Bibimbap Meal Prep
A few months ago, I decided to meal prep a week’s worth of bibimbap for dinner. This idea came at the heel of eating way to much greasy salty takeout and wanting to transition into better eating while still feeling satisfied after meals.
Bibimbap seemed like the perfect choice because I could prep a bunch of veg and meat toppings, pick and choose what I want each night, and it’s always so hearty and comforting yet relatively light. It’s technically eating the same food every night, but still different.
So I went to my local Asian grocery store and bought a bunch of stuff and spent a day off prepping for like 12 meals. Of course I never take enough photos because multitasking like 20 tasks from the prep list takes precedence over photos and lighting.
All the meal prep
Pickles, veggies, meats, and stock (unrelated)
Meats
Fatty beef technically meant for hotpot + oyster mushrooms -> Maangchi’s easy bulgolgi (which is more like sweet soy beef than bulgolgi)
Pork belly suyuk style (made like bossam pork)
Ground chicken soboro
Oven-broiled salmon
Veggies
Spinach side dish (sigeumchi namul)
Quick-pickled carrot, like for banh mi
Salted cucumbers
Long bean stir fry (Thai style)
Pan-roasted mushrooms
Chayote, simply stir-fried with garlic
Chayote, pickled jangajji-style (with cukes, carrots, and chili too)
Bean sprouts side dish (kong namul)
It was easy to mix and match different meats, different texture and flavor combinations into a new meal every day. This is one of the only way I can trick myself into eating “leftovers” everyday.
Even though not everything I prepped was traditional for a bibimbap, it all goes well together and actually creates new flavors. The ones with the long beans and/or ground chicken tasted a bit more Chinese, and it kept things really fresh.
One day we ended up doing ssams instead of a rice bowl, and it felt like a completely new meal.
No recipes because I don’t think they are necessary. Add whatever veggies you want. Make new ones throughout the week as one thing runs out (or go all in at the start like me). Season things in sesame oil, salt, pepper, chilies, garlic. Or whatever you want. It’s fun to experiment a little.
This time I did include all of my favorite veggies. They all provide varying levels of crunch, and their preparations add different flavors with each bite too. Feel free to use it as a jumping point!