BIBIMBAP

Bibimbap is a Korean dish consisting of rice with shredded vegetables (including bean sprouts and mushrooms), ground meat (usually beef), a dollop of chili sauce and an egg. Bibimbap is filling and inexpensive. Like most Korean meals it is served with side dishes including kimchi.

I prefer the type of bibimbap, which is served in a sizzling bowl. The egg is added raw on top, which the diner then stirs in to the other ingredients, thoroughly mixing them and evenly distributing the chili sauce. Bibimbap is usually served along with a bowl of seaweed soup. If the rice starts to burn in the bibimbap bowl, then a little soup can be added to keep the rice from drying out too much. Doing this produces a satisfying hissing sound as the soup connects with the bowl's hot sides.

Since bibimbap is a Korean word, there is no single correct way to write it in the English language. Based on how I first heard it spoken, I would have spelt it beebimbop. My Korean phrase book spells it pibimbap. I have seen signs on restaurants offering beebimbap. However of all those, a Google search for bibimbap produced by far the greatest number of hits, when I last checked.