Monday, November 03, 2008

Bibimbop

Meeehhhhhhh. Weh!

An ass-busting week in the field, an all-night Halloween bender followed by an all-day wicked hangover, then I started my woman times yesterday. I have not given less of a shit about blogging since I chopped off the tip my pinky last spring. I haven't blogged in more than a week, and no one has even noticed! Cue tiniest violin in the world playing my fucking song.


Needless to say, I need a little hug. Sure, the husband is good for a pitying hug when I give him that look (he has a special way that makes you feel comforted, but not patronized, even when you know you're being an unfuckable hag), but nothing can hug my insides like a bowl of bibimbop.

Bibimbop is the ultimate Korean comfort food - I surmise it's what Korean moms make their rainy-day kids instead of grilled chee and Campbell's tomato soup by the fire. A hot bowl of steamed rice top with bits and ends: leftover steak, thinly-sliced and dressed with black vinegar and sesame oil (throw some leftover eggplant in there too to soak up some beefy juice); some sautéed shiitakes (from my shiitake logs) marinated in mirin, sugar, thick soy sauce and black pepper; thinly-sliced cucumber quickled in rice vinegar, sugar, salt and black sesame seeds; some wilted bean sprouts hit with a splash of mirin and sake; yam boiled in soy sauce and sugar; and red bell pepper and onion browned with sesame oil, chile and garlic. I have some leftover gai lan with oyster sauce, throw that on there too. Oh, and you can't forget a spanky wad of kimchi. Top with an egg fried over easy (stir the raw yolk into the hot rice) and a blob of gochujang. Commence toe-curl.


Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Gossip Girl and Heroes to watch.


38 comments:

April was in CA now MA said...

Oh believe it...you were missed. I even had tuna melts with dill havarti tonight as a "that bitch better blog soon" rain-dance of sorts. Of course I mean bitch in the most endearing way possible. :o) I guess the smell of tuna wafting from CT worked!

The dill havarti was nom, nom, nom. My picky pants hubby declared it a winner and that's RARE in these parts.

Anonymous said...

Actually I noticed. I've been checking every day to see if you were back. But having done 24,24,24 before I can relate to the exhaustion culinary that follows. Your Bi Bim Bap looks good though:-)

Manggy said...

Oh, crap. Sorry to hear about the tip of your pinky. That's got to be a bit traumatic. I know I'd be reluctant to step in the kitchen for a while. Believe me, we noticed you were gone, and we're glad you're back, especially with this bibimbap (and just in time for the spiffy, relatively new camera too!). I'm not even gonna comment on the violin-playing, haha!

Peter G | Souvlaki For The Soul said...

Hey Heather...sorry to hear about your finger! And of course we give a crap about our favourite blogger! Don't be so hard on yourself! This is really a great mound of comfort food here.

Obviously you have the "hunger" like Sylar! (heroes reference)

Anonymous said...

Dear Heather!
Greetings!
Well, well, I didn't realize how popular Korean Food was over there!
It certainly is here in Japan!
Cheers,
Robert-Gilles

MrOrph said...

Sorry what? Pinky? Choppy? Are you serious? Damn!

This dish, looks interesting. Now, finding all of the ingredients or having the stars come together in alignment to have the right stuff at the right time...ugh. It looks really good tho!

Peter M said...

Grilled chee? It looks like more things than your pinkie are being chopped off!

Anytime I see Bimbimbop, I start singing The Ramones Blitzkerieg Bop...cute huh?

Cheer up, let's see that Halloween outfit and ditch the violins, life is good.

Anonymous said...

Heather sweetie, your first paragraph just summed up how I'm feeling exactly.

'cept I didn't chop off pinkie tip, but instead inserted a freshly sharpened knife into the joint of my index finger. Nice.

Hope you enjoyed Heroes :D TV and comfort food is the only way to go...

Anonymous said...

Bibimbop...that would be a good name for a blog. And then in a shy, slightly uncomfortable way, he said "I missed you".

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Comfort food is definitely the way to go. Now for me it would be a big plate of roesti. "Believe me when I tell you...i'll never do you no wrong"....sorry while I break out in song....we always notice if you're not there. I always drop by to see what you're up to but may not always leave a comment.

Alicia Foodycat said...

I just kept reading your last post over & over...

Bibimbop is fantastic - I haven't had it in ages! You are right, total comfort food.

Syd said...

I'll hug you. But you should know that I'm really just feeling your tits. :P

Lo said...

Mmm. Pull me up a bowl of that Bibimbop and I'll give you a big hug.

And heck -- I missed you. But, I figured you're entitled to a life every now and again. I had NO idea you were spending it wrecking your finger :)

For the record, my word verification is "ferfa"... which I think is really cute.

peter said...

I noticed, and rightly guessed at work/bender related blog negligence.

Did your husband get your hagness some Stella d'Oro breakfast treats to make you feel better? Or did the paper boy stop by?

Brittany said...

Oh, I noticed young lady. I most definantly noticed.

Glad to see you're back to make me hungry, even if it is in wounded form. And yes, pms and a hangover can be considered a wound....

Heather said...

April - Gald that worked for you! It might be the very best use of dill havarti.

Marc - I figured you'd understand the post-24 burnout. :)

MArk - Oh, it was last March that I nipped off my fingertip! I should've clarified that. I did it on a door, not with a knife.

Petah - You're so cute. And so is Sylar, yeah? Damn. I dunno if it's his tortured struggle against evil, or if it's just how dark he is, but meow.

Robert-Gilles - In Portland, most "sushi" restaurants are run by Koreans. If you ask nicely you can sometimes get them to make you some bibimbap.

Donald - Naw, I did it awhile ago. :P My shiitake log is producing so many mushrooms that I have to be creative.

Peter the Greek - I like to call it "chee". I like the Blitzkrieg Bop thing (it is cute).

Kittie - Yiiiikes, that sounds like it sucked. Last night I ran the back of my middle finger across the blade on accident, but no plunging this time. :\

Awwwbadeeba - I missed you too, ya big lug.

Valli - A big plate of starch always does it, non? ;)

Foodycat - I really wanted to say something, I just didn't feel like it. :\ I even photographed the meatloaf sandwich I ate out in the boondocks diner, but just never mustered the energy to blog about it.

Syd - Careful, I might feel ya back.

Lo - Ferfa is cute! I worked 50 hours in 4 days last week, so I just didn't feel like sitting in front of a keyboard.

Jube - Heh, ironically, the name of our band in Rock Band is "Baby's Cöffin."

Brittany - I can take the PMS, but I'm getting way too old for hangovers.

Anonymous said...

Yeah we a crap. Course we do. Thankfully your last post was so good, I could read it a few times over a day :)

This bibimbop looks great - I love the egg on top. fantastic finisher. I haven't seen this dish much before, so this is all new and great to me.

Sorry about your pinky. I almost consider that stuff a right of passage for cooking.. The amount of stiches I have had in my fingers now is just silly. I should be more careful!

Anyhow, a great dish (and blog post). Your blog is always a complete joy to read

Soukyan said...

Oh, I noticed. I thought my feed reader was broken. Slacker.

Sorry to hear you slashed a finger. I think they can grow those back nowadays. You should look into it.

As for the bibimbop, it looks like vomit. Deliciously edible vomit, of course. I haven't had lunch, and I wish I had the ingredients to whip up a batch.

Time to plan some Chinese and Korean meals for the next week so Ican have leftovers. :)

Ken Albala said...

I would give you some violin wails, but funny enough, a few years ago, after actually buying a violin, I accidentally cut the end of my left pinkie clear off. Went right into the chopped onions and somebody et it. And now there's no feeling on the tip whatsoever. Comes in useful playing the guitar, but I never did pick up the violin again.

Glad you're back

dz said...

oof. the thought of fingertip injury (be it paper cuts, nicks, smashing, hacking, etc) just gives me shivers and a queasy feeling. :(

and, don't feel bad! i've been an unfuckable hag the past few days. more accurately, just a crazy fuck. it's nice to get hugs anyway. thank god for dating/marrying tolerant people!

but as for the eats: i absolutely need to learn to make some kind of asian food. you've been making a pretty good case for korean.

Emily said...

Ohhh noooo! Feel better soon. I hate those Woman Times.

You were missed.

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

I've never heard of this. Now I won't be forgetting it. That is MY KIND OF FOOD. Methinks Koreans know what's good for them.

And the name. I mean, really. How could anyone resist something called bibimbop, FFS?

Núria said...

I've been missing you for more than a week girl! Blogging gets too hard sometimes and it sucks many life hours!

Could I ask you how you felt while taking that profile picture ;D?

I love Heroes and we are still waiting for the next "batch".

glamah16 said...

I so love Bibimbop! I have been lagging too. S*** happens. Plus all I could tghink about this week was the elections.

Upward Falling Autumn said...

Gossip Girl and comfort food is about the best dang thing ever! Throwing a fried egg on anything is like a blankie and a big fat couch when you feel like butt. Yum. Yum. Yum.

Anonymous said...

I mentioned the idea of eating such goodies atop a bowl of rice to my man recently (having no idea it was an actual dish) and he told me it was a load of rubbish. I bet when I tell him that it is really eaten by other people in other parts of the world and it wasn't just my idea he will totally go for it....

michael, claudia and sierra said...

you are so loved and adored and respected...
i can handle the occasional whine

i just don't do much asian
i am a little clueless
but this looks wonderful...

Heather said...

Matt - The egg on top really clenches it, I think. It's one of my favorite things to top many foods.

Ian - You so crazy! My vomit looks like calabacitas.

Ken - Mine's been sewed back on and healed months ago, but it's still all weird and ginger. The nail bed will never be as pretty again. :P

smörgåsbroad - Asian food is easy! You just need a well-stocked pantry.

Emmy - Dang ol' Wummin Times. I'm feeling better, though. :)

Sketti - Bibimbop! Or bibimbap. Or Bi Bim Bop. It's unforgettable.

Núria - I felt like a champignon champion. :P

Courtney - Obama is a perfectly acceptable distraction, isn't he? ;)

Autumn - I love the shit out of Gossip Girl. I wish I had just discovered it so I could crack out on a whole season at once. :P

Helen - Clearly, you are a beautiful genius and your husband is a good-for-nothing.

Claudia - You are so kind. :) You do enough French and Italian for both of us, so I can hold up things on the Asian tip.

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

I noticed, my dear. Sorry to hear about your pinkie.

Great bowl of bibimbop. I'm sending you all my bibimboppy wishes.

Anonymous said...

biznatch you were missed!!! i came here once a day to see the same post! here's your hug.

bi bim bop is one of my faves. absolute faves. i've been hesitant to attempt to make it at home until i can buy the clay bowls to crisp up the rice.

and, just to annoy you, this is technically dol sot bi bim bop (b/c of the fried egg - but you didn't have the stone bowl so maybe it's not?). either way, me wants.

The Short (dis)Order Cook said...

I care that you haven't blogged in a week, and I demand that be remedied! Pinky fingers are almost vestigial. ;-)

This looks like a really tasty combination of flavors and I totally love saying bibimbop! Say it with me - bibimbop!

I like how your mind works. If I were in the mood for comfort food, I dont think the first thing I would think of would be a foreign dish with a weird name.

Maggie said...

looks perfect. though at home I doubt I could get the crispy bits of rice that are my favorite part...

Do you have a brand of mirin you recommend? I don't have any in my pantry, currently.

we finally discovered the joys of a tiny korean place downstairs from our apartment when it promptly closed for renovation...sad.

Brooke said...

I've never heard of it, but that stuff sounds like it could cure anything...even the wickedest of hangovers.

p.s. field work sucks this time of year.

Heather said...

JS - Thanks! My pinky is all better now. Except for that nasty hangnail.

Amy - I do not have the stone bowl. Every time I've ordered bibimbop it's come this way, but maybe the places I went were just lazy.

Rachel - As long as it's starch, grease and sauce in a bowl, it's comfort food to me.

Maggie - Hopefully it'll open better than ever and you will be the luckiest girl in the world.

Brooke - Boy, howdy! I just got back last night from another round. We got snowed out of one place. I think I'm done for awhile.

Amber said...

I have never heard someone say 'they started their woman times'. That is hilarious and forgive me but I am going to use it to the fullest. For me it requires a two scoop banana royal sundae from Baskin Robbins with mint chocolate chip and hot fudge. Works every time. I have a theory that women do not kill their husbands as often as husbands kill because we eat chocolate. If you ever do decide to kill him never use poison, they always know it is the wife when it is poison. We may not kill often, but we make it long, slow and torturous when we do.
Bibimbop sounds really interesting with a lot of flavors. I just keep thinking of the Hanson Brothers song...Mmm Bop.
Thanks for your visit and I am so at peace in my soul every time I meet someone who sees the hope. Be blessed.

Anonymous said...

You give me the creeps with your pinky stories..
Me love Bibimbap, Gochuchang and Korean ladies.. and by the way Korean Airline serves Bibimbap on their flights. Believe it or not, it's pretty damn good.

Anonymous said...

I shouldn't be cracking up but I can't help it..
Damn it I missed Heroes again.

Anonymous said...

I lived in Japan, and then found out that about half of my favorite foods were Korean. Go figure! I'm all about the Bibimbop, but also LOVE Kimchee Chige. Mmmm.... Thanks for the luscious pics. :)