Korean Restaurant: Bibimbob
Bibimbap Mixes a Bit of Many Delicious Flavors
A dish of stone pot Bibimbap at Chonju has long been associated with a variety of dishes as the regions fertile soil produces healthy crops of oak mushrooms, mung-bean sprouts, sweet potato sprouts, green squash slices and other wild vegetables.
Among various menus, Bibimbap would be one of the most representative dishes in Chonju. The dish is a mixture of rice and various fresh and pickled vegetables.
As Bibim means mixing and bap means rice in Korean, there are numerous styles of Bibimbap depending on what kinds of ingredients you put in your bowl.
It is said that there are three origins of Bibimbap in Korean culture. It was served for royal families, enjoyed by farmers and offered during the ritual for dead ancestors.
As the mixture of various vegetables with rice is healthy, the dish was offered on the table of the royal courts. For farmers, the dish was quick and easy to prepare as all you need to do is just put various ingredients in a big bowl. And in an ancestral ritual called chaesa, many side dishes must be prepared, so in order to avoid waste, families usually made Bibimbap by mixing all of the dishes together.
Many restaurants throughout the nation now serve various kinds of Bibimbap, which are somehow different from each other depending on their ingredients.
But what makes Chonju Bibimbap so special is its bean sprouts and kochujang, or hot pepper paste, two of the most critical ingredients in Bibimbap. These two vital ingredients maintain their top quality thanks to the regions clean environment.
A small variety of dishes are available at the restaurant, however most customers come for the Bibimbap. The restaurants famous Bibimbap recipe has been handed down for generations.
The rice is cooked with soy bean sprouts and beef stock to give it extra flavor. Walnuts, pine nuts, jujube, chestnuts, and ginkgo nuts add a unique taste, as well.
All entrees come with six side dishes, which servers continuously refill without having to be asked.