Bibimbap

Bibimbap means simply "mixed rice," and that is exactly how it is eaten: a bowl of warm steamed rice crowned with neat, separate mounds of seasoned vegetables (namul), sauteed beef, a glossy fried egg and a spoonful of fiery red gochujang chilli paste. At the table you stir everything together until the yolk and chilli coat every grain.

The best-known version arrives in a searing-hot stone bowl (dolsot bibimbap) that crisps the bottom layer of rice into golden, crackly nurungji. Balanced, colourful and endlessly adaptable, it is Korean home cooking and temple cuisine in a single bowl.

Bibimbap grew out of Korea's deep tradition of serving rice with many small side dishes (banchan). One popular theory traces it to the eve of the Lunar New Year, when families mixed leftover side dishes into rice so no food carried into the new year; others link it to ancestral-rite offerings and to farmers' communal field meals.

The city of Jeonju is regarded as its spiritual home and lends its name to the most famous regional style. Today bibimbap is one of Korea's best-loved everyday meals and a global ambassador for Korean food — even served aboard airlines as a national signature dish.