YMCA, Bimibap cooking class... (Saturday 8th of Nov 2014)

Dear Sal,

I love the food of Korea. From the delicious barbecued pork of galbi and the miracle hangover soup, haejangguk. To the sticky fried chicken that is a revelation in your mouth, even the rice. I have never eaten so much rice in my life and I love it. However, when it comes to saving money for my holiday I find myself cooking at home more and eating out less. Which means no Korean food because I don't know how to cook it. This needed to change.

Lucky for me the wonderful people over at the Daegu YMCA provide a Korean cooking class, that is completely free. The only downside is that the classes are very few and far between with limited spaces available. It's best to plan ahead and pick which ones you wish to attend and send off your form early. I missed one class already because I left it too long and I was determined not to miss another. This month, the class learned how to make the traditional Korean dish of bimibap and now I shall teach you. 

Tip One: Remember my advice about buying beef in Korea? Good, stick to it, because of this my home made bimibap will be vegetarian. 

Tip Two: We were not told to do this, because everyone in Korea has a rice cooker full of rice all the time, always, but you will need to cook some rice. Do that first and get it out of the way. 

Now we can begin...

Ingredients: Carrots, courgettes, mushrooms, radish or cabbage, bean sprouts, beef, (If your feeling fancy)eggs, rice, sesame seeds oil, sesame seeds, soy sauce, red pepper paste and salt, lots and lots of salt.

Step One: Cut the carrots, courgettes and the mushrooms very thinly, but not too thin! Just thin enough, I would say about half a Centimeter or so will do the trick. You will need to grate the radish. Once you have done all that, put them to the side for later.

Step Two: We didn't actually get to cook the beef ourselves. The woman showed us and spoke in rapid Korean as she did, so this part is a bit vague for me. Cook the beef for a few minutes in sesame seed oil, minced garlic, salt and add in some of that red pepper paste that they throw in everything over here. I think the recipe calls for a pinch of sugar, but that's up to you. They put it in everything over here.

Step Three: Next you need to mix the been spouts in a bowl with sesame seed oil, salt and more red pepper paste, which I would suggest you use at your own discretion. You need to do the same thing with the raw radish but also add a dash soy sauce.

Step Four:  You now need to lightly saute all the vegetables individually. This is extremely tedious to do, especially when you have a tiny kitchen with only a few pans to your name, but making it the traditional Korean way is essential. But If your being lazy you could throw it all in together. Make sure you use plenty of sesame seed oil and salt. Once they are cooked sprinkle them in actual sesame seeds. 

Step Five: Once that is done, place everything in an assemble line. Starting with the rice at the base in your bowl you then add each ingredient one by one in its own section of the bowl, so it looks a bit like a vegetable clock. Then once again cover it in sesame seeds and a dollop of red pepper sauce. And there you have it, your traditionally Korean bimibap is finished. 

Traditionally a bimibap comes in a hot stone bowl and just before being eaten you break a egg into it, using the bowl to cook the egg as you stir. Normally, however they just come with a fried egg lolloped on top. Feel free to cook your egg however you like, but I like my yoke to be a little bit runny.

Love, hugs and not enough salt!

Samuel James.

P.S) If you ever find yourself in Daegu and want to attend then you'll want to take exit 14, from Banwoldang Station, walk north, use your compass if your unsure. The YMCA will be on the 2nd floor of the first building on the left. Easy as pie.