Rice with Korean BBQ

RECIPE, SERVES 4-6

NOTE: This is my simplified, home-cooked version of the dish from Seoul Brothers. Their version is more elaborate and uses fewer prepared ingredients.

• 2 cups (400g) short grain rice
• 4 eggs
• 1 lb (454g) beef for slicing (I used top round)
• 1 lb (454g) mushrooms (triple this if you're skipping the beef)
• 1/2 lb (227g) mung bean sprouts
• 1/2 lb (227g) or so kimchi
• 1 large cucumber
• 1 bottle bulgogi-style Korean BBQ sauce/marinade
• 1 jalapeño pepper (or other mild green chili)
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 3-4 limes
• gochujang (Korean fermented chili paste)
• ketchup
• soy sauce
• vinegar
• oil
• sugar
• salt
• chili powder
• sesame seeds

1. Do the following a day or two before you want to eat, or at least a few hours before:
2. Slice the beef very thinly against the grain. Transfer to a bowl, toss with Korean BBQ sauce and refrigerate.
3. Cut the mushrooms into pieces twice the size you want them in the end. Put them in a pan with enough Korean BBQ sauce to coat and heat until they've shrunk in half, stirring frequently. Refrigerate.
4. Boil the mung bean sprouts in water for a few minutes until they just seem to soften a bit. Drain and shock them in cold water to stop the cooking. Dry them throughly. Coat them lightly in some excess juice from your kimchi and Korean BBQ sauce. Refrigerate.
5. Peel and cut the cucumber into semicircles. Toss them in some juice from your kimchi, a big splash of vinegar and a big pinch or two of sugar. Refrigerate.
6. Mix equal quantities gochujang, ketchup and soy sauce to make a finishing sauce for the dish, as much as you want. Refrigerate.
7. Do the following when you want to eat:
8. Wash the rice, let it soak for a half hour, drain thoroughly, then combine with an equal volume of water. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat until the pot isn't boiling over anymore and cook until all the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Turn the heat off and let rest at least 10 minutes before fluffing.
9. Reheat the mushrooms and bean sprouts.
10. Make the dressing for the rice by removing the seeds and ribs from the jalapeño and pureeing it with the cilantro, a big pinch of salt and enough lime juice to get you a thick, saucy texture. You can also just chop it super-fine with a knife.
11. Right before you cook the beef and the egg, toss the dressing through the rice and divide the rice up into bowls. Distribute the mushrooms, bean sprouts, cold pickled cucumbers and some kimchi across each bowl.
12. Blot the marinated beef dry with paper towels.
13. Heat a pan for the beef and another pan for the eggs over pretty high heat and drop a film of oil in each. Drop in the beef and get it browning, stirring occasionally. Be careful the sugary sauce doesn't burn. Crack in the eggs to the other pan, keeping them as separate as possible — the heat should be high enough that the white flutters.
14. When the beef is well browned, distribute it across the bowls. When the eggs are crispy on the bottom but the yolks are still runny, put one on each of the bowls. Drizzle some of the gojuchang-based sauce over the bowls. Garnish the bowls with a light sprinkle of salt, sugar, chili powder and sesame seeds.