Oh my! This Korean Beef Bulgogi Bowl is bursting with spicy flavour! Marinated, then grilled or fried and served with a vibrant, crunchy salad. It's a crowd pleaser!
Thinly sliced pieces of sirloin steak, marinated, then cooked until juicy and just a little bit charred. Yep, this went down well with the whole family.
Whilst I think it would work great with stir fried veg or rice, I decided to serve mine with quinoa and a colourful salad.
My kids love it when I add fruit to salad (apples and black grapes are always a winner, but this time I went with pomegranate and mango), and it really does make the old cucumber/leaves combination much more interesting.
A lot of bulgogi recipes i've seen call for grated Asian pear or pear juice to be included in the marinade. The pear acts as a tenderizer and adds a little sweetness. I can't get hold of them in the UK, so I use a grated Jazz apple, which has a sweet pear-drop flavour.
If you've never tried Jazz apples before, give them a go (my absolute favourite apple!).
It's a good idea to freeze the steak for 20-30 minutes to firm it up before slicing. This will help you to cut the slices really thinly and means the marinade really soaks into every bit of the meat.
Let's get close in on that juicy meat:
Nom nom nom! The gochujang i use in the marinade really adds a good punch of flavour and some nice colour too. I like to use it when I make my spicy pork ramen, my Korean Style Lamb Cutlets, Korean Steak Sandwich and also as a dipping sauce for veggie bibimbap. your can get it from most supermarkets but if your are struggling you can order it from Amazon HERE.
In other news, my kitchen is soooo close to being finished!
Chris has finished building a big set of shelves for me to store all my photo props (or blog tat as he calls it). I've spent about 2 hours this evening filling the shelves up with the biggest smile on my face!
He's also built us a big double desk in the new office using lots of steel and wood from pallets. That took a whole lot of banging, sawing, awful screeching noises as he was cutting the steel (from the saw, not him!), and Chris wandering round in his welding mask looking particularly manly 🙂
Once he's finished fitting the shelves we can get all the office stuff in there. Then there's the extractor to put up and the remaining skirting boards that need sanding and painting (my job.). Then I think we're done!
We'll get shooting the kitchen reveal, and hopefully start making lots of recipe videos. So exciting!!
The Korean Beef Bulgogi Bowl Recipe:
Korean Beef Bulgogi Bowl
Ingredients
Bulgogi:
- 2 medium sirloin steaks
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp gochujang paste
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger - peeled and minced
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp rice wine
- 2 garlic cloves - peeled and minced
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 grated sweet apple* - no need to peel
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Salad:
- 120 g (⅔ cup) dry quinoa
- 1 chicken or vegetable stock cube - crumbled
- 100 g (approx 3 cups) baby salad leaves
- Seeds from half a pomegranate
- Half a cucumber - cut into ribbons using a potato peeler
- 1 red bell pepper - deseeded and sliced
- 1 ripe mango - peeled and chopped into small chunks
- 1 jalapeno chilli - thinly sliced
- 3 radishes - thinly sliced
- 1 tsp sesame seeds - I sued a mixture of black and white sesame seeds
- 2 spring onions - scallions, sliced into thin strips
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the sirloin steak in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up slightly, then slice thinly against the grain using a sharp knife.
- Place the sliced steak into a large bowl and add all of the bulgogi ingredients except for the vegetable oil. Mix together thoroughly, then cover with clingfilm and place in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours to marinate.
- Cook the quinoa as per the pack instructions, along with the crumbled stock cube (for extra flavour). Leave to cool slightly and fluff with a fork.
- Once the steak has marinated, heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan on a high heat. Scoop out the steak using a slotted spoon, allow any excess sauce to drip off, then fry the steak in the hot oil. Use a set of tongs to separate the steak sliced during cooking, and cook on a high heat until cooked through and slightly charred. Remove from the heat.
- Arrange the salad leaves between three bowls and top with the cooked quinoa. Sprinkle the pomegranate seeds on top of the quinoa. Arrange the cucumber, bell pepper slices, mango, jalapeno slices and radishes in the bowls.
- Divide the bulgogi between the bowls and sprinkle on the sesame seeds. Top with the spring onions and serve.
✎ Notes
Nutrition
If you like this then why not try my Vietnamese Steak Salad.
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Kath says
Love your salad dishes, they are never boring. This is one way to get my son to eat more of his 5 a day, he loves Korean spices.
Jhuls says
That looks so good, Nicky. Can I lick the screen and don't tell anyone? 😛