious rice crispies on the bottom, clearly the best part of the dish). Prices are reasonable from 30-50 rmb, especially when neighboring restaurants in Plaza 66 are very high-end.