The food i cook at home by su scott

Bibimbap

Serves 2 Hands-on time 30 min, plus 20 min soaking

“Bibim translates as ‘to mix’ and bap means ‘cooked rice’. It’s essentially a rice bowl with toppings you mix to eat. It’s a well-known Korean dish, loved by all for its eye-catching visuals and deliciousness, and it happens to be incredibly nutritious, too.

At home, it’s not always an elaborate affair. Often, the dish is influenced by odds and ends of namul (seasoned vegetables) from banchan (side dishes) that need eating. It can be as simple as just one namul, thrown into a bowl with a gnarly fried egg with a runny yolk. All you need is a dollop of gochujang paste and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil to bind everything together. It can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be.”

• 300g freshly cooked short-grain rice (Korean if you can find it) to serve

• Toasted sesame oil to drizzle

• 2 tbsp gochujang to serve

For the mushrooms

• 4 dried shiitake mushrooms

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce

• 2 tsp mirin

• ½ tsp golden granulated sugar

• ¼ tsp ground black pepper

• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

• ½ tbsp vegetable oil

For the carrots

• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

• 200g carrots, cut into matchsticks (a julienne peeler is useful here)

• 1 tbsp mirin

• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

For the eggs

• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 medium free-range eggs

Optional extras

• Beansprouts

• Sautéed courgettes or radishes, wilted spinach... whatever needs using up in the fridge

1 For the mushrooms, put the shiitake in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside for 20 minutes to rehydrate. Squeeze the excess water out (reserve it), then finely slice the mushrooms, including the stalks, and put in a small bowl. Add the soy sauce, mirin, sugar, pepper, garlic and sesame oil. Let them marinate for 10 minutes or so while you cook the carrots.

2 For the carrots, heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the carrots and cook gently for a few minutes with a good pinch of salt. You should notice the tint of deep orangey yellow seeping into the oil and smelling quite fragrant. Remove from the heat when the carrots have softened. Transfer to a bowl while hot. Add the mirin and vinegar, combine well and cover the bowl with a plate to let the carrots steam further and marinate in the residual heat.

3 Return to the mushrooms. Heat the vegetable oil in the same pan you fried the carrots