Bee-bim Bop!

Let me introduce you to one of Mr. 8’s favorite books in the whole world: Bee-bim Bop, by Linda Sue Park. We’ve had this book about making this traditional Korean dish since he was a baby and it’s a perennial favorite — the illustrations are adorable, the rhymes are catchy, and it’s a fantastic read-aloud.

We never got around to making the recipe in the back of the book for all these years, though. Mr. 8 really wanted to give it a try this week, so in the words of Linda Sue Park: “Hurry, Mama, hurry, gotta shop shop shop!” This week’s Sunday Scratchups (your weekly recipe from scratch around grocery sales and affordable ingredients) features Bee-bim Bop, from the book of the same name.

The beef will be the most expensive part of this recipe, but it only calls for one pound of tender lean beef (such as sirloin tip). I picked up a little over a pound of sirloin tip steak at $4.89/lb at my local produce market, but this might be a recipe where you’d watch for clearance beef and then construct the rest of the recipe around that.

This is not my recipe; it’s from Bee-bim Bop by Linda Sue Park! My only minor changes were to use baby carrots (all I had), halve the amount of bean sprouts (I was the only one who ate them anyway), and use jarred minced garlic instead of cloves. I also only made one cup rice (uncooked) instead of the two in the original recipe because low carb Mashup Dad won’t eat it and Junior High Guy only ever likes a little.

Bee-bim Bop

Ingredients

For the marinade

2 tsp minced garlic
2 green onions, chopped
5 Tbsp soy sauce (use a gluten free brand such as San-J to make this recipe gluten free)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1/8 tsp black pepper

Everything else

3-6 cups cooked rice (1-2 cups uncooked)
1 lb tender lean beef (such as sirloin tip)
2 carrots (I used the end of a bag of baby carrots)
1 lb fresh spinach
8 oz bean sprouts
4 eggs
salt
pepper
vegetable oil

Directions

Cook up your rice (I made mine in a rice cooker): One cup rice to two cups of water. While that’s going, mix all marinade ingredients in large bowl and slice beef against the grain into thin strips.

Ignore my messy counter, please!

Add beef to bowl with marinade, stir well, then squish it around with your hands for a couple of minutes. (It should go without saying, but: Wash hands well both before and after this step!) Mr. 8 did this part, and turned out to not be such a huge fan of getting his hands all into raw meat and oil, lol.

Set beef aside to marinate while you cook up the other ingredients. Crack four eggs into a bowl, beat well, then cook about 1/4 of your eggs at a time in a little vegetable oil. Use a small pan over medium heat  and shake the pan as you’re adding eggs so they spread out into a thin egg “pancake.” Cook about a minute, then flip and cook the other side for another minute. Stack your egg pancakes as they’re cooked, then slice into thin strips and set aside in in a separate bowl.

Peel carrots if using whole, then slice into small sticks. Stir fry in about 1 tsp vegetable oil over high heat until tender, then set aside in separate bowl.

Cook spinach for two minutes in a pot of boiling water. Drain, cool for a couple of minutes, then squeeze some of the water out. Stir fry your spinach in vegetable oil in large pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, then remove to a separate bowl, season with salt & pepper, stir, and set aside.

Add 1 cup water and 1/8 tsp salt to a pot. Bring to a boil, add bean sprouts, cover, and cook for two minutes. Drain sprouts, then set aside in separate bowl.

Heat your large frying pan over high heat for about 30 seconds, then dump your entire bowl of beef + marinade into the pan. Spread it out across the bottom of the pan, and stir fry for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Pour the resulting cooked meat and gravy into another bowl.

Put all your ingredients out on the table along with some hot sauce for topping and a homemade centerpiece. (This was awesome with chili garlic sauce!).

Add rice to your bowl, then proudly top with veggies, meat, egg, and chili garlic sauce (if desired). Mix it all up madly, then dig in!

This was really good

This was so good, and a fun recipe to make with kids! The meat was very tender and had a great flavor — you don’t need a lot of it to add the garlicky goodness to your meal, but be sure to add a little of the “gravy” along with before stirring up your Bee-bim Bop. Be forewarned, though: This recipe is somewhat time consuming if you have kids help 🙂 and creates a whole lot of dishes, lol.

Mr. 8 was so proud of himself, though, and after he ate a huge bowl of Bee-bim Bop he entertained everyone with a dramatic reading of the book. So all in all, awesome: And we’re definitely going to make this again! Good weekend recipe for some afternoon fun cooking with the kids. I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book, too: The recipe as printed breaks each step down nicely while suggesting which parts are good for kids, and the fun story completes the whole Bee-bim Bop experience.

Yum — such a pretty all-in-one meal, too!

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Bee-bim Bop!

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

The recipe from the book by Linda Sue Park -- So fun to make with kids!

Course dinner

Total Time 1 hour hour

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

For the marinade

• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 green onions chopped
• 5 Tbsp soy sauce use a gluten free brand such as San-J to make this recipe gluten free
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

Everything else

• 3-6 cups cooked rice 1-2 cups uncooked
• 1 lb tender lean beef such as sirloin tip
• 2 carrots I used the end of a bag of baby carrots
• 1 lb fresh spinach
• 8 oz bean sprouts
• 4 eggs
• salt
• pepper
• vegetable oil

Instructions

• Cook up your rice (I made mine in a rice cooker): One cup rice to two cups of water.
• While that's going, mix all marinade ingredients in large bowl and slice beef against the grain into thin strips.
• Add beef to bowl with marinade, stir well, then squish it around with your hands for a couple of minutes. (It should go without saying, but: Wash hands well both before and after this step!)
• Set beef aside to marinate while you cook up the other ingredients.
• Crack four eggs into a bowl, beat well, then cook about 1/4 of your eggs at a time in a little vegetable oil.
• Use a small pan over medium heat and shake the pan as you're adding eggs so they spread out into a thin egg "pancake."
• Cook about a minute, then flip and cook the other side for another minute.
• Stack your egg pancakes as they're cooked, then slice into thin strips and set aside in in a separate bowl.
• Peel carrots if using whole, then slice into small sticks.
• Stir fry in about 1 tsp vegetable oil over high heat until tender, then set aside in separate bowl.
• Cook spinach for two minutes in a pot of boiling water.
• Drain, cool for a couple of minutes, then squeeze some of the water out.
• Stir fry your spinach in vegetable oil in large pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, then remove to a separate bowl, season with salt & pepper, stir, and set aside.
• Add 1 cup water and 1/8 tsp salt to a pot.
• Bring to a boil, add bean sprouts, cover, and cook for two minutes.
• Drain sprouts, then set aside in separate bowl.
• Heat your large frying pan over high heat for about 30 seconds, then dump your entire bowl of beef + marinade into the pan.
• Spread it out across the bottom of the pan, and stir fry for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned.
• Pour the resulting cooked meat and gravy into another bowl.
• Put all your ingredients out on the table along with some hot sauce for topping and a homemade centerpiece. (This was awesome with chili garlic sauce!).
• Add rice to your bowl, then proudly top with veggies, meat, egg, and chili garlic sauce (if desired).
• Mix it all up madly, then dig in!