We love bibimbap (bee-bim-BOP), a signature Korean dish. It’s a variation of our currently trending rice bowl. The word literally means “mixed rice”—rice mixed with several other ingredients.

We’ve written about bibimbap previously, but for the eve of the lunar new year (this year, it’s Sunday, February 7th), it’s especially appropriate. It’s what Koreans traditionally eat on their new year’s eve.

It also happens to be Super Bowl Sunday; if your friends are foodies, this is a good dish for a crowd.
 
 
WHAT IS BIBIMBAP?

A bowl of warm white rice is topped with seasoned vegetables*; sliced beef, chicken or seafood; and a raw or fried egg. The yolk of the egg (or the entire raw egg) binds the ingredients when they are mixed together.

Chile paste, fermented soybean paste or soy sauce are served as condiments. After the ingredients are blended each individual diner, condiments added at the table.

For visual appeal, the vegetables are often placed so that adjacent colors complement each other.

The recipe below, from Good Eggs, requires 15 minutes of active time, and a total of 35 minutes. It doesn’t require you to be handy with a knife: Instead of thin slices of beef, you use ground beef.

If you like bibimbap as much as we do, you can experiment with other grains. Quinoa bibimbap with kale, anyone?
 
 
RECIPE: BIBIMBAP RICE BOWL

Ingredients For 4-6 Servings

 
Preparation

1. RINSE the rice a few times in a fine-mesh sieve until the water runs clear. Add the rice to a pot and cover it with water. Let it soak for 20 minutes, then strain it again. Add the rice back to the pot and add 3 cups of water. Bring the rice and water to a boil, uncovered. When the water reaches a rolling boil…

2. TURN the flame to low, cover the pot and let the rice simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the heat off and let it steam for 10 minutes with the cover on. After 10 minutes, fluff the rice with a fork: It’s ready. While the rice cooks

3. HEAT 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add the meat and break it up with the back of a wooden spoon. Turn the heat down and add the soy sauce and mirin, and stir. Cook for another 5-6 minutes, until the meat is cooked through. Remove from the heat.

4. SERVE: Spoon some rice into a bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds, a splash of mirin, and a little bit of soy sauce. Top with beef, cilantro, scallions, radishes, cilantro and a spoonful of kimchi.
 

BIBIMBAP HISTORY

Bibimbap was traditionally eaten on the eve of the lunar new year, to enable households to use up all of their leftovers before the start of the new year. All of the leftovers were put in a bowl of rice and mixed together.

Use up your leftovers, or buy fresh ingredients. Or plan a party: Like paella and other rice main dishes, bibimbap is a good dish for a crowd.

Of course, bibimbap can be made from scratch with chosen ingredients. Each region and each cook has a preferred mix of ingredients.

At Korean restaurants you can get dolsot bibimbap (stone pot bibimbap), served in a stone bowl so hot that the ingredients sizzle. The raw egg cooks as soon as it’s mixed in.

Before the rice is placed in the bowl, the bottom can be coated with sesame oil, which makes the bottom of the rice cook to a crispy state, like the socarrat at the bottom of the

[1] Bibimbap served with the traditional raw egg at Kristalbelli | NYC (photo © Kristalbelli).

[2] If you don’t want to use a raw egg, fry it sunny side up (photo © Bibigo Ready Meals).

[3] Mix the ingredients with whatever garnishes you like; here, kimchi, radishes and scallions (photo © Good Eggs).

[4] Dolsot bibimbap, which is bibimbap served in a very hot stone bowl. It’s our favorite way to enjoy bibimbap at restaurants, since the rice on the bottom gets crispy (photo © Souschef.co.uk).

[5] Gochujang is a hot chile paste/sauce often added as a condiment (photo © Trifood).

*Commonly vegetables used include bean sprouts, julienned cucumber, julienned or shredded daikon (Japanese radish), julienned zucchini, nori (dried seaweed), shredded carrots, sliced mushrooms or whole enoki mushrooms, and spinach. Diced tofu, either uncooked or cooked, can be added.

†Mirin and saké are both called “rice wine.” Both are fermented from rice; mirin has a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content (as an analogy, think of sweet and dry vermouths. If you have saké but no mirin, make a substitute by adding a half teaspoon of sugar to the saké, and warm it slowly to dissolve the sugar.
 
 

If you have kids and like to make special treats for them, head to HungryHappenings.com and sign up for the emails. Even if you don’t make them, you’ll enjoy the creative ideas.

Here’s one that adults can enjoy, too: French fries shaped like footballs. The Football Fries recipe is on the Hungry Happenings website.

If you don’t want to be frying or reheating during the game, these recipes can be made in advance:

 
And don’t forget the Football Calzone.

Top: The Keurig 2.0 H200, which makes single cups as well as carafes. Bottom: Rick’s Picks: Great flavor, few calories.

Some people don’t want the calories, others can’t have the caffeine or the sugar, and rarely, a few are allergic to chocolate.

For those who avoid caffeine and chocolate, there are scrumptious macarons, artisan (“gourmet”) marshmallows, creamy fudge, fine red licorice and other confections. But they’re still packed with sugar.

But what if you need to avoid the sugar entirely?

There’s sugar-free candy, but it’s pretty unexciting. Here are what we’d like to get for Valentine’s Day.
 
FOR COFFEE LOVERS: KEURIG 2.0 K200 SINGLE CUP BREWER

This new model comes in seven colors, including red for your Valentine. It not only brews a single cup, but a 4-cup carafe, with a single touch.

There’s a separate setting for specialty beverages such as chai, hot cocoa and mochas. And with more than 500 varieties of coffee, tea, specialty beverages and iced beverages, your Valentine has lots of choices.

The carafe is sold separately; you can also add a Valentine mug (something with hearts?) to express your affection.

Get yours at Keurig.com. The list price is $109.99.

If you don’t want to spend that much, head to the nearest housewares department and get a red water bottle or red implements—spatulas, slotted spoons, etc.—to fill a Valentine mug.

Good pickles are on our list of yummy foods with few calories.

One of America’s great pickle makers offers a club that delivers four varieties, four times a year. The club is $ 199.95, including shipping.

There’s also a Top-Seller Pack, $ 48.95, and a Rick’s Picks Sampler for $64.95.

Order yours at RicksPicks.com.

For a less expensive gift, head to your nearest fine market or specialty food store, pick up a single jar of Rick’s Picks, and tie a red ribbon around the neck.
 
NOT INTO PICKLES? TRY STRAWBERRIES

If your Valentine prefers sweet to tangy, consider Edible Arrangements or create your own strawberry basket. Look for the biggest, freshest strawberries, find a lovely small basket, and don’t forget the red bow!

FOR SODA DRINKERS: SODASTREAM SPLASH PLAY

There are red SodaStream machines that make calorie-free sodas and flavored waters. The brand has recently released a new machine, the Sodastream Splash Play, designed by Yves Béhar, a Swiss designer and sustainability expert.

It carbonates water with touch button activation as well as quick snap-lock bottle insertion. It requires no electricity. It has a small footprint.

Not only is it fun; it saves you from hauling home bottles of soda, and from tossing the empties into the landfill.

For calorie counters and water enthusiasts, SodaStream also has a new line of waters, made with all natural sweeteners and colors, called Sparkling Gourmet. It has chef-inspired flavors, including Green Apple Cucumber, Blackcurrant Lime, Coriander Apple Blossom, and Lime Basil. All with 45 calories per 8-ounce serving.

Give a Sodastream in Valentine Red.

AND, if you own a Sodastream, you know that there are two different sizes of carbon dioxide tanks for different models, and they aren’t interchangeable. The Splash Play can use either of them! Bravo, Sodastream.

Get yours at Sodastream.com. It’s $79.99.

[2] Egg rolls served with a mix of rice vinegar and soy sauce (photo Red Stix | NYC [now closed]).

For the Chinese New Year, why not make your own egg rolls? Serve them as an appetizer, or as a snack with a cold beer.
 
 
EGG ROLL HISTORY

Like Chinese chicken salad, crab wontons, duck sauce, fortune cookies, General Tso’s chicken, and sweet and sour pork—not to mention the pu pu platter—the egg roll is a Chinese-American invention. Food historians believe it was first created in New York City in the early 1930s.

But over time, what was initially a richly layered roll with a mix of bamboo shoots, roast pork, scallions, shrimp, and water chestnuts evolved into a bland cabbage roll—a stuffing of shredded cabbage, flecked with bits of pork and carrot [source].

If you’d like to go back to the golden age of egg rolls, make your own! If you don’t like to deep fat fry, you can bake them.

This recipe came to us via Melissas.com, from Chef Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook.

See the difference between egg rolls and spring rolls, below.
 
 
RECIPE: CHEF MARTIN YAN’S EGG ROLLS

Ingredients For 12 Pieces

You can add just about anything to an egg roll, as long as it’s finely chopped and well-drained (don’t add moisture).

Check out this recipe, featured in the Merced [California] Sun Star, which includes classic ingredients plus peanut butter and cinnamon. The creator, Fanny Go, was born and raised in Southern China (where there are no egg rolls) and now lives in Chicago.

In addition to her basic recipe, she suggests these optional extras which you can incorporate into Chef Yan’s recipe:

 
Once you get the hang of it, you can experiment with your favorite fillings, from vegetarian to Swiss cheese—or anything that goes well with beer or wine.

Back to Chef Yan’s recipe:

Preparation

1. HEAT a wok or stir-fry pan over high heat until hot. Add the oil, swirling to coat the sides of the pan. Add the pork, ginger, and garlic; stir-fry until meat is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Drain the excess oil.

2. COMBINE the pork, sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a medium bowl. Set aside for 30 minutes.

3. COMBINE the cabbage, carrot, and green onions in a large bowl. Add the meat mixture; toss well and let it cool slightly.

4. FILL the rolls: Place a wrapper on a clean flat surface in front of you so that it looks like a diamond. Place 3 tablespoons of filling in the center. Fold the bottom point up over the filling and roll once. Fold in the right and left points. Brush the beaten egg on the top point. Continue rolling until you have a tight cylinder. Place the filled rolls on a baking sheet and cover with a damp cloth while filling the remaining rolls.

5. FRY: Heat 2-3 inches of cooking oil over medium-high heat in a large pot or wok, to 350°F. Add the egg rolls, a few at a time, and fry until golden brown, 2-3 minutes per side. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Serve with sweet and sour sauce, plum sauce, hot mustard, or jalapeño pepper jelly.

Recipe copyright Yan Can Cook, Inc., 2014
 
 
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EGG ROLLS, SPRING ROLLS & SUMMER ROLLS

It can be very confusing, but we’ve done our best here to explain the differences.

While some countries, including China, serve fried egg rolls and spring rolls, the terms are not synonymous. An egg roll has a heavier pastry wrapper of wheat dough that contains eggs—hence the name. The cooked roll can be sliced into sections. Spring roll wrappers are made without eggs. A fried spring roll is very fragile and can shatter like phyllo.

[4] Translucent rice paper enables spring and summer rolls to show off the ingredients inside. (photo © Nature Box).

 
The dipping sauces for the different rolls can be mixed and matched. Our favorites include peanut sauce, a blend of peanut butter and hoisin sauce with garlic; sweet and hot red chili sauce; and rice vinegar/soy sauce.
 
The way to best learn the differences, of course, is to go out and eat them, or make them at home. But note that even restaurants and retail establishments can abel these different rolls incorrectly.
 
 

There’s more information at Rogue.com.

Oregon’s Moonstruck Chocolate collaborated with top Oregon craft brewers to develop a superb beer truffle collection.

The chocolate truffles are rich, nutty sweet, dark and intense, and fresh and hoppy, depending on the beer. Each 12-pack collection features three each of:

 
Get yours at MoonstruckChocolate.com.