korean rice bowl

one of my new favorite restaurants in seattle, revel, offers a small but inventive and delicious menu of modern korean food. our favorite dish there is a rice bowl with a seared tuna steak, kimchi, raw egg yolk, and char-broiled greens over a bed of sticky white rice. yum. and as always, i decided to give it a try at recreating this dish in my own kitchen! slight variations, but overall i'd say my recreation was quite an impressive success.



korean rice bowls (for 2):

1+1/2 cup short grain, white rice
8 oz of ahi or albacore tuna
4 baby bok choy or 1 bunch escarole
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
spicy cabbage kimchi (you can find kimchi at specialty or health stores)
sweet or spicy peppers, thinly sliced
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 egg yolks (save the whites for breakfast!)
chili flakes, salt and pepper

wash the rice by submerging in water and running your fingers through the rice until the water runs milky. strain rice through a strainer (or if you don't have a strainer, simply poor off the majority of the water). rinse the rice in the bowl once or twice, until the water is no longer milky. strain the water off one more final time and then let the rice sit for about 20 minutes while. while the rice is soaking, preheat the oven to 475. at this time, prep your egg yolks by placing both egg yolks gently into a small bowl and cover with 1/4 cup soy sauce to flavor and cure the egg yolk a bit.

eventually cook the soaked rice with equal parts water (or simply add one cup water if you were unable to strain all of the water off entirely). the rice will cook quickly, about 20 minutes or so. in the mean time, prep the bok choy by trimming off the ends, wash and dry them. place the bok choy in a single layer in a roasting pan and rub 2 tablespoons of oil into the greens. drizzle with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and sprinkle with salt, pepper and chili flakes to taste. roast at 475 until tender (10 minutes or so), and then broil for 2-3 minutes longer to add a bit of char. while the vegetables are roasting, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet and add the fish. cook until brown on the bottom and then rotate to brown each side. let the fish cool slightly off the skillet before slicing. if the fish looks much pinker than you'd like, you can briefly return each slice to the skillet to brown one side, leaving the opposite side still a bit pink.

to assemble, stack a pile of rice with sliced tuna, a portion of kimchi and greens and a few slices of peppers. carefully spoon out an egg yolk from the soy sauce and gently place it on top of the rice. the yolk is meant to be mixed into the rice, but if you're squirmish of raw egg, simply skip that ingredient!

* one thing that makes revel unique, is there selection of home-made sauces and spicy fermented pastes to add to your dishes! take a look at an asian grocery or health food store to find some korean sweet and sour sauce or fermented bean paste, or if you want to make things simple just add some soy sauce to your rice bowl. enjoy!!!