Spicy, Crispy, and Crunchy Rice – What’s Not to Love About Bibimbap?

Tucked away on the side of a strip mall sits a Korean food lover’s dream. House of Tofu Soup is a casual, unassuming restaurant with a small menu of Korean comfort food. With options like fried dumplings, bibimbap, and tofu soup with seafood, it’s always hard to decide what to order. But for vegetarians or plant-based eaters, the one dish you won’t want to pass on is the Vegetarian Stone Bibimbob.

Bibimbob, also known as bibimbap, is a Korean rice dish often served in a hot stone bowl. Usually, it features mixed vegetables, ground beef, and a raw egg, all drizzled with a thick, spicy, and sweet sauce known as gojuchang. Made from red chili paste and fermented soybeans, this sauce adds a punch of flavour.

At House of Tofu Soup, I could hear the bibimbap coming my way before I saw it. The sound of the rice crackling in the stone bowl gave it away. This Korean dish was a colourful presentation of sautéed zucchini, bean sprouts, crunchy carrots, mushrooms, egg whites, spicy kimchi, daikon, and a glossy raw egg yolk sprinkled with sesame seeds. I’ve been trying to eat less meat, so I ordered mine without beef.

The most important step before eating any bibimbap is getting to all the crispy rice that’s stuck to sides of the bowl. Using my spoon, I began to scrape the rice from the bowl and mix it in with the other ingredients. Finally, I drizzled on some gochujang sauce before digging in.

The mushrooms and zucchini had the distinct flavor of sesame oil, while the daikon brought a refreshing crunch to the dish. I added extra gojuchang sauce, just enough to numb the edges of my tongue.

Each bite of the bibimbap was a little different. Some had crunchy and chewy rice with the sweet and spicy gochujang sauce. Others bites were mixed with vegetables, tangy kimchi, and egg.

The large portion left me feeling stuffed and ready for a nap, but not before scraping my bowl for the last few morsels of crispy, crunchy rice!