bi bim bap?

"Sugoi" (awesome!) was the first word out of the P.E. teacher's mouth upon seeing today's lunch. Sugoi, indeed. I thought it was Japanese "taco rice" because I saw a bottle of something that looked like hot sauce, and cheese-like decorations on the rice. But lo, it was the famous multicolored Korean rice vegetable bowl, bi bim bap, or as the Japanese call it, bi bin ba. The "hot sauce" turned out to be Korean kochujang (maybe) and what sits atop the rice is not cheese, but shredded, fried tofu. It was okay, scoring low on authenticity after having eaten the real thing in Seoul. While the crunchy and sweet cucumber paired well with the spicy beef strips, an unassuming bunch of perfectly ripe grapes stole the show.

[clockwise from bi bim bap]

- bi bim bap (bi bin ba ビビンバ)
- cucumber sticks (kyuuri きゅうり)
- grapes (budou ぶどう)
- seaweed soup (wakame suupu わかめスープ)
- milk (gyuunuu 牛乳)