Bibimbap (My version of this Korean rice dish)

My husband and I had this a few years back at a restaurant. Since then we've made a few variations of it, mostly consisting of rice, a breaded cutlet of some sort and an egg on top. If  you've never heard of this amazing dish here is a basic description: Bibimbap. This bowl of deliciousness that we made the other night was by far the best one that we ever concocted together. This might seem like a lot of components, but you really need each layer and texture to elevate this and give you the complete experience.

INGREDIENTS: (This made 2 very large adult bowls and 2 kids bowls)

• 3 cups cooked white rice
• 1 cup chopped iceberg lettuce
• 1/2 cucumber sliced thinly (julienned)
• 1/2 carrot sliced thinly (julienned)
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon of sugar
• Frozen Birds Eye szechuan vegetables in a sesame sauce ( I only used this for the two adult bowls, I used corn for the kids bowls)
•  sesame seeds
• 5 eggs
• Teriyaki sauce 
• sliced scallions
• 2 medium sized boneless pork chops
• 1/2 cup italian bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• flour for breading
• vegetable oil for frying

First thing to do is make our pork cutlets. I cut each chop into 3-4 small pieces, cover them with plastic wrap and using a meat mallet on a cutting board pound them out until they double in size and are very thin. Don't beat them so much they break apart. I've become the cutlet master and I'm able to make 8 cutlets out of 2 pork chops. It takes a little practice but it's an awesome money saving tip.

Next we want to set up a breading station, 3 bowls- one for flour (season with salt and pepper), next an egg beaten with a little water, and finally a bowl with the breadcrumbs and panko. This is the breading station I do for all of my cutlets and they come out great. Dredge the pork in the flour, then the egg and then the breadcrumbs. Make sure each step the pork is completely covered with that ingredient for a thorough breading. Once you have all of your cutlets breaded, heat up enough veggie oil in a skillet to cover the bottom and once it heats up completely over medium high heat start frying your pork. 2-3 minutes on each side or until a golden brown. They should be thing enough that it won't take very long at all to fry them. Set aside all of the fried cutlets on a paper towel lined plate. After they've cooled slice into strips.

Next take your julienned carrots and cucumbers and in a bowl toss with a tablespoon of sesame seeds, rice wine vinegar and sugar. You should do this according to your taste, if you want it more sweet or vinegar tasting you can adjust how much you add. Set those veggies aside.

You can now prepare the szechwan veggies according to the package ( I know this seems like a cop out when you're going through all the trouble to prepare the other components, but thats exactly the point. It's easy and really tasty for the price and trust me after you fry up those cutlets, you're not going to wait much more to eat.)

In a small pot start boiling water to poach your eggs. Once the water comes to a boil, lower the heat a little and add the eggs. It only takes about 3 minutes to get them poached, we want it firm but the yolk nice and runny when you break it.

Now for assembly:

Place some chopped lettuce in the bottom of the bowl, and top with the rice.

Then add the szechwan veggies on top of that.

Next add the sliced pork cutlets.

Top that with the sliced cucumber, carrot mixture.

Then the poached egg.

And finally finish it off with a drizzle of teriyaki sauce, scallions and some sesame seeds.

 This was the mini version I made for the kiddos:

I know this seems like an awful lot of steps, but I swear to you its worth it! Just writing this and looking at these pictures now, my mouth is literally watering. I can't wait until we make this again. And I'm for sure, going to make it this exact same way!