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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.