Korean Five-Colour Bibimbap — 韓風五色拌飯

Bibimbap means “mixed rice”, and this five-colour version turns a plain bowl of rice into a rainbow of seasoned vegetables — snappy sprouts, buttery spinach, tangy chilli radish, perilla-scented mushrooms and sweet zucchini, all tossed together with toasted sesame. 韓式拌飯意即「拌勻的米飯」，這道五色拌飯以香辣大豆芽、大醬菠菜、酸辣蘿蔔絲、紫蘇菇絲與香炒翠肉瓜五款小菜鋪在白飯上，拌勻後清爽開胃，一碗就是一頓完整的素菜盛宴。

📹 Watch the Recipe

Recipe by 素食教煮 Veggie So Easy — a Hong Kong vegetarian kitchen hosted by chef Ken Kwong (鄺師傅), who shows how Cantonese home cooks adapt Korean temple-style vegetable cooking.

🥘 Why This Recipe Works

Korean temple food (사찰음식, 寺院飲食) is one of the great fully plant-based cuisines of Asia, and 拌飯 — bibimbap — is its most famous everyday form. Instead of a heavy sauce, everything hangs on the Korean idea of 五色 (obangsaek): five colours on one plate, green from spinach and zucchini, red from chilli-flaked sprouts and radish, white from rice and soybean sprouts, yellow from sesame and mushroom, black from fermented soybean paste. Balanced colour is treated as balanced nutrition, and it is the reason the bowl never tastes monotonous.

What makes this version so practical is that every component is seasoned separately, then simply laid over hot rice. Each vegetable keeps its own texture and identity — the sprouts stay crunchy, the spinach silky, the radish sharp and cold, the zucchini sweet. Nothing is cooked together, so nothing turns to mush, and every element can be made ahead and kept in the fridge as banchan for the week.

This version: 5 seasoned toppings, a few pantry seasonings, one pot of rice. Chef Ken leans on three Korean store-cupboard heroes throughout — gochugaru (韓國辣椒粉), doenjang (韓國大醬) and perilla oil and powder (紫蘇油 / 紫蘇粉) — which are what give the bowl its authentic aroma instead of tasting like a generic vegetable stir-fry.

🛒 Ingredients

Base

1. Spicy Soybean Sprouts (香辣大豆芽)

2. Doenjang Spinach (大醬拌菠菜)

3. Sweet-Sour Chilli Radish (酸辣蘿蔔絲)

4. Perilla King Oyster Mushroom (紫蘇雞脾菇)

5. Stir-Fried Zucchini (香炒翠肉瓜)

👨‍🍳 Instructions

Step 1 — Cook the rice and prep the vegetables

• Start the short-grain rice first so it is hot and fluffy when the toppings are ready. Rinse the spinach and soybean sprouts well; peel the white radish; wipe and top the zucchini.
• Cut the radish into thick shreds (粗絲) — roughly the width of a chopstick — and slice the zucchini into half-moon slices. Shred the king oyster mushrooms into matchsticks.
• Set out five small bowls for mixing and five serving plates or a large tray. Mise en place matters here; five components come together quickly once you begin.

Step 2 — Blanch the sprouts and spinach

• Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the soybean sprouts, cover, and blanch for 4 minutes. Lift them out with a spider and drain thoroughly.
• In the same water, blanch the spinach for 1 minute only. Immediately plunge it into cold water to stop the cooking — this keeps it bright green instead of khaki.
• Squeeze the spinach gently by hand to remove excess water, then cut it into short segments. Drain the sprouts, pressing lightly so they do not water down the seasoning.

Step 3 — Season the sprouts, spinach and radish

• Sprouts: toss the drained sprouts with Korean chilli flakes, soy sauce, salt, sugar, mushroom powder, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds until every sprout is coated.
• Spinach: whisk the doenjang, salt, sugar and sesame oil together first, then fold it through the spinach so the paste dissolves evenly rather than clumping.
• Radish: toss the shreds with the salt and sugar and leave for 20 minutes. Then squeeze out all the liquid with your hands — this is what keeps the salad crunchy instead of soupy — and mix in the plum syrup, chilli flakes and sesame seeds.

Step 4 — Perilla king oyster mushroom

• Drop the shredded mushrooms into boiling water for 1 minute, drain, then toss with the salt, mushroom powder and perilla oil.
• Heat a pan, add the mushroom shreds and stir-fry until fragrant. Splash in the soy sauce with the sugar and toss to coat, then stir through the perilla powder and set aside.
• The mushrooms should be bouncy and glossy, not watery — squeeze them dry before frying if they still hold liquid.

Step 5 — Stir-fried zucchini

• Toss the zucchini slices with the salt and rest for 10 minutes, then pat away the beaded moisture. This stops the slices from turning limp in the pan.
• Heat the perilla oil and vegetable oil together, add the zucchini and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, seasoning with a pinch of mushroom powder.
• At the very end, fold in the perilla powder, toss once or twice and take the pan off the heat so the seeds stay aromatic.

Step 6 — Assemble the five-colour bowl

• Spoon hot rice into each bowl and arrange the five toppings in their own little zones around the rim — group colours side by side so the five-colour effect shows.
• Finish with a scatter of toasted sesame seeds and a thin thread of sesame oil around the edge of the rice.
• Bring the bowl to the table and toss everything together at the last moment — that final mixing is literally what 拌飯 means.

💡 Tips & Substitutions

📊 Nutrition

Per serving (serves 4 as a main bowl)

~420 cal · Protein: 13g · Carbs: 64g · Fat: 13g · Fiber: 7g

Nutrition is an estimate based on one bowl of rice with a quarter of each seasoned topping. Soybean sprouts and spinach carry most of the protein and fiber; most of the fat comes from the sesame and perilla oils, which are used sparingly.

Dou Dou (豆豆)

Korean Five-Colour Bibimbap — 韓風五色拌飯

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Noodles & Rice

Cuisine: Korean

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

To Serve

• 4 bowls Steamed short-grain rice 白飯 hot
• to taste Toasted sesame seeds 熟芝麻 to finish

1. Spicy Soybean Sprouts 香辣大豆芽

• 600 g Soybean sprouts 大豆芽 rinsed
• 3 tbsp Korean chilli flakes 韓國辣椒粉 gochugaru, coarse
• 1 tsp Soy sauce 醬油
• 1/5 tsp Salt 鹽 plus extra for blanching water
• 1/4 tsp Sugar 糖
• 1/5 tsp Mushroom seasoning powder 香菇粉
• 2 tsp Sesame oil 麻油 toasted
• to taste Toasted sesame seeds 熟芝麻

2. Doenjang Spinach 大醬拌菠菜

• 600 g Spinach 菠菜 thick stems trimmed
• 1 tbsp Korean soybean paste 韓國大醬 doenjang
• 1/5 tsp Salt 鹽
• 1/4 tsp Sugar 糖
• 2 tsp Sesame oil 麻油
• to taste Sesame seeds 芝麻

3. Sweet-Sour Chilli Radish 酸辣蘿蔔絲

• 900 g White radish 白蘿蔔 cut into thick shreds
• 1.5 tbsp Salt 鹽 to draw out water
• 3 tbsp Sugar 糖
• 5 tbsp Plum syrup 梅汁 maesil
• 3 tbsp Korean chilli flakes 韓國辣椒粉
• to taste Toasted sesame seeds 熟芝麻

4. Perilla King Oyster Mushroom 紫蘇雞脾菇

• 2 King oyster mushroom 雞脾菇 shredded
• 1/4 tsp Salt 鹽
• 2 tsp Soy sauce 醬油
• 1/3 tsp Sugar 糖
• 1/4 tsp Mushroom seasoning powder 香菇粉
• 1.5 tsp Perilla oil 紫蘇油
• 3 tsp Perilla powder 紫蘇粉 ground roasted perilla seed

5. Stir-Fried Zucchini 香炒翠肉瓜

• 2 Zucchini 翠肉瓜 half-moon slices
• 1.5 tsp Salt 鹽
• 2 tsp Perilla oil 紫蘇油
• 3 tsp Perilla powder 紫蘇粉
• 1 pinch Mushroom seasoning powder 香菇粉
• 1 tsp Vegetable oil 菜油 for frying

Method

 

Directions

1. Start the short-grain rice first so it is hot and fluffy when the toppings are ready. Rinse the spinach and soybean sprouts well, peel the white radish, and wipe and top the zucchini. Cut the radish into thick shreds roughly the width of a chopstick, slice the zucchini into half-moon slices, and shred the king oyster mushrooms into matchsticks. Set out five small mixing bowls and five serving plates — five components come together quickly once you begin.
2. Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the soybean sprouts, cover, and blanch for 4 minutes; lift out with a spider and drain thoroughly. In the same water blanch the spinach for 1 minute only, then plunge it into cold water to stop the cooking and keep it bright green. Squeeze the spinach gently by hand to remove excess water and cut it into short segments; drain the sprouts, pressing lightly so they do not water down the seasoning.
3. Sprouts: toss the drained sprouts with Korean chilli flakes, soy sauce, salt, sugar, mushroom powder, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds until every sprout is coated. Spinach: whisk the doenjang, salt, sugar and sesame oil together first, then fold it through the spinach so the paste dissolves evenly instead of clumping. Radish: toss the shreds with the salt and sugar and leave for 20 minutes, then squeeze out all the liquid by hand — this keeps the salad crunchy instead of soupy — and mix in the plum syrup, chilli flakes and sesame seeds.
4. Drop the shredded mushrooms into boiling water for 1 minute, drain, then toss with the salt, mushroom powder and perilla oil. Heat a pan, add the mushroom shreds and stir-fry until fragrant, splash in the soy sauce with the sugar and toss to coat, then stir through the perilla powder and set aside. The mushrooms should be bouncy and glossy, not watery — squeeze them dry before frying if they still hold liquid.
5. Toss the zucchini slices with the salt and rest for 10 minutes, then pat away the beaded moisture so the slices do not turn limp. Heat the perilla oil and vegetable oil together, add the zucchini and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, seasoning with a pinch of mushroom powder. At the very end fold in the perilla powder, toss once or twice and take the pan off the heat so the seeds stay aromatic.
6. Spoon hot rice into each bowl and arrange the five toppings in their own zones around the rim, grouping colours side by side so the five-colour effect shows. Finish with a scatter of toasted sesame seeds and a thin thread of sesame oil around the edge of the rice. Bring the bowl to the table and toss everything together at the last moment — that final mixing is literally what 拌飯 means.

Notes

All five toppings can be seasoned ahead and kept in the fridge for 3–4 days as banchan. Toss the bowl together at the table — that final mix is what 拌飯 means.

🌱 Why This Dish

拌飯 (bànfàn, “mixed rice”) is the Chinese name for Korea’s bibimbap, and the dish sits at the meeting point of two culinary traditions. Its five-colour principle — 五色 — is shared by Korean temple cooking and the older Chinese theory of the five elements (五行): green for wood, red for fire, yellow for earth, white for metal, black for water. A cook who puts all five colours in the bowl is understood to be serving a balanced, complete meal, and Buddhist kitchens adopted the idea both for nutrition and as a reminder that food is medicine as much as pleasure.

Korean temple food (사찰음식), which is entirely plant-based and forbids the five pungent vegetables of Chinese Buddhist tradition, was added to UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list — and 拌飯 is the dish most often served at temple guest halls, where visiting families are given a bowl of rice topped with whatever the season’s garden provides. Chef Ken’s Hong Kong interpretation keeps that spirit but swaps the meat and egg of a modern restaurant bibimbap for king oyster mushroom (雞脾菇 — literally “chicken-leg mushroom”, the cut and chew that makes it the great vegan stand-in for shredded meat) and lets perilla, doenjang and toasted sesame do the heavy lifting for flavour. It is a reminder that Chinese and Korean vegetarian cooking have been borrowing from each other for centuries — and that a bowl of rice with five vegetables on top has always been a feast.

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