By Honorary Reporter Marianna Szucs from Hungary

Photos = Marianna Szucs

As a popular Korean food, bibimbap is rice mixed with an assortment of meat, vegetables and spicy red pepper paste. Its beautiful colors and arrangement of the toppings complement its mouth-watering taste.

The dish is also nutritious as it helps digestion and fat burning. Another positive is the wide variety of toppings, making bibimbap appealing to lovers of meat, vegetables and spicy food.

Bibimbap's colors can reflect those of autumn. (Marianna Szucs)

The reason bibimbap is one of my favorite Korean foods is because it is super easy to prepare. Shop for the ingredients at a store or find something inspiring in your fridge, and planning is done that easily. Cook the rice and place the toppings on top of them. Fish, sausage, tofu or cheese can be fried, and some of the veggies can be either stir-fried or steamed quickly.

I especially love preparing the eggs. Bibimbap can be topped with raw, sunny-side up or boiled eggs, but I prefer egg "pancakes" and rolling them up into cute spirals. I usually boost the colors with spring onions and chili flakes.

This version of bibimbap shows summer colors. (Marianna Szucs)

I hate to waste food, so I usually use the leftovers. I like experimenting with the ingredients in preparing European-Korean fusion versions of the food. Bring out the master chef in you by trying your own experiments.

I love colors in food, and so I select toppings according to my mood, either to reflect joy or cheer myself up. Just glancing at the abundance of bibimbap's colors can be uplifting and showing the colors of a season on your plate can be exciting. Finding ingredients to highlight different colors is a nice challenge.

This bibimbap features different shades of red. (Marianna Szucs)

For those in a hurry, simply place all toppings on the rice and start eating. Regardless of how busy I am, I always try to arrange the ingredients artistically as if at a restaurant to entertain myself. Then I enthusiastically mix the whole bowl. 

Due to COVID-19, many in Hungary cannot go to their favorite Korean restaurants but this doesn't mean we have to give up on our cravings. Bibimbap is easy to make at home and can be modified according to personal preference. So try cooking it in your own kitchen -- you won't be disappointed.

enny0611@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.