Bibim-bar! (a bibimbap party)

Ingredients

• for the bulgogi:
• 1/2 cup diced pear or apple (about half of one fruit)
• 1/4 cup diced onion (about a quarter of an onion)
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 3 tbsp sugar (honey or agave nectar also work well)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 scallions, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 pinches of black pepper
• 1 lb thinly sliced sirloin or ribeye beef (ground beef, pork, chicken, or turkey all work well, too)
• for the bibimbap sauce:
• 1/2 cup gochujang
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce (or to taste)
• 1 1/2 tbsp honey or sugar (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tsp minced garlic (optional)
• 1-2 tsp water, to thin (optional)
• for the vegetables:
• 4 cups julienned carrots (about 4 medium carrots)
• 3 cups julienned zucchini
• 2 cups thinly sliced onion
• 2 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms (about 4-5 mushrooms)
• 2 cups pre-soaked fernbrake (gosari)
• 3 cups soybean sprouts
• 1 lb (about 10 cups, packed) fresh spinach
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp minced garlic, divided
• about 1/4 cup sesame seeds, divided
• 2 tbsp sesame oil, divided
• 1-2 tsp soy sauce, divided
• for the rice:
• 8-10 cups cooked rice
• 1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)
• to serve:
• 8-10 eggs
• oil to fry
• seasoned, shredded seaweed

Instructions

1. The night before or at least one hour ahead: Marinate the meat of your choice. You can choose higher-quality cuts of beef traditionally used for bulgogi, like sirloin or ribeye, or you can simply go with ground beef for a crowd -- I like ground beef just as much a lot of the times, especially since it mixes nicely. Ground chicken, pork, or turkey will work well, too. For the marinade, combine pear (or apple), onion, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and garlic in a food processor and blend until smooth. Combine with scallions, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes, and black pepper in a large, sealable container and adjust seasonings to taste. Add the meat and massage the marinade thoroughly throughout. Seal the container and chill in the refrigerator overnight, or at least one hour.
2. Make ahead or the day of: The bibimbap sauce is easy and can be made well-ahead, up to a few days in advance. Simply mix all the sauce ingredients together until well-combined, taste to adjust, and if you like, thin it with a bit of water to make it easier to mix.
3. You can also cook the vegetables in advance, though I like to do it the day of -- chopping and preparing them ahead of time may also save some time. For the carrots, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, and fernbrake, simply heat up a bit of oil in a skillet, then sauté the vegetables (separately, one type at a time) with salt and pepper until tender. Carrots will take about 3-4 minutes, zucchini 1-2 minutes, onions 5-7 minutes, and mushrooms 5-7 minutes. You can add a touch of soy sauce to the mushrooms and fernbrake, if you like. Sprinkle each cooked vegetable with 1-2 tsp sesame seeds.
4. For the soybean sprouts and spinach, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the sprouts and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until softened. Remove the sprouts and rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside. Bring the water back to a boil and add the spinach. Cook the spinach briefly, just 30 seconds or less, until soft. Again, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking, and set aside. Toss the sprouts with 2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp soy sauce, salt, pepper, and 2 tsp sesame seeds. Toss the spinach with 1 tbsp minced garlic, 2 tsp sesame seeds, 1 tsp soy sauce, salt, and pepper.
5. Finally, just before the guests arrive, heat 1 tbsp sesame oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the rice to the skillet in an even layer. Let cook, without stirring, for 15 minutes, or until the bottom layer of rice forms a golden, crisp crust.
6. The very last thing I like to do is fry the eggs, generally as people are arriving or are getting ready to eat. I find that people are pretty evenly divided between sunny-side up and over easy eggs for bibimbap, though almost everyone likes them a little bit runny inside. For sunny-side up, heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Crack the eggs gently into the skillet and let cook, without moving them, for about 1-2 minutes, or until whites are opaque. For over easy, gently flip the eggs after 1 minute of cooking (the whites can still be slightly translucent) and let cook for another 30 seconds to a minute.
7. Serve the bar with rice first, followed by the proteins, vegetables, eggs, seasoned seaweed to top, and the gochujang sauce. I think wide, relatively shallow bowls with at least a gentle rim are best -- deep, small bowls and flat plates tend to make things messy, at least for clumsy me. (These Verterra 8-inch plates and these Leafware ones worked great.)

Notes