Sanchae Bee Bim Bap - Healthy Korean main course coming your way

I personally hold the opinion that Asian cuisine is one of the healthiest of all - of course provided that you cook them at home and not at restaurants. You could say the same for any cooking, but my choice, again among those, would be Asian cooking one of them being Korean. My personal exposure to Korean food is not very vast except for the famous and popular dishes and few not so well known from my research of the cuisine. Among the popular ones, Bee Bim Bap (or Beebimbop,bibimbap) holds a prominent place. It is one dish meal with layers stacked one on top of the other and is predominantly made with beef.



Sanchae Bibimbap which means Fresh Vegetable Bibimbap uses lots of vegetables along with the meat. I have this recipe from an Authentic Korean Cooking cookbook ( I misplaced the author’s name) from which I adapted this recipe to make it meatless and added a wee bit more ingredients to suit my palate. It’s pretty simple to make and instead of the Portobello mushroom which I used to replace the meat, non-vegetarians can use Beef to do the same process (simply marinate for more time than what is specified in this recipe)

Ingredients


• 1 cup small red radish, cut into thin slices
  
  
• 1 medium daikon radish, peeled and sliced into thin strips
  
  
• 1 carrot, sliced into strips
  
  
• 1 cucumber, sliced
  
  
• approx 4-5 cups spinach, washed with stems discarded (baby spinach works v well)
  
  
• About 4-5 large portobello mushrooms,cleaned and chopped
  
  
• 1 small yellow onion,sliced
  
  
• 2-3 cups cooked Jasmine rice
  

For the Marinade


• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
  
  
• 3 tsp sugar
  
  
• 4 tsp spring onions/scallions, finely chopped
  
  
• 2 tsp minced garlic/garlic paste
  
  
• 2 tsp coarsely ground toasted sesame seeds
  
  
• 2 tsp sesame oil
  
  
• 1 tsp Rice vinegar
  
  
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
  
  
• salt taste ( make sure to add less salt that your usual amount since Soy sauce also contains sodium)
  
  
• Korean hot chilli sauce to serve (optional)
  

Method

In a bowl, add all the ingredients for the marinade.



Add the chopped mushrooms, give it a toss and close it with a plastic wrap and let it sit for at least 30 min.



Steam all the vegetables except the spinach and onions. Just 2-3 minutes before removing the vegetables add the spinach and let it wilt. Alternatively if you dont like your cucumbers steamed, then prepare a marinade with little Vinegar,sugar and salt and marinare your cucumbers in it until before serving. In a pan, cook the onions until soft.



Now add the mushroom along with the marinade until cooked. They look just like beef dont they ? ;) Alternatively prepare fried eggs, if you like eggs. They are optional.



Next set the plate. The first layer is the cooked jasmine rice



Top it off with steamed vegetables



layer that with the cooked mushrooms



Finally place the fried eggs on top of them.



Tada, you just made the popular Korean dish at home, made healthier, wealthier and with no major effort. And yes you save quite some money by not selecting to eat at the restaurant. The ingredients cost quite less too :)

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This main dish finds its way to the event close to my heart A.W.E.D hosted by dear PJ this month with Korean as its theme. Thanks PJ for the beautiful theme.

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Borscht with Kvas (Beetroot Soup) In the Bag - Detox Special

Its really hard for me to even think, that few years earlier, I used to hate soups. I was cajoled, threatened, blackmailed by my mom to start having soups to no effect. Then during my college days, a friend of mine managed to get me hooked to Tomato soup which was totally delicious in our cafeteria - but that was that! No other soups for me. Then after marriage, I started trying out various soups - well because I wanted to just - you know- try it out. Surprisingly I started liking the soups - No, don't think me conceited , but somehow my soups actually inculcated the habit and now here I am willing to try all kinds of soups.:)



Borscht (borsht or borshch ) is traditionally an Eastern Europe soup where the prominence is given to Beetroot along with other vegetables. There are basically two variations of this soup – hot and cold and since we are not fans of cold soup, I opted for the former. It is totally yummy with minimal ingredients and effervescent flavors. The color is deep red thanks to the beetroot and its only enhanced further with the addition of Beetroot Kvas. This is a recipe from a ‘Detox health-plan cookbook’ which I adapted quite mildly for my tastes.

Ingredients


• 2 beetroot, peeled
  
  
• 1 large carrot
  
  
• 1 celery stick
  
  
• 1 onion
  
  
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
  
  
• 1/4 cup of tomato puree
  
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
  
• few sprigs of parsley/cilantro
  
  
• 3-4 cloves
  
  
• 4-5 whole black peppercorns
  
  
• about 3 cups of water/vegetable stock
  
  
• 2/3 cup of beetroot Kvas (recipe follows)
  
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  
  
• few chives to garnish
  
  
• 2-3 tsp of fresh lemon juice
  

Method

To prepare Beetroot Kvas

Grate one beetroot, add it to 2/3 cup of water and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Cover and set aside for about 30 min.



For Borscht

In a saucepan, in 1/2 tsp of olive oil, saute the onions until soft (yes, chop onions first - otherwise they will look 'bloody' like this one :)



Chop beetroot, celery and carrot into thick strips and then along with garlic add them to the onions. Saute for 2 seconds with little salt (about a pinch or so).



Add the tomato puree and saute for another 1-2 min.



Tie the bay leaf, peppercorns, herbs and cloves in a muslin cloth. Add about 3 cups of water/stock to the saucepan, drop the muslin cloth with the stock, cover and cook for 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are soft.



Remove the muslin bag, add the strained Kvas, season to taste and serve garnished with chives.

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This is my entry to 'In the Bag' event which focuses on a Detox special this month with the ingredients - Beetroot, Carrot and Celery

This is also my entry for SWC : Soups hosted by Neha conceptualized by Cooking Station

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How to Remove Beetroot Stains

I love Beets and use it so often for my recipes. While I love the color, I personally am not so sure about seeing the color everywhere in my kitchen - wooden boards, counter tops, my clothes etc. Here are some tips which have helped me to counter this 'bloody' trail.

1. Its always better to clean right after cutting the beets. Don't let it dry out. Makes cleaning a bit harder.

2. Better safe than sorry - so don't wear your snow white, ultra light colors when cutting Beets - old worn out clothes are a good idea! :) Or else wear an Apron.

3.Having Lemons are such a boon. If your wooden chopping board has stained - sprinkle some salt over its "wounds" / stains - let it sit for 15-20 minutes, then with a chopped lemon rub it on the stains until the stain slowly dissoves. Sometimes if the stain is not dark enough, just lemon juice rubbed on the stained part for 20-30min is enough.

Few more tips in the following links :-

1) Tips to remove Beetroot stains from Carpet

2) Tips to remove Beetroot stains from clothes and Fabric

3) Tips to remove Beetroot stains from upholstery