sprout bibimbap

I have been growing sprouts at home for several months now. I have tried three different kinds (alfalfa, brassica blends, and radish sprout.) It takes time to get used to remember watering and draining two times a day, but it is very convenient to have fresh vegetable at home at any time.

One of the reasons I started to grow the sprouts was the sandwich from the Savary Island Pie Company (http://www3.telus.net/sipco/). Their veggie sandwich is the best sandwich I ever had. 90% of the taste may come from their bread, but the ingredients are very fresh and crispy too.

Since this sandwich is quite pricey, I decided to imitate it. (I think the price is fair, as they use good (many of them are organic.) ingredients, and their breads are great. But I can't afford it every day.) I could buy sprout at supermarkets, but I decided to grow. Then I found a Canadian family business (http://www.sprouting.com/) carries all I needed. They have nice varieties of seeds and sprouters, and delivery is fast.

So now I have sprouts in my refrigerator most of time. One of the dish I make often is "sae-ssak bibimbap." This is very simple dish but refreshing and yummy.

First, you have to prepare the rice, and make "yak gochujang."

You can make it with ground beef or ground pork. If you prefer vegetarian option, you can use chopped shitake mushrooms. If you don't have any of them, that's fine too. (Korean cooking is very flexible, like many other countries' recipes.)

Heat a table spoon of oil (I use grape seed oil.) Saute ground meat or chopped mushroom (a handful.) Then add chopped garlic. (about 1-2 table spoon.) Once meat is cooked, add gochujang (about 4 table spoon.)

Gochujang is Korean spicy hot soybean paste. There are lots of brands, but I use this one which made without GMO beans.

You are free to add nuts if you like. I added ground flex seed (about 1 table spoon), and most importantly, honey (about 2 table spoon.) That's why this sauce is called "yak" gochujang, as honey is known as good for health. ("yak" means "medicine.")

Now- time to eat.

On the dish, put cooked rice and sprouts. If you have, pine nuts make good garnish.

Then add the sauce. Mix well, and enjoy. Nice summer day lunch. :)