isithalal.food

Halal-conscious recipe

Vegetable bibimbap

A one-bowl Korean bibimbap of rice, steamed vegetables, sesame spinach and a fried egg, with a gochujang sauce made from a paste that lists no alcohol.

  • Cuisine Korean
  • Meal Main
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Yield 1 bowl
  • Time 30 min
  • Last updated

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

Printable view
A dark bowl of rice topped with halved boiled eggs, carrot sticks, radish, green beans, fried shallots and stir-fried meat, with a cup of sauce beside it
Photograph from our ingredient library: a bibimbap-style rice bowl, not the finished dish from this recipe.

Why Halal checks matter here

This bibimbap has no meat, so the question is the gochujang: several brands list alcohol or ethanol as an ingredient, while others list none.

Bibimbap is a Korean bowl of rice topped with vegetables and an egg, mixed with a gochujang chilli sauce just before eating. Restaurant versions often add beef, which needs Halal slaughter (see bibimbap). This one has no meat, so the only question is the paste.

Gochujang is made from chilli, rice, fermented soybean and barley malt, but several brands list alcohol or ethanol among the ingredients while others list none. This version follows Da-Hae West's Korean bibimbap for BBC Good Food and uses a paste that lists no alcohol.

The vegetables steam on a plate over an upturned ramekin in a lidded pan, so the whole bowl needs only a pan and a frying pan. Leftover sauce keeps in the fridge for up to five days.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Gochujang Gochujang is plant-based, but on Open Food Facts O'Food, Sun Hee, Ajumma Republic and Lidl's Vitasia pastes list alcohol or ethanol, while Amoy and Tesco pastes list none. Scholars differ on food with added alcohol. Read the tub for alcohol, ethanol, spirit or rice wine, and choose one that lists none or carries a Halal mark you trust. See Gochujang.
  • Meat when eating out Restaurant bibimbap often adds beef, which needs Halal slaughter, and its marinade may use rice wine. Ask for the vegetable version, or ask whether the beef is Halal and what is in the marinade and sauce. See Bibimbap.

Safe substitutes

  • Gochujang that lists alcohol or ethanol → A gochujang that lists none, or one with a Halal mark

Allergens

egg, sesame, soy (gochujang), gluten (most gochujang)

Ingredients

Bowl

  • 1 chestnut mushroom, finely sliced
  • ½ courgette, halved and finely sliced
  • ¼ carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
  • 40 g beansprouts
  • 30 g spinach
  • ¼ tsp sesame oil, plus extra to serve
  • ½ tsp sesame seeds, plus extra to serve
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 150 g cooked sushi rice

Bibimbap sauce

  • 2 tbsp gochujang that lists no alcohol or ethanol
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • ½ tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp water

Method

  1. Make the sauce. Mix the gochujang, sesame seeds, sugar and sesame oil with 1 tbsp water in a small bowl and set aside.
  2. Steam the vegetables. Put the mushroom, courgette, carrot and beansprouts on a plate. Set a small heatproof bowl or ramekin upside down in a medium lidded pan, add water to halfway up it and bring to the boil. Put the plate on the ramekin, cover and steam for 3 minutes until tender.
  3. Season the spinach. Pour boiling water over the spinach in a bowl, stir to wilt, then drain and rinse under cold water. Squeeze it dry and mix with the sesame oil, a pinch of salt and the sesame seeds.
  4. Fry the egg. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over a high heat and fry the egg to your liking.
  5. Build the bowl. Fill a bowl with the rice, put the egg on top and arrange the vegetables and spinach around it. Serve with the sauce, a little extra sesame oil and sesame seeds, and mix everything together before eating. Leftover sauce keeps in the fridge for up to five days.

How this recipe was researched

Method from BBC Good Food's 'Korean bibimbap' by Da-Hae West (serves 1: mushroom, courgette, carrot and beansprouts steamed 3 minutes on a plate over a ramekin in a lidded pan; spinach wilted in boiling water and dressed with sesame oil, salt and sesame seeds; an egg fried in vegetable oil; 150 g cooked sushi rice; a sauce of 2 tbsp gochujang, sesame seeds, caster sugar, sesame oil and 1 tbsp water). We kept the method and specified a gochujang that lists no alcohol, as some brands on Open Food Facts do. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Korean bibimbap — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    By Da-Hae West. Serves 1, prep 20 minutes, cook 10 minutes: steamed mushroom, courgette, carrot and beansprouts; sesame spinach; a fried egg; 150 g cooked sushi rice; a sauce of 2 tbsp gochujang with sesame seeds, sugar, sesame oil and water.

  2. Gochujang analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    Which gochujang pastes list alcohol on Open Food Facts and which list none.

All Halal-conscious recipes