I hate to say this – but airplane food inspired this recipe.  I’ve been traveling for work the last 2 weeks, pretty much cross-country – and on my flight from San Francisco to Chicago, the flight had a Korean rice bowl entrée.  It wasn’t bad for being airplane food.  It was bulgogi – Korean barbecue beef and bibimbap – Korean rice bowl.  Here is my version of the dish.
Serves 4.

Ingredients

Pickled Vegetables
4 ounces radishes, cut into matchstick sizes
3 carrots, cut into matchstick sizes
1 cup seasoned rice vinegar

Rice
4 cups prepared short grain rice

Beef
12 ounces rib eye steak, cut crosswise in 1/4″ thickness (slant the knife at 45°)
4 Tablespoons dark brown sugar, plus a little more for sprinkling on the steak
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons sesame oil
2 Tablespoons sake
2 teaspoons minced garlic

Spinach
10 ounces baby spinach
3 garlic cloves minced

Directions
Place the radishes, carrots and seasoned rice vinegar in a bowl.  Allow the vegetables to marinate for at least 30 minutes, but less than 4 hours.  I like my vegetables crunchy, so I let it sit for just under an hour.

Preheat the oven to 200° F.  Place the steak in a large baking dish and sprinkle brown sugar on both sides.  In a medium size bowl, combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sake, and garlic.  Pour the marinade on the steak, mix thoroughly and let sit for 20-30 minutes.  The steak pieces are cut thin so it won’t take long for the flavors to meld.

Prepare the rice – granted, I only know how to make rice in a rice cooker and it’s relatively easy to use.  I wouldn’t know how to make rice any other way.

In a large non-stick pan, heat oil in medium-high heat.  As the oil starts to shimmer and just before it starts to smoke, cook all the steak thoroughly.  I always add the marinade as well. Once cooked, place all the content of the pan on a baking sheet and place in the oven.

In the same (and now empty and wiped) pan, heat oil in medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer.  Add the garlic and stir until fragrant.  Add the spinach and cook until wilted.

Drain the vegetables.  Remove the steak from the oven

Assembly
Place a cup of rice in each bowl.  Add the spinach.  Add the beef.  Add the vegetables.

Options

1. Classic bibimbap has bean sprouts and cucumber in the pickled vegetables.  I opted for radishes instead as my hubby doesn’t like sprouts; and cucumbers – if marinated too long – lose their crunchiness.
2. Add shiitake mushrooms to the recipe, cook them along with the steak.
3. Add a friend egg on top of the vegetables.
4. Add Gochujang to spice this dish up (Highly recommended)